What tasks can i use in order to encourage my 10th grade students to speak in english inside the classroom

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(1)Valenzuela 1. Facultad de Educación English Pedagogy. What tasks can I use in order to encourage my 10th grade students to speak in English inside the classroom?. This research was done to obtain the university degree as an English Teacher by Rita Valenzuela Huircán Tutor Teacher: Soledad Ríos Correspondence concerning this investigation should be addressed to Rita Valenzuela. Contact: rita.valenzuela.huircan@gmail.com Santiago, Chile 2013.

(2) Valenzuela 2. Index. Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………… 4 Resumen…………………………………………………………………………………... 5 Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………... 6 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..... 7 Chapter I I.1 Context……………………………………………………………………….... 8 I.1.1 School Context……………………………………………………….. 8 I.1.2 10th grade Class Context…………………………………………........ 9 I.2 Research Question………………………………………………………........ 10 I.2.1 Research Question…………………………………………………... 10 I.2.2 Hypothesis………………………………………………………..…..10 I.3 Objectives…………………………………………………………….………. 11 I.3.1 General Objective………………………………………………….... 11 I.3.2 Specific Objectives………………………………………………….. 11 I.4 Rationale………………………………………………………………...…… 12. Chapter II II.1 Theoretical Framework………………………………………………...….. 14 II.1.1Describing learners, age and personality factors…………………… 14 II.1.2 Learners style and strategies……………………………………...... 17 1.2.1 Mixed Ability Classes and Teachers’ Roles…………………....... 17 1.2.2 Teaching teenagers………………………………………………. 19 II.1.3 Language skills: Speaking……………………………………...….. 22 II.1.4 Communicative Language Teaching……………………………..... 24 II.1.5 Difference between a task and an activity…………………………. 26.

(3) Valenzuela 3. II.1.6 Speaking task-based activities proposal……………………………………. 26. Chapter III III.1 Methodology………………………………………………………….……. 29. Chapter IV IV.1 Action Plan…………………………………………………………….…… 31 IV.1.1 Data Collection………………………………………………….… 32 IV.1.2 Data Analysis…………………………………………………….... 36. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….……. 43 References…………………………………………………………………………….…. 44 Appendix 1………………………………………………………………………….…… 45 Appendix 2…………………………………………………………………………….… 46 Appendix 3…………………………………………………………………………….… 47 Appendix 4…………………………………………………………………………….… 49.

(4) Valenzuela 4. Abstract The following action research was carried out based on the lacks and needs 10th grade student from Colegio San Gregorio de La Salle have. This research was written during the second semester of my final practicum and it mainly describes the problems and possible solutions to a common English learner problem: Speaking. As it is explained during this work, 10th graders are characterized by being good at English which means they know how to use the language, especially in a written way. However, it is seen they have a serious problem which is connected to how to use the language orally. In order to work with students’ English oral communication, I am going to design a set of task-based activities taking into consideration students’ weaknesses and strengths and also considering the different contexts in which language can be used. To do this, students will answer a questionnaire in order they can express their perceptions to English classes and based on their answers, different activities will be designed with the purpose of promoting oral communication in the classroom. Taking everything into account, one of the purposes this research has is to benefit students but also English teachers who face the same problems in their classes. Apart from that, it will be useful to give ideas of activities that can be applied during English lessons either in elementary or high school classes.. Key words: Oral communication, Mixed-ability classes, Teaching teenagers, Taskbased activities..

(5) Valenzuela 5. Resumen El siguiente trabajo de investigación-acción fue llevada a cabo en base a las faltas y necesidades que los estudiantes de segundo año medio del Colegio San Gregorio de La Salle poseen. Esta investigación fue escrita durante el segundo semestre de mi práctica final y principalmente describe los problemas y las posibles soluciones de un problema común de los estudiantes de Inglés: Hablar en inglés. Tal como es explicado durante este trabajo, los estudiantes de segundo año medio se caracterizan por ser buenos en el idioma Inglés, esto significa que ellos saben cómo usar el idioma, específicamente de manera escrita. Sin embargo, es visto que ellos tienen una seria dificultad la cual está conectada con cómo usar el idioma de manera oral. Con el fin de trabajar con la comunicación oral del idioma Inglés, diseñaré un conjunto de actividades las cuales consideran tanto las faltas y fortalezas de los estudiantes como los diferentes contextos en que el idioma es utilizado. Para hacer esto, los estudiantes responderán un cuestionario con el fin de expresar sus percepciones de las clases de Inglés y en base a sus respuestas, se diseñarán actividades con el fin de promover la comunicación oral del idioma Inglés en la sala de clase. Tomando en cuenta lo anterior, uno de los propósitos de esta investigación es beneficiar a los estudiantes pero también a los profesores de Inglés que enfrentan los mismos problemas en clases. Además, esta investigación será útil para otorgar ideas de actividades que pueden ser aplicadas en las clases de Inglés tanto en enseñanza básica como media.. Palabras clave: Comunicación oral, clases con múltiples habilidades, enseñando a adolescentes, Actividades en base a tasks..

(6) Valenzuela 6. Acknowledgements This work is dedicated to all those people who supported me during these years of study, especially my family and close friends. The support and guidance given by them have helped to grow as teacher and also to mature as a person. Thanks to my parents, Juan and Cristina for being all the time by my side and I want to give a special honor to my mother that is not physically with me but she is taking care of me from heaven. Thanks to my grandmother Carmen and my sister Isidora who have taught me that even when times are hard, life has sense and everything has a purpose. Thanks to Karla and Francisca for being the ones who raised me up when I was on the floor and finally, thanks to God for giving me peace and showing me the right way when I have been confused or lost. This is just the beginning of my journey; I know I will do my best to make it unbelievable..

(7) Valenzuela 7. Introduction In the following Action research a school problem will be presented with the purpose of studying the situation and planning actions in order to give possible solutions applicable in the classroom. This research was based on a problem taken from a 10th grade class in Colegio San Gregorio de La Salle, and it mainly refers to the difficulties these students have to communicate their ideas using oral English. By looking for some authors’ theories, points of view and my own observations, I will try to modify or create new tasks that can be helpful to encourage my learners to speak in English in the classroom. Connected with what was said before, students’ opinions and perceptions will also be considered to create interesting and contextualized activities in which learners use the vocabulary they already know in different daily situations such as conversations, descriptions, solving problems, among others. Through the data collected from the tasks that will be applied, I will analyze and conclude whether the activities prepared are appropriate for students or not. Also it will be considered whether it is necessary to continue using the same work methodologies or they have to be changed in the future. With the purpose of having a starting point, a questionnaire will be applied to see the students’ perceptions about the English classes, and then considering these perceptions, opinions, and the observations; I will create or modified tasks that help me to reach my research general objective. Apart from encouraging students to speak in English, this research is also meant to be useful not only for me but also for teachers in general in order to modify those teaching aspects that are interfering with the students’ process of learning. The next pages are the reflection of the work I have done and the results of my learners’ performance during the English sessions..

(8) Valenzuela 8. Chapter I I.1 Context I.1.1 School Context San Gregorio De La Salle School is a public subsidized School which is located in La Granja and it has approximately 900 students. This is a school which is composed by boys and girls, and also it has students from kinder to high school. An important characteristic about this school is that it belongs to a Catholic association which means that students and teachers are meant to have a Christian vision based on social and individual values. The school organization is divided into three main parts: General inspector, UTP coordinator and the Director. The General inspector is in charge of making students follow the school’s rules and also it has to mediate student’s problems, not only related to discipline. The UTP coordinator is in charge of the pedagogical aspects, such as, teaching programs, tests, planning, among other things. Last but not least, the Director is in charge of the administration of the school. In terms of pedagogical aspects, all classes are planned and structured following the minimum requirement from the Ministry of Education. Teachers have the option of using the material provided by the Ministry of Education such as textbooks and worksheets or they can create their own material based on the minimum contents showed in the programs. UTP coordinator supervises teachers’ classes and planning, and provides feedback in order to make teachers improve their practicum and methodologies through the time. Talking about the school infrastructure, it has full equipped classrooms with devices such as, projectors, speakers or radios in order to help teachers and students’ development inside the classroom. Besides, it possesses a library in which students can find books from all the subjects, dictionaries, flashcards and different materials that can help students’ process of learning. There are from 30 to 45 students per classroom and each level has 2 classes, for example: Kinder A and Kinder B..

(9) Valenzuela 9. Referring to all the students, in general they are all well behaved and they do not have big problems regarding to discipline. According to what I have seen during these months, they are very participative and always interested in school and social activities. I.1.2 10TH Grade Class Context This Action Research is going to be focus on a 10th class which is characterized by being a quiet but participative class. In this class, I have 44 students divided into 26 boys and 18 girls. The relationship between them is quite good and they are always interested in working in groups. According to what I have experienced with them, students have a very good communication with some teachers and they are very honest, it means that when they have problems with a subject or they do not understand something about the class, they make teachers know about it. Talking about language skills, students are very well prepared in terms of English. They are able to understand what the teacher is saying in the classroom and also they can communicate and share their ideas with their peers, especially in a written way. Besides I have seen that most of the students really like to learn English which is demonstrated in their interest to understand songs, movies, short films, and even when the teacher is speaking. Although not all the members of the class understand English easily, the positive characteristic is that they show an open mind to learn many things and they always work in order to be better. Another characteristic of 10th grade students is the importance that marks have for them. As I said above, students are always doing their best in order to be better in comparison with their classmates. This competence is because of the relevance that NEM has for them, so they are constantly worried about the results they are going to get. This situation makes me think that most of these students are worried about their future, especially when they graduate and choose a career at university. Regarding discipline, students have a very good behavior in English class. I could see that students have their chosen teacher to misbehave but in the case of my class, they do not show a rebuff to me as a teacher..

(10) Valenzuela 10. I. 2 Research Question I.2.1 Research Question Considering the classes I have been observing and the importance of the development of the four skills, I have decided to focus my Action Research using the following question: What tasks can I use in order to encourage my 10th grade students to speak in English inside the classroom? I.2.2 Hypothesis According to the research question, the first hypothesis is that the activities that will be chosen to reach the main objective are the ones that I consider can be useful to develop the oral skill in the classroom. In relation to it, as I want to encourage students to speak using English, these activities have to be designed in order that learners feel interest in the tasks and also that these tasks stimulate students to interact in English among them. Apart from that, another hypothesis that comes to my mind is that this research can be a good tool to improve my professional development. Since I am an inexperienced teacher, knowing students weaknesses and adapting my lessons to solve weak language aspect, will be necessary to not making the same mistakes through the time..

(11) Valenzuela 11. I.3 Objectives I.3.1 General Objectives Based on what I have experienced and observed during these last weeks, I have decided to support my research question and my action plan by using the following general objective:  To encourage students to participate in classes using English in a spoken way. I.3.2 Specific Objectives According to the general objective previously stated, the research is also going to be supported by the following specific objectives:  To select appropriate task-based activities according to students’ English level and interests.  To develop students’ oral language.  To encourage students to share their ideas about different topics using speaking activities in the classroom.  To provide extrinsic motivation that can be useful for students’ performance in the classroom..

(12) Valenzuela 12. I.4 Rationale As most of us have experienced during life, talking in front of people or sharing our ideas using another language can be a very stressful and difficult situation especially if topics and activities are not meaningful for us or our peers do not give us the confidence to do it. The main reason why I have decided to work on speaking is because as any language skill, speaking is a very important part in the communicative process and as I have seen during these weeks 10th grade students do not dare to use oral English in the classroom even when they stand out to be good at the other language skills (Writing, reading and listening). As we know, speak is one of the tools we use to share our ideas with others and to express our feelings, ways of thinking or just to say something to our peers. In educational context, especially in English classes, the act of speaking is important especially if we want to improve our language skills, to acquire a better fluency or even to get confidence especially talking in front of people. As I already mentioned, 10th grade students have a good English level and most of them know how to use it in different context, the main problem I see in this class is that they still do not dare to use the language orally and based on my own observations this is because of many reasons I am going to explain below: The first reason is the way they have been taught during their lives. As they have expressed during classes and based on what I have seen, communication is not an important issue in the classroom just because students have been exposed or they are used to grammar centered classes. 10th grade students are not used to speak; they can just produce sentences in a written way paying special attention to grammatical structures. The second reason is related to the activities students have been exposed to. As it was expressed by students, they are not the appropriate ones to make them use the language in the classroom. Activities are so important if we want to encourage students to use spoken language in the classroom and as it has seen, most of the activities are focused on improving and developing writing skills and at the moment of making students speak, we do not know how to select material according to students’ needs and interests. Last but not least is the reaction students have when their classmates are speaking using another language. Based on this class context, it happens just because they are not used to speak in public. When.

(13) Valenzuela 13. students are not used to communicate orally with others, they tend to make jokes to their classmates when they use a different language to talk. Taking everything into consideration, the purpose of this research can be useful not only for me as a teacher; it also can be useful for teachers who are facing the same problems in their classrooms. Apart from that, this will be a very good opportunity to make students improve their use of the second language..

(14) Valenzuela 14. Chapter II II.1 Theoretical framework Knowing a language is essential to get in touch with people and to express our ideas to others. Every community is characterized by a specific language for example: in Chile we speak Spanish, in France French and in others countries people use English to be in touch with their peers. Considering the last language mentioned before, English has become one of the most important languages through the world and knowing it is extremely important in our globalized society. Regarding the Chilean context, we have seen that learning English has become a need if we want to get in touch with people from English cultures, to have access to information and technology and even to look for better job opportunities. This big impact has caused that now in schools English is being taught from elementary school to high school and it is considered as a part of the Chilean curriculum. However, even when English is taking place in Chilean schools and is being taught from 4 to 6 hours average per week in schools over the country, there is still a difficulty to learn it and apply it in different contexts and situations. There are four skills that a language has: reading, writing, listening and speaking and most of the times some of them are more developed by the rest. Teachers have had to be up-to-date in order to learn new methodologies and ways to teach the language and sometimes there is still a lack of equal development in each skill even when teachers try to make their best efforts. Teaching a language involves many factors from knowing our students to know how to teach that language to them. Some of these factors are the ones I am going to develop below until going deeper to the main topic of this research, speaking. II.1.1 Describing Learners As teachers, we need to know our students in order to understand how they learn and what they need from us. Understanding our students deals with knowing their differences, especially the ones which are related to age and personality. We cannot teach little kids the same way as we teach teenagers or adults, because it would depend on the maturity, the cognitive skills, even the different learning process. According to (Harmer 2007) age is an important factor when we teach English to students. The age is essential at.

(15) Valenzuela 15. the moment of taking decisions, for example: What to teach and how to do it. There are three main categories regarding to age, we have the children, the teenagers and the adults. As I have seen during my teaching experience, it seems that children are able to learn a language a little faster in comparison with teenager and adults, according to (Harmer 2007) this could be because of the plasticity of the brain. Based on what I previously mentioned, I would say that children acquire the language without a lot of effort and we as teacher need to give them the appropriate input to make them work and develop all their abilities. Talking about teenagers, Harmer mentions that people tend to consider teenagers as unmotivated and a little boring learners, and as it has been seen it could be harder to teach them just because they seem to be interested in other things or subjects instead of English. On the contrary, (Penny Ur, 1996) proposes that this is the age in which students are easier to be taught. The main point is how teachers use their resources to motivate teenagers. Most of the times, we do not look for the appropriate resources and activities in order to engage and encourage students to be active in class. We live in a society in which everything is catchy for teenagers, we have technology, information, devices and so on, that is why we need to look for the best ways to encourage them to participate in class. By doing this, students are able to manifest an interest to the language and the class, and feel that the knowledge they are learning is meaningful and contextualized for them. Finally we have the last category, the adults. When we talk about adults learners we tend to think that it is harder for them to acquire a language just because their brain does not have the same plasticity as little kids. Apart from that, it is seen that the majority of the adults have more responsibilities than kids or teenagers, for example: they have to work and most of them have to support their families, it means the time they have to study is more limited. Nonetheless, (Harmer 2007) affirms that as any other learner, adults have especial characteristics that help them to acquire a new language. Adults in general are more mature, it means that they are able to set their own goals and take responsibilities about their process of learning. Most of adults tend to have more discipline about what they are learning and how to learn it and finally, their experiences during life help them to engage with most of the situations or tasks they are exposed to..

(16) Valenzuela 16. Talking about personality factors, learners have different characteristics that make them different one from another, as Lightbown, (2006) refers to; personality can affect the way students acquire the second language. Some studies have concluded that students’ personalities are affecting the way they are learning and one example of this issue is that extroverted people do not acquire the language the same as introverted students. Lightbown emphasizes that there are some particular problems that most of the adolescents are facing when they learn a language and one of these problems is inhibition. Alexander Guiora (1972) said that inhibition is a negative issue especially on language pronunciation performance. Inhibition does not allow students to take risks in language which is important if we want to acquire that language. Even when students’ personalities do not have a close relationship with language performance, most of the time it has a big influence in how students make relationships with others in order to have cooperative learning. If we observe a class, we will realize that acquiring a new language could depend on how we relate with our peers and how much we can share our knowledge with our classmates. It has been seen that when we communicate with others effectively, we can improve our language by using English in different context or by correcting the mistakes sometimes we make. According to what was said, inhibition or lacks of communication with people who are surrounding us could affect the way our language is being developed through the time, so teachers must pay special attention to students’ personalities with the purpose of helping them to feel and be involved in lessons. Age and personality factors are linked because students’ personality will depend on the stage learners are living, for example: a five year learner does not react the same as a sixteen year student when they are exposed to different situations, and adults’ personality cannot be compared with teenagers. Even though personality and age can be a factor at the moment of acquiring a language, the role of teacher is going to be essential at the moment of teaching. These roles are going to be explained in the categories exposed below..

(17) Valenzuela 17. II.1.2 Learners Style and Strategies. As it has been seen during the observation in classes, students have different learning styles; it means that it is important to be aware of different strategies that can be useful at the moment of teaching English. Before moving on, it is relevant to clarify the main differences between style and strategies. According to Brown (2000), when we talk about style we are referring to the characteristics or intellectual functioning that students have, it defines the way they learn a subject. In general terms, learning styles are the ones in which cognitive styles and physiological factors are connected and it explains the way we face or attack the problems that are presented in education contexts. Some examples of learning styles can be the ones which are commonly seen in the classroom such as the visual way of learning, the aural (referring to the ear), kinesthetic, among others. Talking about strategies Brown mentions they refer to the methods we use to approach a problem or task. As problems or tasks may vary through the time, strategies can be modified according to each situation and particular problems. In the following sections, it will be clarified how to deal with mixed ability classes and how to teach teenagers that is the main topic in which this research is focused, II.1.2.1 Mixed Ability Classes and Teachers’ Roles In the societies, what characterize human beings are the differences people have. People are not equal and even when we share the same contexts, we do not have the same characteristics, that is to say, we are all different and those differences make us individuals. The same fact happens at school, most of the time students are together in the same classroom for many years and even when they receive the same instruction, not all students acquire what teacher teaches in the same way. At school, teachers have to deal with many situations and one of these is the multiple abilities students have. Not all the students acquire a knowledge using the same methods and not all of them have the same reactions to the different subjects that are taught at school. Referring to mixed ability classes, it is relevant to mention that they are very common in schools and offering differentiation among students can be a challenge for.

(18) Valenzuela 18. teachers. Carol Tomlinson, (2001) mentions that teachers’ roles are very important in these classrooms because thanks to them students can feel involved in the subject and the activities that are presented. When teachers are able to accept differences in the classroom, they can start looking themselves as organizers of learning opportunities which entail knowing the students, knowing their capacities, what they are able to do and how to do it. Tomlinson says that at the moment of accepting differences, teachers are able to assess students according to their abilities, to interpret students’ clues and preferences, to create a variety of ways of gathering ideas and information, to encourage students to explore their own ideas and to offer a variety of channel in which students can express and expand their understanding. Differentiation affirms and reminds us that what is easy for a group of students could be difficult for the rest of the class and what makes some students feel interested can bore and irritate others. Carol Tomlinson, (2001) through her idea of differentiation gives teachers some guidelines that can be useful at the moment of teaching Mixed-ability classrooms:  Being clear on key concepts that give meaning to a topic: Focusing on key concepts would be helpful in order all learners gain powerful understanding of the knowledge. As it was mentioned before, as people do not learn in the same way, teachers have to be the ones that provide different ways to understand the subjects equally.  Thinking about different ways of assessing classes: Tomlinson (2001) says that schools are used to use tests as one of the main ways of assessing. Everything students do can be assessed and assessment instruments can be varied, for example: checklists or homework assignments. When assessment becomes a part of teaching for success, mixed-abilities can be more considered in the planning and students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways.  Emphasizing critical and creative thinking: Low-level tasks that only require memorization are not acceptable to involve mixed-abilities in the classroom. Teachers should engage learners by developing a creative thinking in which students think beyond than just memorizing..

(19) Valenzuela 19.  Engaging lessons: Learners would be more natural if lessons are presented with problems, issues or dilemmas that catch students’ attention.  Giving a balance between teacher-assigned tasks and working arrangements: As Tomlinson mentions, this balance can vary depending on students’ maturity, classroom conditions, nature of tasks, learners’ profiles among other aspects. Nonetheless, all tasks should be compatible according to learners’ profiles. All these considerations can be used by teachers with the purpose of planning more inclusive classes where multiple abilities and intelligences are taken into account. Apart from what was said, multiple ability classes can be effective if teachers know how to deal with aspects such as: respect among students, feeling of safe in the classroom, expectations of growth, and the reasons why students are being taught. Based on the previous explanation, it can be said that multiple ability classes have to be treated with responsibility and teachers need to be prepared to face differentiation problems. Students have to be taught in order to reach success and having different strategies based on their needs will lead them to reach their main goals. Taking everything into account, considering mixed-ability classes at the moment of planning lessons is a necessary issue if we want to include all the students’ abilities in our activities. Nevertheless, I would like to focus this research on how to create appropriate tasks for teenagers with the purpose of understanding and considering what they really need and how they learn according to their cognitive skills and their physical changes. II.1.2.2 Teaching Teenagers At the moment of teaching, teachers must consider the age range students have in order to prepare classes and activities according to students’ needs and cognitive skills. Teaching teenagers can be as difficult and demanding as teaching children and adults, and having successful classes will depend on how much we know about students (Their interests, their ways of learning or their context). As we have experienced during our lives, being a teenager can be one of the most difficult stages in our lives because we have to face many changes either physical or psychological..

(20) Valenzuela 20. To begin with, regarding physical changes, at the age of puberty, students’ bodies start to change so they pay more attention to their self-image while the importance of ego and self-esteem increase. According to Brown, (2000) at this stage teenagers’ start giving importance to perceptions, especially the physical ones. These perceptions teenagers have are connected to their emotions and physiological reactions, so teachers’ roles are essential in order to make students feel confident in classes. Brown proposes that school teachers should consider the following aspects to keep students’ self-esteem high: 1. To avoid embarrassment situations that make students feel bad or uncomfortable. During our lives we have perceived that one of the reasons why students show negative reactions to classes is embarrassment. Sometimes teachers, conscious or unconsciously, have made students feel uncomfortable in classes. These embarrassing situations could be jokes, nicknames or any behavior students take as an attack for them. The consequence of these actions could be the lack of motivation to classes or the lack of respect to the teacher which causes that classes do not work. 2. To boost students’ talents or strengths. Sometimes we can notice that talents or abilities are not considered in the classrooms. Traditional teaching methods that are commonly used in the classrooms do not encourage the use of multiple talents students have. The use of talents and strengths in lessons can be useful to each student to acquire the language easily and comfortably. 3. To accept mistakes and errors. We live in a society where errors are not well seen all the time. Mistakes can be a way of learning but at the same time society tend to criticize people that do not perform things correctly. In the classroom we can notice the same situation, students can learn from their mistakes but most of the time teachers do not accept errors. One aspect we must consider when we are learning a new subject is that mistakes lead us to improve what we have performed incorrectly. As teachers, we have to know that students can make mistakes and learn from them, so one more challenge teachers have in the classroom is start accepting the inevitable, errors. 4. To de-emphasize competition and start encouraging small-group work. Nowadays is very common to see competition everywhere. Most of the times we do our best in.

(21) Valenzuela 21. order to be better than people who are surrounding us, that is why Brown highlights the idea of working in groups in the classroom even when the groups are small. It is common to see that when people get and work in groups, they take more risks and dare to do things they would never not do alone or in front of more people. In the case of teenagers, they tend to take risks when they work with their friends or when they feel comfortable with their peers. Our role as teachers is to create a good climate and to encourage students to work with those peers which make them feel good. The aspects already mentioned would give teachers the chance to improve the classes by understanding what students are living physically during puberty. To continue, teenagers have more changes during puberty which are strictly related to psychological facts. The teens are in an age in which they are living transitions between childhood and adulthood that means that it is easy for them to get confused with most of the things that come to their minds. Brown, (2000) mentions that even when teaching teenagers can be a challenge for a teacher, we can be successful in our practice with them if we try to understand their changes and we consider that taking advantages of these changes can be more useful than ignoring them. Besides, teachers should have some considerations at the moment of teaching teens, for example: the intellectual capacity, the sensory input and immediate communicative contexts. Regarding the intellectual capacity, Brown (2000) expresses that at this stage the students’ intellectual capacity adds an abstract operational thought. By adding this capacity, the students can start solving problems using logic that previously could not be used. However, the disadvantage students have is that these attention spans may be shortened if they are exposed to many problematic situations in their lives such as sexual thoughts, acceptance, and social relationships, among others. As students are facing an intellectual maturation, having many problems in mind can cause confusions or frustrations and teachers have to be prepared to support and understand these unexpected facts. Another consideration teachers may have is the sensory input. Students are able to use their five senses in order to give a solution to their problems, and last but not least, there is an immediate communicative context which deals with.

(22) Valenzuela 22. the “Here and now”. Teachers are the ones who make students think about things but it is important to consider that overanalyzing facts may cause boredom to students. II.1.3 Language Skill: Speaking Speaking is as important as any other language skill but at the same time it can be difficult to make someone speak in another language if there are not conditions to make it happen. Speaking is characterized by being a productive skill which deals with communication but using human voice to do it. Talking about school contexts, it can be seen that making students speak in English can be extremely difficult, especially if students are not used to express their ideas orally using English lexis and expressions they already know. Speaking does not only deals with knowing certain language features, it also deals with how able people are in order to process the information they get. However, Harmer, (2007) mentions that there are some language features which are necessary at the moment of oral production such as connected speech, expressive devices, lexis and grammar, and negotiation language To begin with, when Harmer (2007) refers to connected speech, it means that we do not produce isolated English phonemes. Speaking involves more than just simple sounds, when we have a connected speech, sounds can be modified, omitted, weakened or added depending on the act of speech, for this reason teachers should design activities in order that students improve their way of connecting sounds instead of learning them in isolation. Apart from that, continuing with the language features, it is also important to pay attention to expressive devices. As we can notice, when we talk using a specific language we can give different meaning to what we say just varying on the stress, the speed, the volume and even the pitch. If we see native speakers of a language, we can realize about their the expression, emotion or intensity of what they say just in the way they speak, so our role as teachers is to make students being able to deploy at least one of the features mentioned above in order to be effective English communicators. Talking about lexis and grammar, the importance of lexical phrases and their function in communication is essential in order to use the language in different contexts. The main role of teachers is to supply from a variety of phrases which have different.

(23) Valenzuela 23. functions according to the context they are being used. Students need to know how to use vocabulary in specific speaking situations, for example: Jobs interviews, formal meetings or everyday conversations. Finally, when Harmer (2007) refers to Language Negotiation, he means that sometimes we have to ask for clarifications when we are listening to someone else or when we want to express something we do not know how to say. Students need to be able to know and to be exposed to all the considerations previously named. As it was already mentioned, having these considerations into account will be helpful in order that students can be effective English communicators, teachers role goes beyond that just teaching vocabulary or grammatical structures, teachers should be the ones who help students to use English in different situations and in a proper way. What are teachers’ roles during speaking classes and activities? Most of the time teachers do not know what their real role is when they are trying to implement speaking activities. It is known that using the language in an oral way is important but sometimes we do not know how to act or what to do when students are performing a speaking situation. As in any other language skill, teachers have to play a number or different roles in order to guide activities and make students work in them, and Harmer (2007) mentions that there are some of these roles which are essential to be considered by teachers in order to get students to speak fluently.  Teachers have to be a prompter: Teachers have to be the ones that help students when they are lost by offering different language suggestions. Even when students have to learn how to deal with language problems, specifically fluency problems, we can help them to avoid frustrations by giving them some useful prompt.  Teachers as participants: Teachers have the role to motivate students in speaking activities and give them the necessary enthusiasm in order that they can be successful. Apart from that, teachers can also participate in activities in order to make students feel teachers are part of the class and they are involved with the activities as well.  Feedback provider: feedback is so important when we are teaching a language because students can learn from their mistakes. Even when over-correcting mistakes.

(24) Valenzuela 24. can inhibit students’ participation during the activities, giving necessary feedback is useful if we want our students improve their language skills. Having fluent students in the classroom will depend on how much teachers encourage them to speak and also how worried we are in order that they can improve their mistakes. Although speaking in English can be a challenge for all of us, this skill can be improved through the time if students start practicing it and having the necessary help by teachers in order to feel confident with the language. II.1.4 Communicative Language Teaching The Communicative Language Teaching is an approach that starts in order to contract the linguistic theory that Chomsky proposed. The linguistic theory proposes that speakers of a language possess abstract abilities that make possible people produce grammatically correct sentences in a language. However, Hymes (1972) held that linguistic theory should be part of a bigger theory that takes into consideration culture and communication. Hymes, (1972) proposes that speakers of a language need to have knowledge of the language but also to have the ability to use it with respect to. In other words of what was previously mentioned, Hymes (1972) theory says that the competence of a language does not depend just on creating grammatically correct sentences, communication competence also depends on how much we can use the language in a variety of contexts. Canale and Swain (1980), say that there are four different dimensions in which communicative process is identified: the first one is the grammatical competence which deals with the lexical and grammatical capacity speakers have; the second one is sociolinguistic competence that mainly refers to how language is used according to different communicational contexts. The third dimension is discourse competence, this competence deals with the meaning of the message according to the entire.

(25) Valenzuela 25. discourse and finally the strategic competence which refers to the strategies speakers use in order to maintain the communication. In general terms, communication is essential at the moment of learning a language, without knowing how to communicate; people would tend to know grammatical structures without contextualize them. Connecting the theory named before with the classroom context, we can see that when teachers want to increase communication with students, it is necessary not to put emphasis on how to create sentences, also on how students can use these sentences in communicative contexts, for example: daily spoken situations. There are some roles students and teachers should have in the classroom with the purpose of having successful communicational classes. On the one hand, talking about the roles learners should have, Richards and Rodgers, (1986) show us that learners have an important role at the moment of the application of communicative language teaching. Students have to be the ones who contribute with the process in order to start independent learning. Apart from that it is said that learners can be negotiators with the classroom procedures and activities in order to make them more interactive. Being a negotiator would help in the classroom in order to eliminate preconceptions students have about the activities that are presented and also to increase interaction among them. On the other hand, referring to teachers’ roles, Richards and Rodgers, (1986) mentions that there are three main features teachers should follow in order to have proper communicational classes: analyst, counselor and group process manager. First of all, when teachers are seen as analysts, it is meant they have the responsibility to respond to learners language needs. Having a close communication with students is helpful if we want to provide feedback, to inform about learning goals or learning assessment. As teachers are the ones who see if students are reaching their goals, an assessment instrument can be needed in order to get as much data as possible from students’ performance. Secondly, being a counselor involves helping student to give and receive the intended messages in a correct way. In this feature, teachers can help students’ interpretations by giving feedback, paraphrasing or by confirming what students want to express. Last but not least, when teachers are meant to be group process managers, it is referring to how they organize the classroom in order students can perform the activities correctly. If we are encouraging.

(26) Valenzuela 26. students-centered classes, it is important to be organized and responsible at the moment of giving students the chance of being more independent learners. Professors have the role to monitor group work and to supply students for any lexical or grammar need through the activities. Richards and Rodgers, (1986) assure than even when adopting this communicative approach could not be easy as any other theory, it can be applicable to at all levels in languages programs having advances through the time. Although, it requires teaching training, material development, testing and assessment instruments teachers are not used to use in the classroom, CLT would help students to apply and contextualize those lexical and grammar knowledge they have previously acquired. II.1.5 Difference between a task and an activity After continuing with the activities proposal, it is important to clarify the main differences between a task and an activity. As this Action Research is focused on taskbased activities, knowing the differences between tasks and activities would help us to avoid possible confusions. According to Willis (1996) a task can be defined as a goal-oriented activity in which students use the language they know in order to get real outcomes. In other words, students use the target language in order to solve specific problems such as making lists, completing puzzles or comparing experiences with their classmates. Tasks are meant to have final purposes and most of the time we can see students’ results. Based on the previously explanation, Willis refers that activities are focused on forms rather than outcomes. In addition, Penny Ur, (1996) says that tasks requires from someone else (pairs or groups) in order to achieve objectives. The objectives have observable results such as notes, comments, drawing or spoken summaries so, activities are not that specific which means that it not necessary to have results or to reach final objectives. II.1.6 Speaking Task-based Activities Proposal As it has been mentioned during this work, activities are very important at the moment of making students participate in class. Teachers have to be able to design,.

(27) Valenzuela 27. modified and implement activities according to students’ needs and interest so, in order to have a general idea about what is necessary to perform in the classroom, Penny Ur (1996) proposes a set of task-based activities that can be useful to encourage and develop speaking during classes. Discussion activities: a) Describing pictures: In this activity students’ main goal is to describe pictures using the vocabulary they already know. Teachers can provide checklists in order students can tick the aspects or images that supposed to be described. Besides, groups can choose a person in charge of taking notes of what it is being discussed. b) Picture differences: In this activity, students’ main goal is to use the target language in order to find the differences some pictures have. This activity can be applied in two different ways. Students can discuss about pictures that both member see or to hide the pictures and discuss in order to guess the differences. Students can takes notes about their findings c) Things in common: Discussion cards can be given to students in order that they ask questions to each other and find things in common they could have. It is not necessary to take notes about it but students can give a report to the class after finishing the activity. d) Shopping list: Students receive a situation in which it is necessary to buy certain implements. Students discuss about the things they need and their importance and make a list about those implement. Reports to the rest of the class can be given by the end of the activity. e) Solving a problem: Situations are given to the students and through a discussion they have to give a solution to each fact. Members of the groups can take notes about the solutions and then to give a report to the rest of the class. Apart from the last task-based activities proposed by Penny Ur (1996), James Scrivener (2005) gives more examples about which task-based activities can be applied in the classroom:.

(28) Valenzuela 28. a) Group planning tasks: In group, students plan different situations according to the facts given by the teacher, for example: To plan a party, a holiday, a celebration, among others. b) Ranking tasks: The teacher prepares a list of items and based on group discussions, students place and rank items according to their opinions. Results are shown to the rest of the class. c) Pyramid discussions: This is an organizational technique in which problems are introduced, then students give individual reflections and share their comments in pairs and finally they discuss about the problems in groups to reach an agreement. d) Board games: In order to practice vocabulary, teachers can use the board in order to play games with students. The games can be designed according to the class and students’ interest. e) Puzzles and problems: Puzzles can also be applied in the classroom, they are created according to students’ needs and also it can be applied in different ways. If we want to encourage speaking skill, questions and discussions can be useful to solve the puzzles. f) Role- play and simulation: By receiving some information about a role, students take a time of preparation in order to act out in front of the class. Role play can be long situations or role cards in order students know what they have to perform. In order to make these activities work, teachers have to be aware that organization and physical arrangement are important for students. Feeling comfortable during activities is essential for performing them properly. James Scrivener, (2005) mentions that learners need to have the following aspects during activities with the purpose of performing them well:  Make eye contact with the classmates they are speaking with  Hear clearly what people around them are saying  Be close with the group work By having considered the aspects previously mentioned, students will be able to participate and performs activities in a better way and comfortably..

(29) Valenzuela 29. Chapter III III.1 Methodology The methodology used to this Action Research follows the model proposed by Anne Burns in her book “Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching”. The research is meant to follow the four main steps (Planning, acting, observing and reflecting) in order to finish with the main conclusions based on the results seen during the lessons. As Anne Burns mentions in her book, researching is essential to teachers in order to investigate and make conclusions about our performance in the classroom. Apart from that, it is helpful to improve our teaching practice and be prepared to face common situations such as planning or students’ performance. According to Anne Burns proposal and as it was mentioned before I am going to use the four main steps of an action research:  First step: Planning In order to have a starting point, a questionnaire is going to be applied to students. As the name of the step says, this questionnaire is going to be crucial at the moment of knowing what students think about the subject and what they need from the classes. Planning my actions will be extremely important in order to change what students have shown me through their comments. In the case of 10th grade, during the first part of my Action Research the activities that will be applied are going to be prepared according to students’ lacks and needs expressed during the first survey.  Second step: Acting During the second part of my action research, the activities that were prepared during the first step will be applied to students. This step of the Action Research is very important because through it, I could know in the future if the needed aspects have been changed or I need to plan my investigation in another way..

(30) Valenzuela 30.  Third step: Observing This part of the action research is meant to see students’ reactions to the activities that were applied. As the main focus of the Action Research is to look for tasks that can be useful to encourage students to speak, during this part of my investigation, I will pay special attention if activities designed for students reached their main goal.  Fourth step: Reflecting During this part of the Action Research, our main goal is to reflect and conclude about students’ and activities results. The main reflection is going to be based on the observation I made during the lessons and also from a final questionnaire in which students will express if activities or classes have changed in one way or another. Reflecting about what was done in an Action Research is helpful for teachers in order to know if the process has to continue or if it has to be finished. In addition to the steps that will be followed during this research, it must be mentioned that all the activities that will be design for students will follow the main aspect that were written in the theoretical framework. I think it is important to pay attention not only students lacks and needs, it is also relevant to know how the language works and how important is to teach it by using different ways..

(31) Valenzuela 31. Chapter IV IV.1 Action plan The action plan is very necessary at the moment of doing action research because it will define the way I am going to plan my classes and the activities to reach the objectives previously stated. Talking about the action plan that will be followed in this research, I have decided to use questionnaires and journals. Based on my students’ opinions and my own observations, these tools have the purposes of reflecting on the activities learners perform and also designing some task-based activities that can be helpful to reach the main objective this action research has. Taking everything into account, the activities I chose for students were taken from Penny Ur, (1996) and James Scrivener, (2005) and they were modified according to students’ needs and interests expressed in the survey and the observations. The list provided below shows the task-based activities that students have to perform and they are linked to the main objective of this research:  Discussion cards: This activity was chosen and modified with the purpose that the students share personal information and opinions. I think this task can catch students’ attention because as I have observed, they are very talkative and they are constantly talking about themselves.  Role plays: This activity was chosen and modified in order that the students perform different common situations they live. These situations were taken based on their opinions during classes.  Describing pictures: This activity was chosen with the purpose that the students describe pictures about common situations they live. The situations are modified according to what they have expressed in classes.  Solving problems: This activity was chosen and modified according to students’ problems and common situations they live in their daily lives.  Giving pieces of advices: This activity was modified considering the problems the students face in their lives. This can be attractive for students because the situations chosen were based on what learners have expressed during the lessons..

(32) Valenzuela 32. Apart from the activities shown above, I have decided to be more consistent in giving all the instructions in English avoiding translation. This change can help students to have more input and also to encourage them to ask and answer using English. IV.1.1 Data Collection In this action research, data collection has been extremely helpful in order to let me know what teaching aspects I have to improve to have successful classes and activities. Besides, it helps me to have a general idea of students’ lacks and needs, so I can design classes that revert this situation. Before starting with the presentation of data collection, I think it is important to clarify that I took two weeks of observation with the purpose of getting as much information as possible from students. The classes that were observed during the first weeks were used to discover the problems students had in the classroom and what they needed from the English Classes. Based on the first checklist I made I can say that:  Class: 10th grade class.  Number of students: 44 students, 26 boys and 18 girls  Sitting arrangement: Students are sitted in pairs in 4 rows.  Language use: English and Spanish  Class work: Students are used to work in pairs and it seems they work very well with all the activities that are presented by the teacher. Based on the data previously shown, I decided to apply the first questionnaire (Appendix 1) that was mainly focused on students’ perceptions to English classes and activities. This survey was meant to be useful to get data regarding students’ characteristics and classes’ performance with the purpose of designing activities to students’ needs and interests. Apart from that, it was applied in an anonymous way, so students could feel confident to answer what they really thought about the questions that were asked. Also, I think it was necessary to apply the questionnaire in Spanish, so all the students in the classroom could be able to answer the questions and give their opinions..

(33) Valenzuela 33. The results of the survey are expressed in the following graphics provided below which show what students answered in each question.  Number of students that answered the survey: 39 students out 44.  Time used: 10-15 minutes Question N°1: Do you consider yourself as an active student?. ¿Te consideras un estudiante activo en clases? 46,20%. Yes. 53,80%. No. Question N°2 Tick the alternatives that represent the type of student you are. More than one option can be chosen.. Graphic N° 2 30 25 20 15 10 5 0. 28. 26. 24 16 9. 9 5. 6 Cantidad de estudiantes.

(34) Valenzuela 34. Question N°3 Tick the answers that represent you according to your own experience in English Classes. Questions in Appendix 1.. 28. 30 25. Muy de acuerdo. 20 20 15. 17 14. 109. 10 5. 13. 5. 3. 1615 10. 7 4. 4. 6 3. 18 14 11 10. 121111. 8. 6. 5. 4. 14 12. 13. 3. 2. 8. De acuerdo Indiferente Desacuerdo. 5. 0. 0 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. As it was planned since the beginning of the research, the data provided by the first survey was used in order to design appropriate task-based activities which encourage students to use the target language in the classroom. The following activities provided below are the ones which were applied to students in different lessons (not consecutively). It can be seen that each activity has a brief description about it and they include the checklist of students’ performance. 1. Activity N°1 Discussion cards: In this activity students received a set of cards with questions that had to be asked and answered to each other. The main goal of this activity was to express personal information by using lexis and grammatical structures previously learned. According to the checklist, the results were the following  Number of students that attended to class: 39 students  Estimation of students who participated in the activity: 33-35 students  Estimation of students who spoke using English: 15-18 students  Estimation o students who spoke using Spanish: 17 -20 students.

(35) Valenzuela 35. 2. Activity N° 2 Role plays: Students worked in pairs and received roles they had to perform later. They were given from 10 to 15 minutes to prepare the roles and then present them in front of their classmates. According to the observation, the checklist provided below shows students’ participation during the activity and the use of language they had:  Number of students that attended to class: 38  Estimation of students who participated in the activity: 38 students  Estimation of students who spoke using English: 22 students  Estimation o students who spoke using Spanish: 16 students. 3. Activity N°3 Describing pictures: This activity was mainly applied during the pre in the planning. Images were shown to students in order that they could describe them. This activity was a pair work and students were able to use the target language and the lexis and grammatical structures previously learned. The checklist below shows how students were able to participate in the activity and how they used English in order to express their ideas.  Number of students that attended to class: 44 students  Estimation of students who participated in the activity: 38-40 students  Estimation of students who spoke using English: 30 students  Estimation of students who spoke using Spanish: 14 students. 4. Activity N°4 Solving problems: The main goal this activity had was that students were able to use English to reach a consensus in order to give solutions to a specific problem such as love problems, school problems or family problems. The activity was applied to groups of 3-4 students and they were able to use the target language in order to discuss about the situations. The checklist provided below represents students’ participation and the use of English during the activity:  Number of students that attended to class: 44  Estimation of students who participated in the activity: 40.

(36) Valenzuela 36.  Estimation of students who spoke using English: 20 students  Estimation o students who spoke using Spanish: 20 students. 5. Activity N°5 Giving pieces of advice. Different situations such as love problems, friendship or academic difficulties were given to students and in groups of 3-4 they had to use vocabulary previously learned to give pieces of advice. After choosing a leader, students had to present orally their answers in front of the class. According to the checklist applied to assess students’ participation and use of English, the results of the activity were the following:  Number of students that attended to class: 42  Estimation of students who participated in the activity: 38  Estimation of students who spoke using English: 26  Estimation o students who spoke using Spanish: 12 IV.1.2 Data Analysis. After providing the data collection from students’ performance during the activities, I consider it is important to analyze it to get conclusions of the task-based activities’ effectiveness. The following analyses given below are based on the class observation and reflection I made using the checklists written above. At first, as I explained in the data collection, I applied a questionnaire in which I wanted students expressed their perceptions to English classes and activities. For question N°1 ¿Te consideras un estudiante activo en clases? (Appendix 1), the results did not show a big difference: 53,80% of students answered yes while the 46,20% answered not being active. According to what was discussed with students before the questionnaire, being active meant for learners to participate in most of the class activities and also to be interested in learning English, so it can be said that based on the percentages the 53,80% of students think they have these two characteristics in classes. However, it also must be considered that almost a half of students (46,20%) do not consider themselves as active participants. Based on students’ opinions (Appendix 2) this lack of participation does not have a close relationship with being unmotivated with the subject, it also depends on.

(37) Valenzuela 37. students’ personalities and ways of learning (multiple abilities). A student can be interested in the class and not necessary to be an active participant which means that the “No” answers do not reflect how motivated students are. As a conclusion it can be possible to continue encouraging students to participate but also it is necessary to foster the participation by considering students’ personalities and wishes. For question N° 2, students had to tick a set of alternatives that represented the type of students they are. According to the learners’ results, the answers that got the majority of the preferences were talkative (24 students), distracted (28 students) and good classmates (26 students). Firstly, being talkative is strictly related to being distracted because as it has been seen, most of the time students get easily distracted just because they tend to speak a lot in the classroom. When topics and activities are not interesting at all, students start discussing about things that call their attention and it stops the participation in the English activities. Regarding the objective of encouraging students to participate in English oral tasks, I think these characteristics can be taken into teacher’s favor. By creating attractive and interesting oral tasks, the students can be willing to participate, and maybe distractions could be avoided. Secondly, being good classmates is reflected on how students share with their peers and help each other in the classes. Certainly, this aspect can be used for cooperative learning in which more advantage students help others to complete the tasks. Also, it helps to generate a good climate in which disrespectful behaviors do not exist among students. Having considered most of these aspects, to sum up, changing the type of activities and using these students’ traits positively may change or improve characteristics such as disorganization (9 students), competiveness (5 students) or quietness (9 students) and also can motivate learners to participate in the activities. In graphic N°3 students had to tick answers that represent their own experiences in the English classes with options such as: very agree, agree, indifferent and disagree. The following analysis is divided into two parts: the first part refers to the participation students have in the class and activities and the second part is about how students feel when they have to speak in English. First of all, the statements which talk about learners’ participations are numbers 1,3,4 and 5. In statement n°1 “I always participate in English class”, 20 students out 39.

(38) Valenzuela 38. showed they very agree or agree with their level of participation in the lessons. Apart from that, 14 students expressed indifference which means they do not care about participation or they do not do it all the time. This statement is related to statement n° 3 “I like participating actively in English classes” in which there is not a big difference in the results: a total of 20 students like to participate whereas a total of 19 students either do not like to participate or do not mind participating. According to the graphic, there is a group of students that participate in the lessons but also they enjoy doing it while the rest do not like participating or do not care about doing it. Besides, statement n° 4“I do not participate in classes because I am not motivated” show that 13 students very agree and agree while 6 students are indifferent and 20 disagree. A half of students (20) think that motivation is not the reason of the lack of participation and 13 learners think that motivation can be the justification for this lack. In statement n° 5 “I do not know too much vocabulary and that is why I do not participate” 14 students answered very agree or agree while 11 are indifferent and 14 think it is not true. It can be seen that at the moment of thinking about vocabulary, 14 students think that is the reason of the lack of participation and 14 students think it is not, hence it might be said that vocabulary could play an important role for being active participants. Besides, the results show that even though there is an important amount of students who like participating in classes, there is another group who think that motivation and use of vocabulary can intervene in the lack of participation. In connection with the first question portrayed in graphic n°1, it is necessary to work on vocabulary and motivation in order that students feel interested in the in the tasks to participate in classes. Second of all, statements number 2,6,7,8 and 9 refers to students’ feelings at the moment of participating. Statement n° 2 “I understand when the teacher speaks in English” show that 19 students understand English while 13 learners are indifferent and 7 do not understand. Relating these results with the observation, understanding is joined with participating because when students do not know what the teacher says, they cannot express their ideas correctly, so they stop participating. Apart from that, statement 6,7,8, and 9 have a close connection among them because they refer to students’ fears when they use English to express opinions. As it is seen in the graphic, at the moment of talking about fears, statement 6 “I am afraid of speaking or answering in English during classes” shows that 17 students are afraid of speaking using English while the rest is indifferent or disagree. In.