A study on effects of storytelling on speaking performance among student s of Englishat the University of transport and communications - Campus 2

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, Bui Thi Nga hereby certify that this thesis, entitled “A study on effects of

storytelling on speaking performance among students of English at the University

of Transport and communications – campus 2”, is my own work.

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contain material

published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have

qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma.

No other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main

text of the thesis.

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any

other tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh, 2016

BUI THI NGA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deep gratitude to all those concerned in my thesis.

The deepest gratitude I would like to send is to my supervisor, Le Hoang Dung,

PhD, who gave me great care, thoughtful and insightful comments in the thesis. He

also provided me with invaluable support in the preparation and completion this

thesis as well as a wholehearted supervisor. Without his enthusiastic guidance and

constructive critical questions, I could not have finished my study.

I specially thank my colleagues at the UTC2 for helping me with the assessment as

well as sharing the happiness and difficulties with me during the study.

I am also grateful to my TESOL7 classmates, who helped and supported me with

the willingness and encouragement.

Last but not least, my special thanks go to my family and my husband, Nguyen The

Hung. I could never overcome the difficulties facing my life without their endless

love.

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ABSTRACT

Recently, English has been recognized as a bridge to enhance mutual

understanding and relationships among countries. Hence, there have been great

efforts of schools as well as universities so as to enforce speaking English of

students. As mentioned, storytelling has been considered as a teaching method that

has the capacity to contribute to the enhancement of English speaking performance.

Therefore, the 6-week quasi experimental study on storytelling was conducted to 38

students at the University of Transport and Communications – Campus 2 in order to

investigate the effects of storytelling in learning speaking English. Subsequent to

this, learners‟ attitudes toward learning English with storytelling was found out. In

this study, the majority of the students supported the use of storytelling as the best

way of learning English performance as well as showed their positive attitude after

the treatment, as detected by the tests, questionnaire and interview. From the

research findings, several further studies as well as suggestions for teachers were

made in the hope of improving the teaching and learning English performance

quality in Vietnam University.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Statement of authorship ............................................................................................i

Acknowledgements....................................................................................................ii

Abstract.................................................................................................................... iii

Table of contents ......................................................................................................iv

List of tables and diagrams .................................................................................. viii

List of abbreviations .................................................................................................x

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................1

1.1 Background of the study.....................................................................................1

1.2 Statement of problem .........................................................................................4

1.2.1 Aims of the study..........................................................................................4

1.2.2 Research questions........................................................................................4

1.2.3 Research hypotheses.....................................................................................4

1.3 Significance of the study ....................................................................................5

1.4 Scope of the study ..............................................................................................5

1.5 Organization of the thesis...................................................................................5

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................7

2.1 The nature of speaking .......................................................................................7

2.1.1 Definition of speaking ..................................................................................7

2.1.2 Components of speaking...............................................................................8

2.2 Effective ways of teaching speaking ..................................................................8

2.2.1 Considerable factors in teaching speaking....................................................8

2.2.1.1 Fluency.....................................................................................................9

2.2.1.2 Knowledge of language............................................................................9

2.2.1.2.1 Grammar..............................................................................................9

2.2.1.2.2 Vocabulary ........................................................................................10

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2.2.1.3 Self-confidence ......................................................................................11

2.2.1.4. Motivation .............................................................................................11

2.2.2 Principles of teaching speaking ..................................................................12

2.2.3 Criteria of assessment for speaking performance .......................................14

2.3 Storytelling .......................................................................................................17

2.3.1 Definition ....................................................................................................17

2.3.2 Characteristics of storytelling in teaching speaking ...................................17

2.3.3 Types of story .............................................................................................18

2.3.4 Related studies to using storytelling in learning speaking English ............19

2.3.4.1 Benefits of using storytelling in learning speaking English ..................19

2.3.4.2 Drawbacks of using storytelling learning speaking English..................22

2.3.5 Hypotheses of the study..............................................................................25

2.4 Lesson plans design..........................................................................................27

2.5 Chapter summary..............................................................................................30

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................31

3.1 Research setting................................................................................................31

3.2 Research design ................................................................................................31

3.3 Research participants........................................................................................32

3.3.1 Students.......................................................................................................32

3.3.2 Teachers......................................................................................................34

3.4 Research tools...................................................................................................34

3.4.1 Stories .........................................................................................................34

3.4.2 Lesson plan samples ...................................................................................35

3.4.3 Tests............................................................................................................37

3.4.3.1 Pre test....................................................................................................37

3.4.3.2 Post test ..................................................................................................38

3.4.4 Questionnaire ..............................................................................................41

3.4.5.1 Questionnaire structure for piloting .......................................................41

3.4.5.2 Actual questionnaire...............................................................................42

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3.4.6 Interview .....................................................................................................47

3.5 Data collection procedure.................................................................................48

3.6 Chapter summary..............................................................................................50

Chapter 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.............................................51

4.1 Non-parametric analysis of Experimental Group in Pre test and Post test ......51

4.2 Questionnaire data analysis..............................................................................56

4.2.1 Students‟ background information..............................................................56

4.2.2 Students‟ interest towards using storytelling in learning oral performance

..............................................................................................................................57

4.2.3 Students‟ stimulation of imagination of storytelling ..................................59

4.2.4 Students‟ encouragement of emotional development.................................60

4.2.5 Students‟ enrichment of linguistic knowledge ...........................................61

4.2.6 Students‟ motivation and confidence..........................................................63

4.2.7 Students‟ reflection upon stories‟ meanings...............................................65

4.2.8 Students‟ improvement of memory ............................................................66

4.2.9 Balance between English and Vietnamese .................................................67

4.3.0 Suitability of story.......................................................................................68

4.3.1 Students‟ suggestions of using storytelling in the class..............................68

4.3 Analysis of interview answers..........................................................................70

4.4 Discussion of results.........................................................................................71

4.4.1 Students‟ speaking performance improvement ..........................................71

4.4.2 Students‟ attitudes towards learning speaking English with storytelling ...72

4.5 Summary of findings........................................................................................74

4.6 Conclusion........................................................................................................80

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................81

5.1 Main conclusions of the study..........................................................................81

5.2 Suggestions for teachers...................................................................................83

5.3 Limitations of the study....................................................................................85

5.4 Recommendations for the study.......................................................................85

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5.5 Conclusion........................................................................................................86

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................87

APPENDICES .........................................................................................................91

APPENDIX 1 PRE-ORAL TEST ..........................................................................91

APPENDIX 2 QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION).................................93

APPENDIX 3 QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) ........................97

APPENDIX 4 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.........................................................101

APPENDIX 5 A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN 1..............................................103

APPENDIX 6 A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN 2..............................................105

APPENDIX 7 A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN 3..............................................106

APPENDIX 8 A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN 4..............................................108

APPENDIX 9 GUIDE FOR LESSON PLANS TO A2 – LEVEL

PARTICIPANTS..................................................................................................110

APPENDIX 10 MATERIALS FOR LESSON PLANS.......................................112

APPENDIX 11 PRE TEST AND POST TEST RESULTS.................................115

APPENDIX 12 INTERVIEW REPORT..............................................................116

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LIST OF TABLES AND DIAGRAMS

Table 1 The Criteria for the oral tests (1)..................................................................14

Table 2 The Criteria for oral tests (2) .......................................................................16

Table 3 Benefits and drawbacks of storytelling........................................................24

Table 4 The distribution of the EG ...........................................................................33

Table 5 Summary of adaptable lesson plans.............................................................36

Table 6 The Criteria for the oral tests .......................................................................40

(Adapted by Cambridge English Language Assessment (2011)).............................40

Table 7 Questionnaire items......................................................................................44

Table 8 The brief summary of study procedure........................................................48

Table 9 Descriptive statistics for Experimental Group in Pre test and Post test.......51

Table 10 Descriptive statistics of aspects in Pre test and Post test ...........................52

Table 11 Pre test and Post test of Normality.............................................................52

Table 12 Means of Paired Samples Statistics ...........................................................52

Table 13 Paired Samples Correlations......................................................................53

Table 14 Paired Difference .......................................................................................53

Table 15 Pre test and Post test aspects of Normality ................................................54

Table 16 Ranks of Pre test and Post test aspects.......................................................54

Table 17 Test Statisticsa

............................................................................................55

Table 18 Participants‟ gender....................................................................................57

Table 19 Participants‟ age.........................................................................................57

Table 20 Participants‟ English learning time ...........................................................57

Table 21 Students‟ interest towards using storytelling in learning oral performance

...................................................................................................................................58

Table 22 Students‟ response to the stimulation of imagination of storytelling ........59

Table 23 Students‟ response to the encouragement of emotional development.......60

Table 24 Students‟ response to the enrichment of linguistic knowledge..................61

Table 25 Students‟ response to the motivation and confidence................................64

Table 26 Students‟ reflection upon stories‟ meanings..............................................65

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Table 27 Students‟ improvement of memory ...........................................................66

Table 28 Balance between English and Vietnamese ................................................67

Table 29 Suitability of story......................................................................................68

Table 30 Students‟ response to their suggestions .....................................................69

Table 31 General and comprehensive view of findings............................................75

Table 32 Summary of agreement on questions H31 to J40 ......................................83

Diagram 1 Overview of storytelling .........................................................................25

Diagram 2 The procedure of study ...........................................................................50

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ASR: Absolute Sound Recorder

CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

EG: Experimental Group

ESP: English for Specific Purpose

ESL: English as a Second Language

KET: Key English Test

SD: Standard Deviation

SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

UTC2: University of Transport and Communications – Campus 2

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Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Nowadays, with the tendency of globalization and world integration, nations

all over the world have many opportunities to co-operate with one another in many

fields. In this context, an international language is required. Therefore, the role of

English becomes more and more important, as it is a bridge to enhance mutual

understandings and relationships among countries. In Vietnam, English has become

a compulsory subject in all schools and universities to “provide students with a new

tool of communication to absorb scientific knowledge, advanced technology and

diversified cultures in the world for the world facilitation of the globalization” (Le,

2008). In the case, it is really essential for learners to develop four skills, namely

listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, in Vietnamese educational

context, the reality of teaching and learning English is problematic. According to

Tran (2005) in the article “Factors affecting teaching and learning English in

Vietnamese universities” published by Vietnam National University – Hanoi, she

defined several problems affecting English language teaching and learning in

Vietnam in terms of too large class size, lack of authentic context for language

study, traditional form-focused instruction rather than interactive teaching

approaches and low English levels of the majority students when entering

university. Because of such reasons, the ability of communicating in English of

students is very low, even in simple English sentences. According to Nunan et al

(2003) (cited in the article in Tran 2005), the proficiency of English of the majority

of university students is currently disappointing although there have been great

efforts of universities in terms of increasing the qualifications of teachers of

English, applying new teaching methods as well as supporting from foreigners.

The fact leading to students‟ difficulty in learning to speak English is that

English is rarely used outside the classroom. In addition, in Vietnam, teaching

English communicatively has been ignored mostly in their real-world classrooms.

Instead, they spend most of their lesson time explaining abstract grammar rules and

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guiding their students in choral readings (Le, 2002). In the article by Anh (2012),

she mentioned one of the causes of the problem was teaching and learning English

in Vietnam which emphasized traditional pedagogy, the acquisition of grammar,

vocabulary rather than communicative competence”. Apart from the positive factors

affecting teaching quality, in the article by Hong et all (2015), they admitted the

factors negatively affect quality of teaching in terms of insufficient time for English

subjects; lack of speaking component in tests and examinations; unequal students‟

English abilities; large class sizes; limited support from university leaders; and

students‟ limited efforts and motivation. The students, therefore, receive limited

target language input as well as limited language learning time. Some students

showed that they did not like the teaching method used by their teachers during

their speaking classes, which is a factor leading to their reluctance or refusal from

joining to speak English in class.

Based on the problems mentioned above, in teaching English as a foreign

language, the English teachers are required to apply the effective teaching

techniques that have more progressive and dynamic approaches in teaching and

learning process to bring the students‟ motivation in learning to speak English. That

is, the teacher is strongly expected to provide meaningful input, appropriate

communicative teaching methods, and authentic materials to develop learners‟

communicative competence in the target language in specific contexts. These

techniques also help the English teachers in achieving the goals for language

teaching, especially teaching speaking. Also, the author read numerous studies

about using storytelling to improve students‟ speaking performance and she

discovered that storytelling techniques were used very effectively in helping

students improve their speaking performance. As proved by Rachmawaty &

Hermagustiana (2010), it is clearly seen that telling stories is one of the

recommended techniques which can help language learners in improving his

knowledge of vocabulary, grammatical structures, and pronunciation. Apart from all

of the benefits of storytelling clearly mentioned in chapter 2, several studies showed

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that storytelling did not help too much in improving students‟ English speaking. In

addition, the author has not applied storytelling technique in her teaching before.

Hopefully, she decided to explore effects of storytelling in enhancing students‟

speaking in order to fullfill her aims as well as her hypothesis which will be set up

as follows.

Moreover, teaching English non-majored students for the second semester

for two different classes for the academic year 2015 at the University of Transport

and Communications – Campus 2 (UTC2) as well as the observations in other

teachers‟ classes, the author recognized that almost all teachers spent most of their

time explaining about the language, translating word by word in the textbook,

giving written tasks, and asking the students to look for the meaning of new words.

Most teachers used the traditional methods in teaching the students how to speak

English at UTC2 in general. In addition, midterm test which connects to grammar

use and vocabulary has been essential so far. The material in use named “General

English” was compiled by experienced teachers of English at UTC2. The students

had one year for general English and one semester for English for Specific Purpose

(ESP). The students, however, could not speak English well as they expressed that

they did not like the teaching method that the teachers used to teach them how to

speak English.

However, those studies on storytelling were mostly applied for the young

learners at primary or secondary schools. The author wondered if storytelling could

be successfully applied to teach speaking skills for the elementary students, was it

likely to be used to improve the first-year English non-majored students‟ English

speaking performance at university level or not? This is the reason why she chose

storytelling as a technique to be used to improve the speaking performance of the

first-year English non-majored students at UTC2.