A study on the use of language activities to enhance 11th grade student's speaking skill in pham hong thai school, hung nguyen district, nghe an province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI NHUNG HONG

A STUDY ON THE USE OF LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES
TO ENHANCE 11TH GRADE STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL

IN PHAM HONG THAI SCHOOL

MA THESIS IN EDUCATION


VINH - 2011

2


BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐẠO TẠO
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC VINH

NGUYỄN THỊ NHUNG HNG

NGHIÊN CứU NHữNG HOạT ĐộNG NGÔN NGữ
NHằM PHáT TRIểN Kỹ NĂNG NóI CHO HọC SINH KHốI 11
TRƯờNG THPT PHạM HồNG THáI - HƯNG NGUYÊN - NGHệ AN

Chuyờn ngnh: Lý luận và Phương pháp dạy học môn Tiếng Anh
Mã số: 60.14.10

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ GIÁO DỤC HỌC

Người hướng dẫn khoa học:
PGS. TS. NGƠ ĐÌNH PHƯƠNG


VINH - 2011

4


ACCEPTANCE
I hereby state that I: Nguyen Thi Nhung Hong, being a candidate for the
degree of Master accept requirements of the College related to the retention
and use of Master’s graduation Paper deposited in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper
deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and
research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian
for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper.

November, 2011
Signature
Nguyen Thi Nhung Hong


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study would not have been completed without the support of many
people, to all of whom I am profoundly indebted.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisor, Ngo Dinh Phuong, PhD, for his scholarly instruction, critical
comments, great encouragement and valuable materials, which were decisive

factors in the completion of the study.
Also, sincere thanks are due to the teachers and 11th students of Pham
Hong Thai school for allowing me to administer the test and interview schedule
during their invaluable time class. Without their patient in participating in doing
questionnaires as well as interviews, the study could not have been completed.
Last but not least, I would love to send my gratitude to my family and
friends for their continual encouragements during the time I conducted the study.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents

Pages

ACCEPTANCE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ACCEPTANCE..........................................................................................................................5
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................7
LIST OF CHARTS.....................................................................................................................9
ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................................................10
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................12
1.1. Rationale ...........................................................................................................................12
1.2. Aims of the Study..............................................................................................................12
1.3. Research questions.............................................................................................................13
1.4. Scope of the Study.............................................................................................................13
1.5. The organization of the Study...........................................................................................13
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................................15

2.1. Review of previous studies................................................................................................15
2.2. Theoritical background to language activities and speaking skill....................................18
2.2.1. Language activities.........................................................................................................18
2.2.1.1. Definition of the language activities...........................................................................18
2.2.1.2. The language activities are used in speaking lessons and their effectiveness............19
2.2.1.3. Teacher roles and learner roles in applying language activities.................................25
2.1.1.4. Setting..........................................................................................................................26
2.2.1.5. Features of language activities....................................................................................29
2.2.1.6. Position of language activity in foreign language teaching........................................30
2.2.1.7. Ingredients for successful language activity...............................................................31
2.2.2. Speaking skill..................................................................................................................34
2.2.2.1. Definition of speaking skill........................................................................................34
2.2.2.2. The role and status of speaking in language learning and teaching...........................35
2.2.2.3. Characteristics of speaking .........................................................................................37
2.2.2.4. Principles in developing speaking skill.......................................................................38
2.2.2.5. Approaches to the teaching of speaking......................................................................39
2.2.2.6. Classroom activities to develop speaking skill...........................................................42
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................................44
3.1. Participants.........................................................................................................................45
3.1.1. Survey questionnaire for students..................................................................................45
3.1.2. Students-Interviewees.....................................................................................................45
3.1.3. Teachers- Interviewees...................................................................................................45
3.2. Type of research.................................................................................................................46
3.3. Data collection instruments...............................................................................................46
3.3.1. Two developed research instruments............................................................................46

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3.3.2. Instrumental development..............................................................................................47
3.3.2.1. The design of the questionnaire...................................................................................47
3.3.2.2. Justification for two data collection instruments........................................................47
3.4. Descriptions.......................................................................................................................48
3.4.1. Students...........................................................................................................................48
3.4.2. Teachers..........................................................................................................................48
3.5. Procedures of data collection.............................................................................................48
3.6. Methods and procedures of data analysis..........................................................................49
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...............................................................................................50
4.1. Result from the survey questionnaires..............................................................................50
4.1.1. The frequency and interest of each kind of language activities in class........................53
4.1.2. Difficulties that the teachers have when using language activities...............................60
4.2. Findings and discussion.....................................................................................................61
4.3. Implications .......................................................................................................................62
4.3.1. Implications for teaching each kind of language activities............................................62
4.3.1.1. Role play......................................................................................................................62
4.3.1.2. Discussion....................................................................................................................64
4.2.1.3. Prepared talks...............................................................................................................66
4.2.1.4. Questionnaire...............................................................................................................66
4.2.2. Giving students inspiration by activities involving the lesson......................................68
4.2.3. Using the situation in introduction ................................................................................68
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................72
5.1. Summary of findings.........................................................................................................72
5.2. Limitations of the research................................................................................................73
5.3. Further research.................................................................................................................74
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................77

APPENDIX

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LIST OF CHARTS
Table 4.1: Class size, gender and average years of learning English
of participants............................................................................................................................50
Chart 4.1: The frequency of using speaking tasks in textbook................................................51
Chart 4.2: The attitude of students towards doing speaking tasks in textbook.......................52
Chart 4.3: The evaluation of the effectiveness of speaking tasks in textbook.........................53
Chart 4.4: The frequency of using acting from a script/simulation
and role play, given by students...............................................................................................54
Chart 4.5: The frequency of using acting from a script/simulation
and role play, given by teacher.................................................................................................55
Chart 4.6: Interest in acting from a script/simulation
and role play, given by students...............................................................................................55
Chart 4.7: The frequency of using communication games,given by students.........................56
Chart 4.8: The frequency of using communication games, given by teachers........................56
Chart 4.9: The interest of using communication games...........................................................57
Chart 4.10: The frequency of using discussion in class,given by students..............................58
Chart 4.11: The frequency of using discussion in class,given by teachers..............................58
Chart 4.12: Interest of the students in discussion.....................................................................59
Chart 4.13: Some kinds of language activities that teachers
have difficulties when teaching speaking skills.......................................................................60

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ABBREVIATIONS

LA:

language activities

EFL:

English as a Foreign Language

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ABSTRACT
Language activities are introduced widely all over the world and this is
not also a strange conception to teachers of English in Vietnam. Nevertheless,
due to teacher’s low proficiency, class size, facilities schedules, using it in class
is not a simple duty to the teachers.
The effectiveness of a lesson greatly depends on the activities the teachers
use in the classroom and the extent to which students are involved in those
activities. Especially, in speaking lesson, the understanding of whether students
enjoy the language activities and which ones can motivate them could help
teachers in choosing the right ones for their students. A survey is conducted
among students of Pham Hong Thai high school and data from the survey would
be carefully analyzed to draw a clear picture of language activities employed in
speaking lesson.
The results from the questionnaire and textbook’s evaluation will provide
the researcher with a comprehensive understanding of the current situation of
using language activities to enhance 11 th students’ speaking skill in Pham Hong
Thai school. Generally, the students are not interested in doing speaking tasks
that are given in the textbooks. Also, they are not aware of whether these tasks
are effective for them or not. Nevertheless, they express their desire for some

types of language activities that they have chances to work with.
For the teachers, most of them admit that they often have difficulties in
using language activities to teach speaking skill for their 11 th grade students.
The study aims to serve as a useful source of reference for teachers,
students and those who concern about this subject matter.

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Recently, English has gradually become an international language. In Viet
Nam, English has been taught and used most commonly than any other foreign
languages. Therefore, finding a method of English language teaching to help
learners use English frequently is necessary. In Pham Hong Thai high school,
teaching English programme is generally based on grammatical language
teaching method. This method concentrates on learners is the centre of studying.
(Tran, 2007). Thus, students’ active participation in the lesson is very important.
For the students, the lesson should also be fascinating and motivating to them.
To fascinate students, language activities (including games and activities)
(Simon, 1984) need to be carefully designed and effectively used in speaking
lessons because “language games and activities provide an opportunity for
learners to try out their newly acquired competence in a context where they feel
psychological secure” (Simon, 1984, p.6).. Therefore, it is really essential to
know whether the language activities have the good effects on teaching speaking
skill to the students of Pham Hong Thai high school. With the aim to access the
method on teaching speaking skill through the language activities, the writer
would like to choose this topic. It is supposed that some former studies have

mentioned this issue, however, it will be deeply carried out in this paper.
1.2. Aims of the Study
According to the importance of the participation of students I class
speaking lessons, this study aims at investigating the use of language activities to
enhance speaking skill for 11th grade students in Pham Hong Thai highschool.
With the reasons mentioned above, the specific aims of the study,
accordingly, are:

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+ To investigate the reality of using language activities to teach speaking
skill for 11th grade students in Pham Hong Thai highschool.
+ To clarify the teachers’ viewpoints in the necessity of applying the
language activities in teaching speaking skill.
+ To learn about the students’ attitude toward practicing their speaking
skill through the language activities.
+ To find out the students’ problems in speaking skill and elements
leading to such difficulties.
+ To contribute to overcome such difficulties and give some suggestions
methods to apply language activities in speaking lessons.
1.3. Research questions

1.3.1. What is the reality of the application of language activities in
teaching speaking skill to 11th grade students in Pham Hong Thai school?
1.3.2. What are the attitudes of students toward using the language
activities in speaking skill?
1.3.3. What are difficulties that teachers have in teaching speaking skill
via the language activities?
1.3.4. What should be suggested to solve such problems and promote

English language speaking skills with the language activities in Pham Hong Thai
school.
1.4. Scope of the Study
The current study only emphasizes on in-class activities in speaking class
that are used in communicative language teaching programme.
Participants in this study are students of 11 th grade, Pham Hong Thai
highschool, Nghe An.
1.5. The organization of the Study

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The study contains five following chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature review
In this chapter, it introduces the theoretical foundations for the whole
paper. Besides providing the definitions of key terms such as language activity
and speaking skill, the chapter presents some of the basic issues in relation to
some theoretical questions and related studies on language activities, as well as
the role of language activities in enhancing speaking skill for students;
Chapter 3: Methodology
The chapter covers the research design, elaborates the participants, the
instruments,the three-phase procedure of collecting data and the procedure of
processing data from the survey questionnaire and interviews.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion
In this chapter, the data takes from the survey questionnaire for students
and teachers is analyzed and categorized. The findings are used as the
cornerstone for the recommendations in the next chapter.
Chapter 5: Recommendations and conclusion
The researcher gives out some language activities adapted from the tasks

in the English 11 textbook as samples for the secondary teachers to consider.
In addition, the chapter will present the author’s suggestion on mentioned
problems and after that, summarize all the main points raised in the paper, the
limitations of the study and some suggestions for further studies.

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter, as its name suggests, provides an overview of the literature
related to this study, laying the solid foundations for the subsequence
development for the paper. Not only are key terms like language activity,
speaking skill defined but critical background information about the key terms is
also presented to ensure a thorough understanding of the research matters.
Besides, this review will reveal the research gap, thus rationalizing the need to
carry out the study.
2.1. Review of previous studies
In recent years, it is seen that there have many researches, which
investigate into applying Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) or
Communicative Approach in teaching English language aspects as well as the
four language skills. Among them, the issue of applying language activities into
teaching speaking skills can be drawn attention of many educators as well as
researchers. There were some studies that refer to some aspects of the topic. One
of them that contained most is “Some problems in speaking activities of
freshmen of English Department of College of Foreign Languages” by Le
Phuong Lan. Her study had a part that mainly focus on “pointing out types of
speaking activities freshmen like best” … (p.10). However, she did not do well
in her survey because, to concentrate on the goal, the study should have made

survey questionnaires such as which activities that the freshmen like best instead
of only which activities she often does. The question only helps her find out
what freshmen do in speaking class. Moreover, it is sure that she feel interested
when she does what she likes, so the question “How do you feel in the speaking
activities” and “how is your class atmosphere in speaking” was redundant. In the

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list of the activities for the freshmen to choose, there were some activities that
seem to be not relevant. Group work and pair work are only the way that an
activity is done not a kind of activity. Because of it, the result of the survey was
not completely exact. One of the pioneering studies on the application of
eliciting techniques into English lessons is “Eliciting spontaneous speech in
bilingual students: Methods and techniques” by Cornejo, Ricardo and Najar
(1983). In

this research, the three researchers first presented an overview of

studies using traditional techniques to elicit language from students before
recommending the use of interviews as a way to elicit students’ talk. Some other
innovative techniques were put forward to foster students’ spontaneous
conversations, both with

their

teachers

and

students. While

the

study

could provide significant background theory and practical recommendations, it
still had two perceivable limitations. Since it was conducted outside Vietnam,
the scope of the study did not reach Vietnamese language teaching and learning
context. Also, the subjects of the study were bilingual

students whose

culture, education and other conditions were totally different from Vietnamese
EFL students’. The gap that no specifications for Vietnamese students were
made as communicative language teaching became the most prevailing approach
implemented in almost every upper-secondary school in Vietnam, there have
been several researches on the field. The first one is “Using elicitation
techniques

to

teach Vocabulary to 11th form students in Hanoi” by Pham

(2006). On shedding light on the issue, the author attempted to investigate
three aspects: the situation of teaching vocabulary to 11th form students in
Hanoi, the application of elicitation techniques to teach vocabulary to these
subjects and pedagogical recommendations to make a better use of elicitation
techniques in teaching vocabulary. Knowing that his effort in conducting this
study was praiseworthy and the findings had a significant contribution to the

field, there were still some limitations that should be addressed. Firstly,

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the study centered around the teaching vocabulary. Although this was one of
three core teaching components where the employment of elicitation techniques
could be considered a must in modern EFL classrooms, the results of a thorough
investigation into this field only could not represent that of the others namely
grammar, pronunciation and four macro skills: listening, speaking, reading and
writing. Secondly, the classroom settings where the survey of this research was
conducted were not yet introduced the new textbook which still followed the old
teaching methods.
One year later, another research on enhancing speaking skill was carried
out by Tran (2007) named “eliciting technique to teach speaking skill to
grade-10 students in HFLSS”. Firstly, she investigated the real situation of
teachers’ using eliciting techniques to teach grade-10 students in HFLSS in
Hanoi. Then, outstanding advantages of this practice could be drawn out.
Hindrances to the employment process of this technique were diagnosed for
timely and necessary pedagogical adjustments. Notably, the author gave a
close look at the speaking skill as the focus. It means that the whole study shed
light on

the

issue of how

to

employ

eliciting

technique

to

teach

speaking skill, not others. This can be seen as the first limitation of the study.
The second problem

is

that

the subjects of

the study were students

from FLSS only, which could hardly be generalized into a wider population of
other institutions across the city and country.
These listed gaps intensify the significance of the current study which
targets at techniques teachers use to elicit students’ talk to develop numerous
skills simultaneously, rather than any single one, and among grade 11
students in some selected schools in Pham Hong Thai school for a greater
generalization.
Therefore, the study mainly focuses on investigating on applying the
language activities into teaching speaking English language to 11 th grade

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students in Pham Hong Thai school. The result of the study can be the good
foundation of next ones so that it could help educators multiply teaching styles
and students enhance their speaking skill.
2.2. Theoritical background to language activities and speaking skill
2.2.1. Language activities
2.2.1.1. Definition of the language activities
Language activities are activities that are used in teaching a language for
teachers’ aims. In speaking class, language activities are often exerted because
the use of language activities is a way for the teacher to improve the students’
ability to use the language meaningfully. Also, they can alter the environment of
speaking lesson (Carrier, 1980).This will make the speaking lesson “a kind of
bridge for learners between the classroom and the world outside” (Hadfield &
Hadfield, 1999) more interesting.
Some learners question that whether Games is a kind of language
activities? The answer is yes because according to Carrier (1980), “the term
“games” is used whenever there is an element of competition between individual
students or team in a language activities” (p.10). The answer is also supported by
Noor Eka Chandra (2008) “it can be said that language games not only function
as time filling activities but also they can bring some educational values that
enable the children to learn the language “from Wittgenstei’s opinion.
To sum up, a language activity is a piece of work that involves all the
learners in; the comprehension of the foreign languages (spoken or written);
the production of the foreign languages (spoken or written) or interaction in
the foreign languages. During a language activity, learners’ attention is
principally focused on meaning rather than form, that is, on what is being
expressed rather than on the linguistic forms used for expressing it. In
addition, as far as possible, a language activity resembles activity which

students or other people carry out in daily life,thus reproducing processes of
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daily communication. A language activity is usually part of a sequense
which often creates a context for the activity. Beside, both teachers and
learners can evaluate this task, in relation to both process and outcome. A
language activity has the ultimate purpose of developing students’ability to
communicate in English, so it has a pedagogic purpose.
2.2.1.2. The language activities are used in speaking lessons and their
effectiveness
The language activities used now are the activities for communication.
Enhancing is praised as a very effective technique used in language
classroom from which both students, as the center of the class, and teachers
can benefit.
Firstly, enhancing involves the class by focusing students’ attention and
making them think. In the production stage, it is likely that teachers will be those
who talk most of the time in order to convey as many new knowledge units as
possible within a certain amount of time while students almost do nothing but
listen. Doff (1988: 159) diagnosed the problem: “Obviously, this part of lesson
will be dominated by the teacher-he or she is using English to introduce new
materials”. As a consequence, students may lose concentration and enthusiasm
easily. Henceforth, if teachers can activate students’ minds more by asking
questions, by pushing

them to think and encouraging them to contribute,

they will be more engrossed in the lesson. Also revealed from

this

idea by

the author, by being required to answer teachers’ questions throughout the
lesson, students can develop their critical and independent thinking together with
many other skills needed for learners of foreign languages. Sooner or later, they
can overcome andeliminate passiveness which is one of inherent weaknesses of
Vietnamese learners.
Secondly, Doff

(1988: 161)

believed

that

“eliciting

encourages

students to draw on what they already know or partly know. Therefore, it is a

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useful technique for mixed ability classes or those of different learning
backgrounds.” Before introducing new knowledge, teachers tend to remind
students of the old one or ask them about personal experience. By attempting to
answer

teachers’ questions,

students have opportunities

to

scan

their

background knowledge system, checking what they have or partly have
already in their minds. In addition, by sharing knowledge in full view of the
whole class, students, irrespective of their gaps in terms of competence, can
learn much from one another.
It is taken for granted that elicitation directly and mainly benefit
students. However, in the meantime, teachers are at great advantage. First,
elicitation can be used for presenting new language as well as reviewing
what was taught earlier (Doff, 1988:161). Moreover, eliciting gives teachers a
chance to see what students know and what they do not and so adapt their
presentation to the level of the class. Therefore, it is clearly seen that
elicitation plays the role as testing tools that teachers can use to measure the
level of the class. In short, language activities are beneficial to both students and
teachers. Teachers should take every chance, when possible, to apply this
technique in language classrooms. The following activities are come up with
most popular in speaking class (Harmer, 2004)
a. Acting from a script/Simulation and Role-play
The activity is like Simulation and Role –play because they both require
the students to take on roles in the play or in a conversation, etc. Acting from a
script seems to be in simulation and role –play because when the teachers do
not have the students act the script completely, the activity will become

Simulation and Role-play.
Simulation and Role –play has three advantages (Harmer, 2004)
+ The students can be good fun and motivating

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+ They allow hesitant students to be more forthright in their opinion and
behavior than they might be when speaking for themselves, since they do not
have to take the same responsibility for what they are saying.
+ By broadening the world of the classroom to include the world outside,
they allow students to use a much wider range of language than some more taskcentred activities may do.
b. Communication games
The activities are used as Information gap games (puzzles, draw/describe
a painting, put /describe things in the right order, find the similarities and
differences between two pictures, etc)
The activities make the students talk together more to find the details that
are cut, different or similar. They can help the student think and react more
rapidly to reach the best score. Moreover, the groups in class can take part in the
activity to compete with the other groups to get gifts. The advantage of using
was summarized by Carrier (1980) as following:
1. Games add variety to the range of learning situations
2. Games can be used to change the pace of a lesson and so maintain
motivation.
3. Games can be used to punctuate long formal teaching units and renew
students energy before returning to more formal learning.
4. Games can give hidden practice of specific language points without
students being aware of this
5. Games encourage students‘ participation and can remove the
inhibitions of those who feel intimidated by formal classroom situations

6. Games can change the role of the teacher from that of formal instructor
to that of manager or organizer of activities that students enjoy participating in.
This can be useful in reducing teacher students’ distance or conflict

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7. Games can act as a testing mechanism, in the sense that they will
expose of weakness and the need for remedial work
This technique is widely advocated by many ELT experts since it is very
effective in many ways. Traditionally, there used to be a common conception
that all learning should be serious and solemn in nature. This is a mere
misconception as it is possible to learn a language and enjoyed oneself at the
same time (Lee, 1995: 35), Wright, Betteridge and Buckby (1984:1) believed
that “language learning is hard work…Effort is required at every moment and
must be maintained over a long period of time. Games help and encourage many
learners to sustain their interest and work”. Therefore, it is clearly seen that good
games can be used during a burdensome lesson. Communication games help
teachers to create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful. The
learners want to take part and in order to do so they must understand what others
are saying or have written, and they must speak or write in order to express their
own point of view or give information (Wright 1984:1). If communication
games are well-chosen and appropriately used, they can give students a break
and simultaneously create chances for them to practice new skills in a highly
amusing and motivating way (Ersoz, 2000). In order to fully obtain these
benefits, one thing that teachers should take into consideration is that “whenever
a game is to be conducted, the number of students, proficiency level, cultural
context, timing, learning topic, and the classroom settings are factors that should
be taken into account (Nguyen and Khuat,2003).
c. Discussion

According to The National Capital Language Resource Center,
Washington, DC ( (NCLRC):
Through well-prepared communicative output activities such as role plays
and discussions, you can encourage students to experiment and innovate with the
language, and create a supportive atmosphere that allows them to make mistakes

22


without fear of embarrassment. This will contribute to their self-confidence as
speakers and to their motivation to learn more. (“Developing speaking
activities”) The activity not only helps the teachers see whether their students
understand what they are learning but also improves the students’ ability to
speak before crowd. The activity is also more useful in small groups because the
students“have a chance to think of ideas and the language to express them before
being asked in public”. (Harmer,2004)
d. Prepared talks
The activity has more advantages than discussion because it allows the
students to have more time to prepare at home. On the other hand, they can
choose the topics they like and think of what will happen in their presentation
such as a game, some questions, so on. They also make their own play by writing
their transcript. The activity is really effective when it is held by a group. Each
member of the group has their opinion so the thing can make their presentation
more unique and interesting.
e. Questionnaires
Harmer (2004) assumed as following:
Questionnaire is very useful because, by being pre-planned, it ensure that
both questioner and respondent have something to say to each other. Depending
upon how tightly designed they are, they may well encourage the natural use of
certain repetitive language patterns-and thus be situated in the middle of our

communication continuum” (p. 274)
Also, it can be more useful when it is used for the students to make
acquainted together in the beginning lessons. The questionnaires can be about
one’s hometown, interests, and hobbies, etc.
Making questions
Asking questions is the leading technique employed to enhance students
to speak or, to be more specific, ideas and responses from students. Questioning

23


offers a number of benefits. As acknowledged by Darn, S. (2008), asking
questions is a natural feature of communication, but also one of the most
important tools which teachers have at their disposal. Questioning is crucial to
the way teachers manage the class, engage students with content, encourage
participation and increase understanding. Also, according to the writer, while
questioning can be an effective tool, there is both an art and science to asking
questions. Some of the rules, teachers should take into account are to consider
the quantity of questions to raise in appropriate time and place to keep teacher
speaking time to the minimum while maximizing students’ contributions and
what questions to ask students.
Regarding question types, scholars had numerous different ways of
classification.

Grammatically,

Doff

(1988:23-24)

gave

quite

a

basic

categorization including:
Yes/no question
This type of question means to check students’ comprehension by
answering yes or no. It helps teachers see whether students understand any point
related to the lesson or not. Therefore, yes/no question cannot help much in
enhancing speaking skill but is still employed in classroom for certain purposes.
Alternative question
This type of question can be called alternative question. By being asked to
select one option among some available ones, students are made to think
carefully for the right answer. With this type of question, teachers can motivate
students to review their knowledge in order to justify their choice. As a result,
alternative question is regarded as a relatively effective instrument to provoke
students’ responses.
Wh-question
Wh-questions, or questions beginning with what, who, where, when,
which, etc.., can be asked to obtain specific information. These kinds of
24


questions tremendously exploit students’ existing knowledge or check their
comprehension of the new knowledge. Henceforth, wh-questions are by far most
favored to enhance speaking skill of 11th grade students in class-time.

According to Darn (2008), as discovered, there have been a number of
typologies and taxonomies of questions. Socratic questioning forms the basis of
eliciting (Ur, 1996: 53). Meanwhile, Darn (2008) found out that Bloom’s
taxonomy identifies six types of questions by which thinking skills may be
developed and tested. In the context of language teaching and learning. Bloom
himself maintained that “The major purpose in constructing a taxonomy of
educational objectives is to facilitate communication…”. Darn (2008) said that
classroom questions can fall into two main types:
+ Display questions: these questions help enhance learner’ prior
knowledge and to check comprehension of the knowledge that has been taught.
Display questions often focus on the form of meaning of language structures and
items, the answers of which are already known by teachers.
+ Referential questions: These questions are used to foster students’ skills
of providing further information, giving an opinion, explaining or clarifying.
They often focus on content rather than language, require “follow-up” or “probe”
questions, and the answer is not necessarily known by the teacher.
The difference of the two taxonomies of questions, one presented by Doff
(1988) and the other by Darn (2008), results from the different angels of views
and focuses. However, both of them agree on the fact that questions are used for
the main purpose of checking students’ comprehension of the new knowledge
and provoke their prior knowledge.
2.2.1.3. Teacher roles and learner roles in applying language activities
a. Teacher roles
Unlike the traditional teaching styles, in language activities, teachers play
important roles in teaching it. It is supposing that teachers are expected to be the
instructors.

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