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

PHẠM THỊ THIỆN

A STUDY ON USING GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE
SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE SECOND YEAR NON- ENGLISH
MAJOR STUDENTS AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI
(Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để nâng cao kỹ năng nói tiếng
Anh của sinh viên năm thứ hai không chuyên ngữ tại một trường đại học
ở Hà Nội)

Minor Program Thesis

Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi- 2021


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

PHẠM THỊ THIỆN

A STUDY ON USING GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE
SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE SECOND YEAR NON- ENGLISH
MAJOR STUDENTS AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI
(Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để nâng cao kỹ năng nói tiếng

Anh của sinh viên năm thứ hai không chuyên ngữ tại một trường đại học
ở Hà Nội)

Minor Program Thesis
Field: English Language Teaching
Code: 8140231.01
Supervisor: PhD. Mai Thị Loan

Hanoi- 2021


DECLARATION

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project
report entitled “A study on using group work activities to improve
speaking skills of the second year non- English major students at a
university in Hanoi” (Nghiên cứu việc sử dụng hoạt động nhóm để nâng
cao kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh của sinh viên năm thứ hai không chuyên ngữ
tại một trường đại học ở Hà Nội) submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post Graduate
Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National
University, Hanoi. Except where reference indicated, no other person's work
has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.

Ha noi, 2021

Phạm Thị Thiện

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

(Signature and full name)

Date:.....................................

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mai Thị
Loan. PhD, for her inspiring me to do this research. If it had not been for her
helpful material supply as well as invaluable guidance, insightful comments
and kind support, my thesis would not have been accomplished.
I also wish to thank all my lecturers in Vietnam National University,
Hanoi, Postgraduate Department for their precious lectures, which are partly
applied in this study.
I am indebted to my friends both at home and abroad for their
suggestion, encouragement and enthusiasm in helping me distribute the
survey questionnaires and collect information for the study.
Finally, I owe the completion of this study to my family: my parents,
my relatives and especially my husband who gave me understanding and
encouragement throughout the study.

ii


ABSTRACT
The use of group work activities is considered an effective method in
teaching speaking for students. However, not many researches projected have been
carried to examine its effectiveness. For the purpose, this study was set out to

investigate the use of group work activities to develop speaking skill for second
year students learning English as a foreign language in a university in Hanoi. The
researcher used tests, teaching diaries and questionnaires as research instruments.
Findings indicated the effectiveness of group work activities in students'
improvement in their speaking performance and students had positive attitudes
towards group work activities and consider it as an effective way to help them
improve their speaking skills. However, students also encountered some problems
when working in group, in which their low- level speaking ability is the biggest
hindering to them in group work. From that, some recommendations for better using
group work activities in speaking lessons were given for teachers to use in their
classes.

iii


ABBREVIATIONS

ALC: Active Language Classrooms
CLT: Communicative Language Learning
ELT: English Language Teaching
ESL: English as a Second Language
Ss:

Students

iv


TABLE OF CONTENTS


DECLARATION ..................................................................................................................i
Approved by ..........................................................................................................................i
SUPERVISOR.......................................................................................................................i
(Signature and full name) ......................................................................................................i
Date:..................................... ..................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii
ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................v
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii
LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................ix
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1
1.1. Rationale of the study....................................................................................................1
1.2. Aim and objectives of the study ...................................................................................3
1.3. Research questions ........................................................................................................3
1.4. Method of the study ......................................................................................................3
1.5. Scope of the study .........................................................................................................4
1.6. Significance of the study...............................................................................................4
1.7. Organization of the research .........................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...........................................................................6
2.1. An overview of speaking skills ....................................................................................6
2.1.1. Definition ....................................................................................................................6
2.1.2. The role of speaking in teaching and learning..........................................................7
2.1.3. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity .....................................................8
2.1.4. Factors affecting students' performance in speaking activities ...............................9
2.1.5. Activities in speaking lessons..................................................................................10
2.1.6. Traditional ways of teaching speaking ...................................................................12

v



2.1.7. Stages in a speaking lesson ......................................................................................15
2.2. Overview of Communicative Language Teaching Method .....................................16
2.2.1. Definition ..................................................................................................................16
2.2.2. Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching method. .........................18
2.2.3. The roles of teachers and learners in the classroom...............................................19
2.3. Overview of group work in speaking lessons ...........................................................20
2.3.1. Definition of group work .........................................................................................20
2.3.2. Group work formation .............................................................................................21
2.3.3. Common group work activities in teaching speaking............................................23
2.5. Previous studies on group work .................................................................................29
2.6. Summary ......................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .............................................................35
3.1. Action research ............................................................................................................35
3.1.1. Definition of action research ...................................................................................35
3.1.2. Rationale of using action research ..........................................................................36
3.1.3. Steps to conduct .......................................................................................................36
3.2. Research setting ...........................................................................................................39
3.3.1. Teachers' diaries .......................................................................................................40
3.3.2. Questionnaires ..........................................................................................................41
3.3.3. Tests ..........................................................................................................................42
3.4. Data collection procedures .........................................................................................45
3.5. Data analysis method ..................................................................................................46
3.6. Summary ......................................................................................................................47
CHAPTER 4. DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................................48
4.1. Analysis of teacher's diaries........................................................................................48
4.2. Analysis of the questionnaire .....................................................................................51
4.2.1. Students' opinions about learning speaking through using group work activities ..51
4.2.3. Students' reaction to classroom to the classroom atmosphere in speaking lesson
using group work activities ................................................................................................52


vi


4.2.4. Students' preference of types of group work activities in speaking class. ............53
4.2.5. Students' opinion about preference of techniques to motivate students in class ..53
4.2.6. Students' problems in group work activities...........................................................54
4.2.7. Students' opinions on better group work activities ................................................56
4.2.8. Students' opinion on group work formation ...........................................................58
4.3. Analysis of test ............................................................................................................58
4.3.1. Comparison between pretest scores of experimental group and control group ...59
4.3.2. Comparison between post-test cores of experimental group and control group.....60
4.3.3. Comparison between pre- test and post- test scores of experimental group and
control group .......................................................................................................................61
4.4. Summary ......................................................................................................................62
CHAPTER 5. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .............................................................63
5.1. Recapitulation ..............................................................................................................63
5.2. Concluding remarks ....................................................................................................64
5.3. Pedagogical implications ............................................................................................66
5.4. Limitations of the study ..............................................................................................68
REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................70
APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................LXXIV

vii


LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1. Students' opinions about learning speaking skills through group work
activities ..............................................................................................................................51

Table 4.2. Students' evaluation of their speaking skills after lessons using group work
activities ..............................................................................................................................51
Table 4.3. Students' preference of group work activities in speaking class ....................53
Table 4.4. Mean and standard deviation (Pre- test) ..........................................................59
Table 4.5. Mean and standard deviation (Post- test) ........................................................61
Table 4.6. Descriptive statistics for the pre- test scores of experimental group and
control group .......................................................................................................................61

viii


LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1. Students' reaction to the classroom atmosphere in speaking lesson using
group work activities. .........................................................................................................52
Figure 4.2. Techniques used to motivate students............................................................54
Figure 4.3. Students‟ subjective problems in group- work ..............................................55
Figure 4.4. Students‟ objective problems in group- work................................................56
Figure 4.5. Students' opinion on enhancing the effectiveness of group work activities 57
Figure 4.6. Results of pretest scores of experimental group and control group .............59
Figure 4.7. Results of the post- test scores of experimental group and control group ...60

ix


CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale of the study
It is generally acknowledged that English has become one of the most
dominant languages in the world. It has impacted every field of our today‟s life

such as politics, business, education and science. Therefore, there is a great demand
in teaching and learning English in almost every part of the world as either a second
language or a foreign one.
In Vietnam, English was introduced nationally as a compulsory subject at
school several decades ago in order to meet the increasing demands of globalization
with the emergence of a global village. Throughout the years, it has gained its
important role as the main language taught and learnt in all parts of the country.
Especially in the last few years, English has undergone explosive growth with an
overwhelming majority of learners studying English. English proficiency is now
seen as a crucial requirement and viewed as the end result of teaching and learning
process.
Among different skills of learning English language, speaking is one of the
most important skills that need to be addressed and enhanced as it is an effective
means of communication. However, this skill is also considered one of the most
difficult aspects of language learning. In Vietnam, despite the fact that many
students have been learning English for years, they still find it difficult to express
their thoughts in English. Hence, the question is how to improve the ability of
speaking English for students that enable them to communicate fluently is an
important goal in today's foreign language curriculum.
A great deal of effort has been made and a growing number of researches
have been carried out with the aim of generating the best solution to the question
above. Since the late 1960, CLT- a new approach to language teaching which aims
at "providing leaners both functional skills and linguistic objectives" (Nunan, 1989)
has been introduced and widely accepted. This method of language helps learners

1


not only develop their linguistic competences but focus on their communication
ability as well; therefore, it has become a priority in language teaching. In language

teaching, speaking is considered a productive skill that involves many components
such as grammar, strategies, sociolinguistics and discourse (Chastin, 1998:30). This
skill is also considered the most important of all language skills (Ur, 1996), which
leads to a wide range of studies conducted to find the best way to teach speaking
skills. One of the methods which has been said to be able to promote the active and
positive attitudes of students in learning and their language proficiency is group
work. Many research projects have been carried out to determine the effectiveness
of using group work in teaching speaking in ESL classrooms. Awang, Mohamed
and Sulaiman (2013) conducted a study to investigate strategies for Arabic speaking
skills enhancement through group work activities. The researchers used semistructured interviews with five students, group discussion and direct observations
on twenty students to collect date for analysis. The findings indicated that group
work activities have crucial impact on students' speaking skills. They helped to
increase the level of confidence among students. However, the effectiveness of
group work activities depends on how lecturers implements them in teaching and
learning at class. In 2017, a study of group work was also conducted by Divya John.
The researcher found that group work is a good way to develop students' speaking
skills. Analyzing the data from student evaluation and teacher evaluation, the study
identified some elements that contributed to successful group work. Firstly, the
ideal number for group work is between three and five. Secondly, group formation
should be flexible. The 5D procedure: direct, discuss, develop, deliver and
document was suggested for teachers to carry out group work activities more
successfully and effectively.
In Vietnam, there are also many studies conducted to investigate the use of
group work activities in teaching speaking to ESL students. Ly Thi Hoang Men
(2013) investigated the use of pair work and group work activities to develop
speaking skills for learners. The findings of the research revealed that pair work and

2



group work activities are beneficial to both students and lecturers. Nong Thi Thanh
Huyen (2014) also carried out a thesis to investigate how group work activities help
to promote students' interest in English speaking lessons. The research showed that
group work is an effective technique of promoting students' interest in learning
speaking. However, most of research projects focused on the effectiveness of group
work activities and how to enhance the effectiveness of group work activities on
students' speaking ability. There are not many studies investigating students' attitude
toward group work activities.
As English language teacher, the writer also identified the benefits of group
work activities to learning a foreign language. Therefore, an action research was
carried out to access the effectiveness of group work activities on enhancing
students' speaking ability as well as investigate students' attitude toward this type of
learning and teaching method.
1.2. Aim and objectives of the study
This study aims to improve speaking skills of students at a university in
Hanoi. In order to achieve the aims, the current paper is expected to fulfill the
following objectives:
-

to examine the effectiveness of using group- work activities in English

speaking lessons for non- English major students in a university in Hanoi.
-

to find out students' attitude toward implementing group work activities in

teaching speaking lessons at class and pinpoint some problems that students
encounter when doing group work activities in English speaking lessons.
1.3. Research questions
This study attempted to answer the following questions:

1.

To what extent do group work activities affect students‟ speaking skills?

2.

What are the students' attitudes towards group work activities in speaking
lessons?

1.4. Method of the study

3


An action research was carried out. The research instruments are teaching
diaries, questionnaire and tests.
Firstly, the pre-test was delivered to both experimental class (Marketing 2)
and control class (Marketing 1) to check their speaking ability from the previous
lessons.
Secondly, the experimental class was taught speaking through using group
work activities in five weeks. Meanwhile, the control class was taught by using
normal speaking teaching methods. In order to take a closer look into the students‟
attitudes towards group work application and how effective group work activities
were, the researcher wrote the teaching diaries after each lesson in experimental class.
After that, the questionnaire was carried out on the participants in
experimental group at the end of the course to get more information about the
students' attitude on doing group work activities in speaking lessons and pinpoint
some problems that students encounter when doing group work activities.
The post-test was administered to both experimental and control class to
measure students‟ speaking ability after the course.

Finally, the data were collected, sorted and analyzed both quantitatively and
qualitatively to obtain realistic results.
1.5. Scope of the study
This study was conducted with the participation of 54 second- year students
in a university in Hanoi to investigate the effectiveness of the use of group work
activities in speaking lessons and their attitude towards group work activities.
Therefore, English- major students and students of other groups were beyond of the
study. Besides, the study only investigated the effectiveness of group work
activities in speaking lessons, hence the other skills such as listening, reading or
writing were not mentioned in the study.
1.6. Significance of the study
The writer hopes that this study may provide some insights in both
theoretical and practical significance. In term of the theory, the study contributes to
the general theory of communicative language teaching and teaching speaking
4


techniques to help students improve their speaking skills. Moreover, practically, this
study may provide some guidelines to teach and enhance speaking skills.
1.7. Organization of the research
The research includes five chapters as follows.
Chapter 1 is the Introduction presenting rationale of the study, the aim and
objectives, research questions, scope, method, significance as well as the design of
the study.
Chapter 2 is the Literature Review, giving a critical review of some previous
studies relating to the research problem, presenting theoretical background relating
to group work activities.
Chapter 3 is the Methodology, reporting the context of the study which
included the description of the setting and the participants of the study. Data
collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure are

also introduced.
Chapter 4 is the Data Analysis and Findings, describing the analysis of data
in details and discussing the results of the study.
Chapter 5 is the Conclusion, providing the summary of the main issues and
some pedagogical implications. This chapter also include limitations and some
suggestions of further studies.

5


CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter refers to theoretical background for further step of the thesis in
which three related areas will be presented: Overview of communicative language
teaching method, overview of speaking skills and overview of group work in
speaking lessons. In addition to this, the researcher also presents the results of some
previous research projects related to the research area which helps researcher have
better understanding about the issue.
2.1. An overview of speaking skills
2.1.1. Definition
In language teaching and learning, the manner in which a language is used is
called skills or language skills. There are four language skills: listening, speaking,
reading and writing skills (Richards et al, 1992). In teaching and learning a foreign
language in general and English in particular, speaking is one of the most important
skills because it is said to be the basic for communication (Ur, 1996). However,
there are a variety of concepts of speaking by different linguists.
Speaking is the productive skill in the oral mode. According to Chastain
(1998: 330), speaking is a productive skill that involves many components, such as
grammar, strategy, sociolinguistics and discourse.
Nunan (2003) defines speaking as "the productive oral skill" which is

generated by the learner of a language in speech. Speaking is composed of using
verbal systematic utterances to express meaning. Bailey (2005) also states that
speaking is a verbal and productive skill and consists of systematically- produced
oral utterances. Nonetheless, Burns and Joyce (1997) as well as Brown (1994) have
a different view that speaking can be understood as an interactive process of
meaning construction that is associated with producing, receiving and processing
information.
According to Florez (1999), speaking is an interactive process of
constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing

6


information. It is often spontaneous, open- ended and evolving. Chaney and Burk
(1998) states that speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through
the use of verbal and non- verbal symbols, in many different contexts. In one study,
Brown and Yule (1983) claims that speaking have two main types of conversation
namely dialogue and monologue. In monologue, speaker gives uninterrupted oral
presentation while in dialogue, speaker interacts with one or more other speakers
for transactional and international purposes.
Another

term

for

"speaking"

is


spoken

communication

or

oral

communication. It is more immediate and natural, so speaking is in need of the
parties' simultaneous presence and attentiveness (Rai, 2010).
It is concluded that speaking is a verbal skill and a process of oral
communication. A speaker begins to produce oral utterances, which are received
by hearers, and then are processed so that the hearer can understand what the
speaker is saying.
2.1.2. The role of speaking in teaching and learning
According to Ur (1996:96), speaking is the most important of all four skills:
speaking, writing, listening and reading. Besides, it is also considered the first step
to confirm who knows and does not know a language. Hymes & Rogers (1986:23)
claims that the goal of language teaching is to develop communicative competence.
Pattison (1992) also shares the similar opinion which states that when people
mention knowing or learning a language, they actually mean that they can speak the
language.
Brown (1994) claims that speaking is the most challenging skill for students
because it consists a number of features that characterize discourse including
contractions, vowel reductions and elision, the use of slang and idioms, stress,
rhythm and intonation and the need to interact with at least one speaker.
Bailey and Savage (1994: 6-7) argues that speaking is an "activity requiring
the integration of many subsystems... all these factors combine to make speaking a
second or foreign language a formidable task for language learners... yet for many
people, speaking is seen as the central skills".


7


Harmer. J (2007:53) also explains that speaking is the most complicated due
to the fact that speakers have to interpret not only the message that other speakers to
express but also take into account other possibilities such as intonation, stress,
speed. Besides, speakers also have to use a whole range of facial expressions,
gestures and general body language to help to convey the message.
Jeremy Harmer (2007:123) in his book "How to Teach English" said that
there are three main reasons for getting students to speaking in the classroom. First,
speaking activities provide rehearsal opportunities for students to practice real life
speaking in the safety of the classroom. Second, speaking tasks in which students
try to use any or all of the languages they provide feedback for both teacher and
students. Third, students have opportunities to activate the various elements of the
language they have stored in their brains.
In conclusion, speaking is the most important of four skills. Speaking skill
plays an important role in foreign language teaching because ability of speaking
effectively helps learners not only acquire the language better but to communicate
as well. In the language classroom, speaking skill should be paid great attention to
and frequently judged. In addition, learners should try their best to be able to speak
with confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions.
2.1.3. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity
Nunan (2003: 3) claims that teaching speaking is to teach students to produce
the English speech sound and sound patterns, use word and sentence stress,
intonation patterns and the rhythm of the second language, select appropriate words
and sentences according to the proper social setting, audience, situation and subject
matter, organize their though in a meaningful and logical sequence, use the
language as a means of expressing values and judgements, use language quickly
and confidently with few unnatural pauses. Therefore, a successful speaking activity

should help students to strengthen their speaking skills in all aspects.
Ur (1996:89) has asserted some characteristics of a successful speaking
activity as following:

8


Learners talk a lot. As much as possible of the period of time allotted to the
activity in fact occupied by learner talk. This may seem obvious, but often most
time is taken up with teacher talk or pauses.
Participation is even. Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority
of talkative participants: all get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly
evenly distributed.
Motivation is high. Learners are eager to speak: because they are interested
in the topic and have something new to say about it.
Language is of an acceptable level. Learners express themselves in
utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other, and of an
acceptable level of language accuracy (Ur, 1996).
It can be concluded that a good speaking lesson should provide students as
many chances to speak as possible as well as encourage students to participate in
the lesson and motivate them to speak in class. From that, students can strengthen
their speaking ability and communicate in English in appropriate situations.
2.1.4. Factors affecting students' performance in speaking activities
Online Macmillan dictionary defines performance as "the process of doing a
job or an action". (Macmillan dictionary, 2020). It also refers to how well or badly
someone do something. In relation to speaking, performance can be understood as a
means of oral communication in giving ideas and information to others. It involves
the production of the sounds and gestures, facial expression and the whole body- the
way of one's manner in speaking.
Some factors can affect students' speaking performance. According to Nation

and Newton (2009:58), speaking performance can be affected by performance
condition including time pressure, planning, the standard of performance and the
amount of support.
Oxford (1990:7) claims that affective side of the learners is one of the most
important influences on language learning success or failure. Krashen (1982:12)
states that three categories of affective factors are motivation, self- confidence and

9


anxiety. Doff (1998:53) emphasizes the importance of listening skills in developing
speaking skills. He claims that speaking skills cannot be developed unless we
develop listening skills because students must understand what is said to them to
have a successful conversation. Shumin (1997:12) also have similar idea of
listening skills when stating that when one person speaks, the other responds
through attending by means of the listening process.
Another factor that can affect speaking performance is topical knowledgespeaker's knowledge of relevant topical information. Bachman and Palmer
(1996:32) argues that certain test tasks may be easier for those who possess the
relevant topical knowledge and more difficult for those who do not. Therefore, they
believe that topical knowledge has effect on speaking performance.
In short, students' speaking performance can be affected by both outside
factors and learners themselves. Some conditional factors include time pressure,
planning, standard of performance and support from teachers and other students.
Other factors that can influence students' speaking performance consists of students'
levels of confidence, anxiety and motivation. Therefore, teachers should devote
effort in designing and carrying out effective speaking activities to promote
students' engagement in the lesson.
2.1.5. Activities in speaking lessons
There are many types of classroom speaking activities which can help
students to improve speaking skills. Kayi (2006:7) in his article presents

communicative activities to promote speaking skills such as discussion, role- play,
simulations, brainstorming, storytelling, and so on.
For the elementary level, most students do not have the habit of speaking, so
they find it very hard to open their mouth producing the language. That is the
greatest challenge they are facing at this level. Most of them are very shy and even
totally unfamiliar with the target language. Therefore, in order to get students to
talk, teachers necessarily employ repetition drills or mechanical practice (Harmer,
1999: 60). This can be done by teaching each individual pattern at a time and then

10


practice with the pattern mechanically and repetitively after the teachers. In this
way, teachers help students get into the habit of speaking and gradually build up
their confidence to use the language without reluctance.
For the upper level, many students may encounter the problem that they have
knowledge of the topic but do not know what to say, how to speak out their
understanding which lies deep in their minds passively. Accordingly, to assist
students with some ideas to talk, teachers work out several ways that help to project
students‟ thoughts into different directions to get ideas. For instance, students
produce an utterance and then ask themselves different questions like who, what,
which, how, where, when, why and what.
In order to describe a place or thing, students can deploy the technique called
“descriptive formula” in which they use several adjectives to depict and then give
some sentences that help to support the ideas, and to explain the adjective (Reflex,
2002:400).
Students may talk about any topic choosing to mention the reason, the time,
the place, the benefit, advantages, causes, harms, difficulties, obstacles, etc. in their
talk so that they can have something to say and should not struggle with their
running out of ideas (Reflex, 2002:700).

Besides, in order to offer chances to students to speak, teachers should employ
more meaningful tasks. For example, students work in groups, each has similar
pictures, but with differences. Through talking to each other, they have to find the
differences. Another activity is that students work in groups giving a talk on a given
topic; or students are presented with a normal dilemma.
It can be concluded that many activities can be used in speaking lessons,
however teachers have to base on students' levels and topics to choose appropriate
activities. Moreover, speaking activities should be meaningful and interesting to
students so that they are involved more in the lessons. Through those kinds of
activities above, students are exposed to many chances to talk at length about
whatever topic they choose. The problem now is that how they can speak accurately
and fluently.
11


2.1.6. Traditional ways of teaching speaking
Kayi (2006, p.1) claimed that teaching speaking is the activity where the
teachers lead their students to improve their ability in expressing emotions, ideas or
feeling orally. Teaching speaking skills has been changed continuously through the
history of language teaching.
Grammar- Translation method
From the mid 19th century to the mid 20th century, Grammar- Translation
method was prevalent in foreign language classes. The principles of this approach
can be articulated by Broughton‟s words, where he states that the grammatical
approach to language “produced a teaching method which selected the major
grammar rules with their exceptions and taught them in a certain sequence”
(Broughton 39). According to Richards, this approach was “based on the belief that
grammar could be learned through direct instruction and through a methodology
that made much use of repetitive practice and drilling” (Richards 6). Richards
describes this method in more detail when he declares that this “approach to the

teaching of grammar was a deductive one: students are presented with grammar
rules and then given opportunities to practice using them.” (Richards 6). As we can
see from these statements, in language lessons, the priorities were (and still are)
grammar, grammatical rules, given examples, and translating from English into the
mother tongue and vice versa. This method of teaching makes students lack
speaking and pronunciation practice (White, 8). Instead of trying to speak and get
the meaning through, the students are smothered with linguistic information, “rules
with examples, its paradigms [...] and related exercises” (Broughton 39). Many
learners experienced significant frustration at the moment of realizing that they
were not able to speak in common life situations (Broughton 9).
Direct method
Parallel to the Reform Movement ideas was an interest for developing
principles in language teaching as the ones that are seen in first language
acquisition. These were called natural methods, and finally during the nineteenth

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and the twentieth century this new method was called the Direct Method. The
Direct Method was based in an instruction exclusively in the target language since
the mother tongue was not permitted. The vocabulary was taught through
demonstration. The oral skills were organized around questions- answers between
the teacher and the students. In opposition to the Grammar- Translation Method,
grammar was taught inductively and speech and listening comprehension were
taught. By the 1920s, the use of this method declined.
The Audio-lingual Method
The Audio-lingual Method lasted from late 1950s to the 1960s. In this
method, the language was divided in the four skills used when learning a language,
in the following order: listening, speaking, reading and finally writing. Audiolingual
lessons were based on dialogues and drills. Dialogues were used for repetition and

memorization. The correction of pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation were
emphasized. The decline of Audiolingualism was in the late 1960s. The theoretical
foundations of Audiolingualism were attacked due to the changes in the American
linguistic theory in the sixties. Chomsky (1966:153) argued that: “language is not a
habit structure. Ordinary linguistic behaviour characteristically involves innovation,
formation of new sentences and patterns in accordance with rules of great
abstractness and intricacy”.
The Structural Approach
This approach employs techniques of the direct method of teaching but the
use of translation is not wholly discarded. Teaching is done in the situation.
Speeches urge giving stress but reading and writing are not neglected. This
approach is essentially what the term implies-an approach and not a method as such.
Speech and oral work are the core of the structural approach. French (1966)
observes that “Oral work is the basis and all the rest are built on it.” Through
speech, students learn to make direct connection between the English words or
phases and the object, action or idea, it hears. He learns the habit of using words in
the correct sentence patterns and he can learn this in no other way.

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Suggestopedia
Suggestopedia is a method developed by Georgi Lozanov (1978). The main
characteristics of this method were the decoration, furniture, and arrangement of
classroom, the use of music, and the authoritative behavior of the teacher (Richards
and Rodgers, 2001: 142). The music was essential in this method since the
intonation and the rhythm are the basis of the learning process. The main objective
of this method was to make students achieve advanced conversational proficiency
by the use of lists of vocabulary pairs, however according to Lozanov (1978: 251):
“the main aim of teaching is not memorization, but the understanding and creative

solution of problems”.
Total Physical Response (TPR)
Total Physical Response was a language teaching method built around the
coordination of speech and action; it attempted to teach language through physical
activity (Richards and Rodgers, 2001: 87). The main objective of this method was
to teach communication since comprehension was the most important aspect when
learning a foreign language. The ultimate aim was to teach basic speaking skills.
The main objective of this method was accomplished by using imperative drills to
which the students had to answer with a physical response.
It can be said that traditional language teaching is based on a traditional
approach to the target language, which regards the language as a body of
grammatical rules and an enormous number of words that are combined according
to the rules. Traditional methodology thus focuses on grammatical structures and
isolated items of vocabulary. Jim Scrivener adds that “the teacher spends quite a lot
of class time using the board and explaining things – as if „transmitting‟ the
knowledge” (Scrivener 16). Students are expected to learn the rules and the items of
lexis, and it is supposed that they will be able to use the language. However,
students mostly explore only narrow avenues of the language, because, according to
Broughton and Scrivener, the syllabuses are grammatical and the language is
grouped by purpose (16, 31). Besides, these traditional language teaching methods

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