Việc sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng nói cho học sinh khối lớp 6 tại một trường THCS ở quận nam từ liêm, hà nội​

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

TÔ THỊ HỒNG VÂN

THE USE OF ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL
FOR STUDENTS AT GRADE 6 IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL
IN NAM TU LIEM DIST., HANOI
(Việc sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng nói cho học sinh
khối lớp 6 tại một trường THCS ở Quận Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi, 2019


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

TÔ THỊ HỒNG VÂN

THE USE OF ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL
FOR STUDENTS AT GRADE 6 IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL
IN NAM TU LIEM DIST., HANOI
(Việc sử dụng hoạt động đóng vai nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng nói cho học sinh
khối lớp 6 tại một trường THCS ở Quận Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01
Supervisor: Prof. Nguyễn Hòa

Hanoi, 2019


CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT
I certify my authority of the minor thesis entitled “The use of role play to
improve speaking skill for students at grade 6 in a secondary school in Nam Tu
Liem Dist., Hanoi” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts.
Signature

To Thi Hong Van

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research thesis would not have been completed without the support of my
supervisor, my lecturers, my colleagues, my students and my family members.
First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Prof.
Nguyen Hoa whose expert guidance, vast knowledge of educational research and
teaching experience greatly supported me during the time I carried out the thesis.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all my lecturers
at the Department of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and

International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Their sincere support
and considerations have enabled me to finish the course.
I would like to thank all the teachers and grade 6 students at a secondary
school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., for their support and cooperation in helping me
complete this thesis.
Last but not least, my gratitude is extended to all members of my family for
their love and encouragement during the time I carried out this study.

ii


ABSTRACT
In recent years, enhancing students’ oral communication is one of the
fundamental goals of foreign language teaching. Among different approaches to
teaching and learning speaking, role play technique has received worldwide
acceptance from researchers and educators for its many benefits to the learners. In
the reality, the teachers and grade 6 students in a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem
Dist., have met many problems in teaching and learning English speaking. In an
attempt to improve speaking skill for grade 6 students, the researcher decided to
carry out an action research with 40 students at class 6C, a secondary school in Nam
Tu Liem Dist., in 12 weeks. Questionnaire and tests (pre-test and post-test) were
used to explore student’s attitudes towards role play activities and its effectiveness.
The results of the study revealed that students’ speaking skill had been improved
remarkably by using role play. Most of the students had positive attitudes toward
using role play activities in speaking lessons. The students enjoyed doing role play
activities in front of the class. They became more confident and actively involved in
speaking lessons. The findings of the study showed that role play is an effective
teaching technique which should be widely applied in teaching and learning English
not only for grade 6 students but for students with different levels.
Key words: role play, grade 6 students, improve speaking skill

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT ...............................................................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .....................................................................................
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS ......................................................................
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................
1.1

Rationale of the research ........................................................................

1.2

Aims of the research ..............................................................................

1.3

Research questions .................................................................................

1.4

Scope of the research .............................................................................

1.5

Method of the research ...........................................................................

1.6 Significance of the research ..................................................................................
1.7

Thesis organization ................................................................................

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................
2.1

Overview of speaking skills ...................................................................

2.1.1

Definition of speaking .....................................................

2.1.2

Parts of speaking .............................................................

2.1.3

Teaching speaking ...........................................................

2.1.4

A successful speaking lesson in a classroom ...................

2.1.5

Strategies to improve speaking skills ..............................

2.1.6

Assessment of speaking ...................................................

2.2

Role play ................................................................................................

2.2.1

Definition of role play .......................................................

2.2.2

The importance of using role play ..................................

2.2.3

Classification of role play ...............................................

2.2.4

The significance of role play in teaching speaking .........

2.3

Related studies in Asia and Vietnam ...................................................

2.4

Summary ..............................................................................................
iv


CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................
3.1

Setting of the study .................................................................................

3.2

Research design .....................................................................................

3.3

Action research procedure .....................................................................

3.4

Action research procedures of the current study ...................................

3.4.1

Stage 1: Identifying the problem and planning ..............

3.4.2

Stage 2: Action – implementing the plan ........................

3.4.3

Stage 3: Observing the action ........................................

3.4.4

Stage 4: Reflecting the action .........................................

3.5

Participants ............................................................................................

3.6

Data collection method ...........................................................................

3.6.1

Observation ....................................................................

3.6.2

Questionnaire and semi-structured interview ................

3.6.3

Pre-test and post-test ......................................................

3.7

Data analysis ...........................................................................................

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................
4.1

Preliminary investigation ........................................................................

4.2

Pre-test results .........................................................................................

4.3

Findings of the study ..............................................................................

4.3.1

Findings on the students’ speaking performance ............

4.3.2

Findings on the students’ self-confidence ........................

4.3.3

Data analysis and findings from the students’ questionna

4.4

The tests ..................................................................................................

4.5

Discussion ...............................................................................................

4.6 Summary .............................................................................................................
CHAPTER 5 : CONCLUSIONS ...........................................................................
5.1

Conclusion ..............................................................................................

5.2

Pedagogical implications ........................................................................

5.3

Limitations and suggestions for further studies ......................................
v


REFERENCES ........................................................................................................
APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................
APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS ............................
PHỤ LỤC 1: PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT CHO HỌC SINH ..............................................
APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS ...........................
PHỤ LỤC 2: PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT CHO HỌC SINH ............................................
APPENDIX 3: THE QUESTIONS OF PRE-TEST ................................................
APPENDIX 4: THE QUESTIONS OF POST-TEST..........................................................
APPENDIX 5: THE FRAME OF HARRIS’S ORAL ENGLISH RATING SCALE....

vi


LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Table 1: Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill and role of learning
speaking skill...................................................................................................23
Chart 1: Students’ self-assessment towards their speaking competence level 24

Table 2: Students’ attitudes toward speaking materials.................................. 24
Table 3: Students’ difficulties in learning English speaking...........................25
Table 4: Teachers’ techniques to encourage students to speak and improve
their English speaking skill.............................................................................25
Table 5: Pre-test result.....................................................................................26
Table 6: Results of students’ speaking performance in pre-test......................27
Table 7: Results of students’ speaking performance in cycle.........................29
Table 8: Results from survey questionnaire for students................................ 31
Table 9: Results of tests.................................................................................. 34
Chart 2: The improvement in the students’ speaking skill after using role play
activities.......................................................................................................... 34

vii


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale of the research
When the world has been developing day by day, there is an urge requirement
arising which is the necessary to have a worldwide accepted language to
communicate. At that time, English has become a global language because it is
spoken by lots of people in many countries. In non-native English-speaking

countries, students have to spend more time to learn English as a compulsory
subject at school for student. It is because people who speak English fluently can
access the world knowledge conveniently. This trend also applies in Vietnam.
Studying English requires learners to foster four skills, which are: listening,
reading, writing, and speaking.
Generally, each skill holds equal role for learners but speaking seems the most
important (Penny Ur, 1996). However, Heriansyah (2012) states that speaking
foreign language fluently is the most difficult thing to complete because it requires
more than proficiency in grammatical and semantic rules.
The author’s school as well as many other secondary schools in Vietnam has
used the English curriculum regulated by the Vietnam Ministry of Education and
Training. The author has been teaching English for grade 6. In particular, the
textbook of this grade has 12 units whose topics are completely different from each
other and suitable for the level of students. Each unit has 5 sections, which are: (i)
reading, (ii) speaking, (iii) listening, (iv) writing and (v) language focus. Time to
teach and learn each section is 45 minutes; 3 periods per week for all language
skills. Thus, students don’t have much time to practise speaking. With students at
grade 6 in a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., speaking skill is very difficult
for them. Through the author’s observation, speaking ability of students is impacted
by several reasons. The first problem is that students feel afraid if they make
mistakes. Thus, many students are not self-assured to say something and join the
classroom activity. The second problem that students have to face with is that they
do not have a sufficient range of vocabulary. As a result, they have difficulty in
1


expressing their opinions when the teacher asks them to say what they think in
English. The third obstacle for students in learning speaking skill is that they do not
have sufficient time to practice English because they only practice English at school
and besides school time, they rarely use English in life.

Furthermore, there is another factor that limits students in studying speaking
skill, that is the method or the technique the teachers utilize. The teacher often
focuses on grammar so as to satisfy the exams’ requests. The writer supposes that
this factor contributes the most to the poor speaking skills of the students so it is
essential to discover an alternative technique that attracts students. The author is
responsible for teaching grade 6 so taking class 6 as the research subject is highly
practical. In particular, the writer decides to use role play technique as the pilot
project to improve students’ speaking skills. Penny Ur stated that, “The use of role
play has added a tremendous number of possibilities for communication practice”.
Role play is beneficial in teaching speaking skill for several reasons. Firstly,
students have chances to communicate with each other in other social
circumstances. Secondly, students are encouraged to perform as others for a short
time so it helps to increase creativity when they do role play. Finally, students can
work in pairs and support each other so lesson becomes more attractive. Hence,
those are the reasons why the writer chooses role play technique.
1.2 Aims of the research
The research has 2 following aims: (i) improving speaking skills of students at
grade 6 at a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., through using role play
strategy and (ii) investigating the students’ attitudes toward applying role play
strategy in teaching and learning English.
1.3 Research questions
The research should answer 2 following questions completely:
1. To what extent does role play improve the speaking skill of students at grade 6 at

a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist., Hanoi?
2. What are the students’ attitudes toward applying role play in teaching and

learning English ?
2

1.4 Scope of the research
The research concentrates on investigating how utilizing role play activities
improves speaking skill of students at grade 6 at a secondary school in Nam Tu
Liem Dist., Hanoi. Due to time constraints and the length of the study, it has the
participation of 40 grade 6 students from a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist.
The study is conducted in 12 weeks with one cycle.
1.5 Method of the research
Action research is utilized as the main method of the research.
1.6 Significance of the research
This research is expected to benefit not only teachers and students at a
secondary school in Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi but also teachers and students in other
schools. For teachers, they will be the direct beneficiary of the data and analysis
from the study. For students, the study supports them to solve their limits in
speaking and improve their speaking skill.
1.7 Thesis organization
This thesis has five chapters:
Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the rationale of the research, the aims and
objectives of the research, research questions, method of the research, and the
significance of the research.
Chapter 2, Literature Review, deals with some theoretical background that
is relevant to the aim of the research.
Chapter 3, Research Methodology, presents the research design, setting and
subjects of the research, research procedures.
Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, provides with the findings of the study and
some explanations, and comments on these findings.
Chapter 5, Conclusion, provides a summary of the thesis, shows restrictions and
proposes pedagogical implications and recommendations for further study.
References and Appendices are shown on the final pages of the research.

3


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter explores some theoretical background to the study. Firstly, it
gives an overview of speaking skills including definition of speaking skills,
classification of speaking skills, assessment of speaking skills and activities to
promote speaking skills is presented. Also, this chapter presents definition of role
play, classification of role play and procedures in applying role play, and
significance of role play in teaching speaking skills. The chapter has given the
related studies in Asia and Vietnam.
2.1 Overview of speaking skills
2.1.1 Definition of speaking
Researchers have proposed different definitions of speaking. However, the
common of all those definitions is that speaking implies speech. It is widely
accepted that speech plays an important role in human communication.
In Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2009,p.414), speaking is defined as
“the action of conveying information or expressing one’s thoughts and feelings in
speech”.
Rhodry Jones (1989,p.14) states that “ speaking is a form of communication,
so it is important that what you say is conveyed in the most effective way. How you
say something can be as important as what you say in getting meaning across”. It
means that the speakers should think about things to say and how to say before they
actually say something so that listeners can understand the message.
According to Chaney and Burke (1998,p.13), speaking is “the process of
buiding and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a
variety of context”.
In case of language teaching, speaking is reviewed as one of the four essential
language skills that learners should acquire. In this viewpoint, Nunan (2003,p48)
states that “ speaking is the productive oral skill. It consists of producing systematic

verbal utterance to convey meaning”. Bygate (1987,p.3) supposes that, “Speaking is
a skill which deserves attention every bit as much as literary skills, in both first and
4


second language. It is the skill which the students are frequently judged. It is also
the vehicle par excellent of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional
advancement and of business”. He shows the significance of speaking skill, so
learners should pay much attention to this skill.
To sum up, there are different ways to define speaking. It can be defined as an
action, a process and a skill. Most of the researchers emphasize the significance of
speaking skill in language teaching.
2.1.2

Parts of speaking

It is essential to combine different abilities such as (i) pronunciation, (ii)
grammar, (iii) vocabulary, (iv) fluency, and (v) comprehension to develop speaking
skills. Each part of speaking abilities is required to grow at different level and
analyzed as follows:
a. Pronunciation
Pronunciation includes the following properties: vowels and consonants, the
stress and intonation patterns.
Harmer (2007) states that in order to speak English fluently, students have to
combine those skills: (i) pronouncing phonemes correctly, (ii) stressing syllables
appropriately, (iii) having right intonation patterns and (iv) speaking in connected
speech.
Harmer (2007) supposes the final purpose of the foreign language learners is
to join the words and create meaningful physical sound so that others can
understand what they say. Generally, students often have difficulty in differentiating

the sounds in foreign language that do not have in their mother language.
b. Grammar
Grammar and vocabulary are the indispensable parts in learning language. According
to Cambridge English dictionary, “grammar is the use of rules about how words change
their form and combine with other words to make sentences”. Particularly in speaking, if
the students do not know grammar, they cannot even make a sentence that haves meaning,
and then in turn, the listeners cannot understand what they think.
5


Therefore, grammar is very important in learning English in general and speaking
English in particular.
c. Vocabulary
According to Cambridge English dictionary, “vocabulary is all the words that
exists in a particular language or subject”. In term of classification, vocabulary can
be single words, set phrases, variable phrases, phrasal verbs, and idioms. It is
coherent that conversation is mainly impossible without a sufficient range of
vocabulary. Therefore, vocabulary is important in speaking English.
d. Fluency
1

According to British Council (2016) , “fluency in a language means speaking
easily, reasonably quickly and without having to stop and pause a lot”. It is easier
for listeners to follow what students say when they speak fluently.
e. Comprehension
Comprehension is the ability to understand the subject or the knowledge
appropriately in a context of conversation. Comprehension is important because the
purpose of learning foreign language is to communicate. If comprehension is failed or
speakers cannot understand each other, learning foreign language is a waste of time.

2.1.3

Teaching speaking

Kayi (2006,p.1-2) states that language teachers guide students to (i)
pronounce English sounds and sound patterns; (ii) apply words stress and sentence
stress, have intonation patterns and rhythm of the foreign language; (iii) choose
suitable words and phrase for the context ; (iv) organize their opinions in a
comprehensive way,...through the process of teaching speaking.
2.1.3.1 Difficulties in teaching speaking skill
Ur (1996,p.121) states four problems in teaching speaking skills that teachers
often come across. They are:

1 British Countil 2016, Fluency, viewed 24 July 2019, <
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6


 Hesitancy

The biggest difference between speaking skill and 3 other skills is the
interaction between speakers. Sometimes, because students are afraid of having
mistakes, or embarrassed of the awareness that their speech creates so they hesitate
to talk.
 Nothing to say

Sometimes, learners cannot think of anything to say.
 Low or uneven participation

When learners work in group, some dominate the activity, while others do not

say even a word.
 First language use

In class, students seem to communicate by their first language because they
are more familiar with the first than the second one. Moreover, it is simple to talk
out loud the first language because they do not have to think of what to say.
2.1.3.2 Difficulties in learning speaking skills
Based on a survey of EFL teachers, the main limitations in the EFL classroom
are to be short of motivation, students’ reluctance to speak, and the use of the first
language. It can be understood that in speaking class, it is quite challenging to make
students talk. The unwillingness to speak may be created by some factors: cultural
factors, linguistic factors, psychological factors, or even lack of confidence of
students.
When students feel not confident to speak, teachers should help them build
their self-confidence. In sum, English teachers need to realize any issues that
students might face with in class.
2.1.4

A successful speaking lesson in a classroom

Ur (1996) supposes that to get an effective speaking session, the class needs to
have 4 following factors:
 Students should be talkative;
 Adherence is even;

7


 Teachers raise high motivation for students;
 The foreign language level of students should be up to a standard.

In summary, there are some elements of a successful speaking lesson.
However, it is quite difficult to apply all those elements in a real class. Anyway, the
teacher should bear in mind those factors to create the most suitable curriculum and
learning environment for students.
2.1.5

Strategies to improve speaking skills

Teachers can promote speaking in the class through a wide range of strategies.
Kayi (2006) states that teachers can organize some activities such as discussion, role
play and picture description to improve speaking skills.
Discussion
During the lesson, teachers and students can have a discussion around this topic.
Discussion makes students raise ideas and give opinions so the speaking skills is
improved gradually.
Role play
By utilizing role play strategy, students act as the character in the social
context and the teachers instruct students which character they are and things to
speak. Role play is beneficial in improving speaking skill because students can get
familiar with various circumstances and when they have it in the real life, they
already know how to communicate.
Picture description
Four to five students work in a group and the teacher provides each group a
unique picture. Students talk about the picture within a group and then main ideas
are noted. After that a spoke person represents the group to deliver a presentation to
the class. The main advantage of this activity is that it helps to increase the creative
power of the students.
2.1.6

Assessment of speaking

As mentioned above, speaking is complex because it combines different
abilities such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension
8


to develop speaking skills. Each part of speaking abilities is required to grow at
different level. It is essential to have a benchmark to assess the speaking. One of the
most common benchmarks used worldwide is oral English rating scale conducted
by Harris (See Appendix 5).
2.2 Role play
2.2.1 Definition of role play
There are numerous definitions of role play from different researchers. Listed
below are some of the definitions of role play.
According to Gower et-al (2005,p.105), “A role play is when students take the
part of a particular person: a customer, a manager, a shop assistant, for example. As
this person, they take part in a situation, acting out a conversation. It is unscripted,
although general ideas about what they are going to say might be prepared
beforehand. These might well come out of a text or a previous context”.
According to Paul Procter (2001, p.116), role is defined as the position or
target someone has in a circumstance, corporation, society, or relation. Paul Procter
(2001, p.121) states that role play is an action simulating as someone else,
especially in studying.
Jo Budden (n.d.) supposes that any speaking activities when you pretend to be
someone else, or when you pretend yourself in an imaginary circumstance.
Ur (1996) states that, “Role play is giving students a suitable topic provides
interest and subject – matter for discussion, dividing them into groups improve the
amount and quality of the verbal interaction”.
In summary, role play is a method in which the students pretend to be

someone else or to be themselves in imaginative circumstances in real life. Role
play is beneficial for both teachers and students. Through that technique, teachers
can improve their teaching, make class more interesting, and inspire students. On
the other hand, students can practice and improve their speaking as well as their
reflexes or behavioral skills.

9


2.2.2 The importance of using role play
Role play is an important technique that is used worldwide in teaching
speaking. P. Nation and I. Thomas (1988) suppose that teachers should organize role
play activities for following reasons:
i.Role play stimulates students to approach other language tasks and language
diversification.
ii.Role play encourages students to discover new culture. For example: students
can learn how to make a payment when they go to supermarket.
iii.Role play makes students more proactive because students involve more in the
activities of speaking class.
Within the thesis, role play was utilized because of some following reasons: a.
Teachers can guide students how to communicate in some specific situations.
b. Students have more opportunities to practice speaking.
c. Shy students can become more proactive because when they act as someone
else, it provides a mask for them and then they feel more confident to talk out loud.
d. Role play is exciting.
2.2.3 Classification of role play
Donn Byrne (1986) states that there are two main forms of role play, which
are: scripted and unscripted role play. The main difference between those two types
of role play is the level of students’ dependence on the content of the textbook.
Scripted role play requires manipulating the conversation in the textbook or reading

that out loud. Unscripted role play does not require students to memorize the
content from the textbook. Students themselves have all the right to develop the
conversation. However, in order to do inscripted role play well, both teachers and
students need to take time to prepare for the topic.
Littlewood (1994) has different classification for role play activities based on
the level of detail information given to students. Therefore, Littlewood (1994)
divides role play into 4 different types as follows:

10


 Role play based on given dialogues: Students receive cues on different

cards to join this activity. Each student need to listen to each other before giving a
suitable answer. The cues help them to forecast and to think about the key points to
answer. The teacher can also guide students some appropriate forms later. However,
the students must rely heavily on the cues in the cards so this type of activity limits
the creativity of the students.
 Role play based on cues and information: This type is more flexible than the

previous one. One person takes the cues to ask and the other takes information to
make a respond. The teacher’s control decreases and the learners’ creativity
increases. These activities are emphasized on practicing how to communicate rather
than on assessing the outcome. This activity encourages the creativity of students,
however, teachers can manage the conversation and guide students to communicate
appropriately.
 Role play based on situation and goals: In this type, teachers decrease their

control gradually and students have more right to lead the conversation. The first
thing students need to master speaking is that students need to understand the

situation and the target. And then they need to lead the conversation to the target
which is given already.
 Role play based on debate and discussion: In this type of role play, students

need to give a solution for an issue by debating or discussing. Firstly, students must
understand the topic clearly. Secondly, students proceed the discussion or the debate
in a small group. Every student in the group must give their opinion and give clues
to protect their point of view. Finally, the solution is come out as the result of
conflicts after the discussion or debate. However, in order to do that type of role
play effectively, students need to have a deep understanding about the topic. They
also need to have a wide range of vocabulary. As long as, those elements are met,
role play is successful.
2.2.4 The significance of role play in teaching speaking
There is no doubt that role play plays an important role in language teaching.
Firstly, students can interact with their partners more. Secondly, students can
11


improve other skills such as: communication skills, organizing kills, time
management skills, presentation skills and so on. Larsen- Freeman, D. (1986, p.34)
agrees that role play creates the environment for students to act in different roles by
using foreign language. Furthermore, when students pretend to be others or to be
themselves in different situations, they have chances to practice how to give opinion
about something, how to deal with some real life situations by using foreign
language. Therefore, role play tends to be the useful strategy in which students
could use their English creatively.
2.3 Related studies in Asia and Vietnam
In Asia countries like Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia, English speaking skill
has caught much attention than before. With the purpose of improving English
speaking skills for students, most of teachers and researchers seemed to agree on the

usefulness of utilizing role play in speaking teaching for students. Bokja Cho (2007)
examined the usefulness of two types of role play. He aimed at improving oral skills
for English learners at Department of Tourism Management at a private university
in Gyeonggi, Korea. Krish Pramela (2001) also shared her experiences on teaching
distance learner with role play at National University of Malaysia (Bangi,
Malaysia). In another research in Indonesia, Arham R. et al (2016) also found out
that role play helps to encourage nursing students to speak English in the class.
Therefore, it can be concluded that role play is an useful method to improve
students’ speaking skill.
Similarly, in Vietnam in recent years, there are many researches in the area of
teaching speaking, particularly in using role play. In 2003, Bui Thi Minh Hong
carried out a research on “Teaching speaking skill at a Vietnamese university and
recommendation for using CMC”. She pointed out the students’ problems with
speaking and gave recommendation for using computer mediated communication to
improve students’ speaking skill. Tran Thi Thuy (2013) also used role play
technique to improve speaking skills for post clerk students at a secondary school in
Thai Nguyen. Her study dealt with accuracy, fluency and motivation in speaking
12


skill. In 2004, in the thesis "Improving speaking English skill of the grade 10
students at Thoai Ngoc Hau high school by using dialogs and role-play”, Mach Buu
Hien (2004) examines the use of conversation and role-play. The research also
points out the process to conduct role-play activities, and some advantages to apply
this activity in teaching speaking. In 2012, Le Dinh Mai Thao conducted a research
on “Applying role-play in increasing student’ interest in learning speaking to grade
11 students at Lai Vung 2 high school”. The aim of the research is to evaluate the
level of students’ interest in learning speaking English and role-play activity as well.
This research also points out the restrictions for teachers to apply role-play in
teaching speaking and suggests some suggestions to help teachers overcome those

difficulties.
Hence, it can be concluded that at the research time, most of the researches in
Vietnam focus mainly on the subjects as students at colleges, universities, high
schools but there is few research about this topic applying students in secondary
school. However, all of those researches can give the author the general theoretical
framework to conduct the thesis. Therefore, in this thesis, the author chooses
different subject: students at grade 6 in a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem Dist.,
Hanoi.
2.4 Summary
In summary, the literature review on role play provides proves of the positive
impact of role play on students’ speaking skills. Therefore, the use of role play is
very necessary to help students improve their speaking skill in general.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter is conducted to present the research design, setting of study,
action research procedures as well as data analysis method.
3.1 Setting of the study
The research was performed at a secondary school in Nam Tu Liem
District, Ha Noi. At this school, students only learned and employed English in
foreign language lesson as all other subjects were conducted in Vietnamese.
The teaching materials used in this study are mainly developed from a
textbook named “Tieng Anh 6” (new textbook). This textbook is designed to
develop a more communicative approach, learner - centered learning, an emphasis
on oral skills and language for real-life communication. The textbook aims at
enabling students to establish their communicative skills in English with lessons
covering four main skills including listening, speaking, reading and writing. The

textbook is theme-based in which language and the skills are structured on a certain
topic. The theme provides a context in which language is used so as to help students
to familiar with the appropriate language structures in different circumstances.
The textbook “Tieng Anh 6” is designed at the suitable level with secondary
students. In this textbook, the objectives are clear for teachers and students to
follow. It provides the overview of the topics, structures/ grammar, functions, as
well as skills. It consists of 12 units, each unit has one topic. In each unit, there are 5
sections of the language input which focus on reading skill, speaking skill, listening
skill and writing skill, as well as language focus. The section for speaking is taught
after reading lesson. The objectives of speaking lesson are to develop learners’
speaking skills on certain topic.
3.2 Research design
The research design of this thesis was classroom action research. Author used
action research as the purpose of this thesis is examining the classroom setting as
well as performing the teaching technique in a particular class to identify solutions
for problems arising in teaching and learning English speaking.
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3.3 Action research procedure
There are different action research procedures proposed by previous researchers.
For example, Mac Isaac (1995) suggested the four steps AR procedure which is
described in the figure 3.1 below:

Figure 3.1: Process of action research
Four steps of this model can be described in more detail as follow:
Step 1: Planning – The main purpose of this step is to identify a problem/ issue as
well as develop action plan to enhance research context in particular areas. Step 2:
Action – After a period of time, the plan is put into action.
Step 3: Observation – Observing action effects and collecting data.

Step 4: Reflection – Evaluating action effects and developing basis for further
research cycles.
Susan (1983), on the other hand suggested another five step model to be applied
for each research cycle (as shown in Figure 3.2). The first step is to identify
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problem and collect data to support a more detailed diagnosis. The second step is to
construct and implement a single action plan after considering several other possible
solutions. Next step is conducted by analysing collected data, which is followed by
fourth step of interpreting findings and demonstrate how the action can be
successfully implemented. The final step is to re-assess the problem and begin
another cycle of the process. This procedure is re-done until the problem is
completely solved.
3.4 Action research procedures of the current study
The following part is to describe the procedure of current action research project.

3.4.1 Stage 1: Identifying the problem and planning
3.4.1.1 Identifying the problem
Based on the previous teaching experience, observation, in class discussion of
researcher and academic results of learners, low speaking skill is identify as main
problem in English learning. Thus, this skill was selected as main subject in this
study.
To examine the current situation of both teaching and learning English
speaking, also as the grade 6 students’ main problems in learning speaking, the
author conducted a preliminary study. Based on the results from student’s survey,
the author discovered that the learners faced many difficulties during the process of
learning speaking such as: limited vocabulary, low self-confidence, inappropriate
materials,...
Moreover, teaching methods were not very effective with the students. To

make the situation better, the author decided to perform the action research method
of which role play activities were used.
3.4.1.2 Planning the action
In this stage, the author made a preparation for the action which consists of
choosing the appropriate teaching materials, preparing lesson plans, making role
play activities evaluation form.

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