Improving speaking skills in adolescents
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(2) Salinas 2. Index 1. Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………..…....3 2. Abstract……………………………………………………………………………......4 3. Resumen………………………………………………………………………………5 4. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….……..6 5. Context………………………………………………………………………………...7 6. Rationale……………………………………………………………………………....8 7. Problem……………………………………………………………………………..…9 7.1 Topic………………………………………………………………………….……9 7.2 Question ……………………………………………………………………….…..9 7.3 Hypothesis …………………………………………………………………….…..9 8. Objectives…………………………………………………………………………....10 8.1 General Objectives……………………………………………………………...10 8.2 Specific Objectives……………………………………………………………...10 9. Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………………11 9.1 Speaking……………………………………………………………………….11 9.2 Teaching Adolescents…………………………………………………………13 9.3 Motivation……………………………………………………………………..14 9.4 Self – Esteem…………………………………………………………………..16 10. Methodology….…………………………………………………………………....20 10.1 Instruments...…………………………………………………………………20 10.2 Action plan – proposal………………………………………………………..21 11. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….23 12. Works Cited……………………………………………………………………..…24.
(3) Salinas 3. 1. Acknowledgements. I want to express my gratitude to my classmates Francisca Ferro and Francisca Rivas because we worked as a team during our second practicum and we supported each other to do a good job in the school and in our research proposal. I am grateful because of our constant guidance and help. I also want to express my deep regards to my tutor Pablo Silva, because he gave me valuable information to make my practicum as successful as I could. Lastly, I want to thank my family, friends and Javier Novoa who support me during all these years of University..
(4) Salinas 4. 2. Abstract. Teaching a foreign language is very complicated due to the fact that for students it is difficult to understand English and consequently it is difficult for them to speak it. That is why I chose the topic of speaking because I realized that students, specifically adolescents, want to try to speak in a different language, but they do not take the risk. Therefore, teachers must give the opportunity to let their students to speak. For this reason this research proposal would help other teachers who think speaking skills should be more developed in English lessons using checklists, games, or presentations in order to get result of adolescents’ process of learning and self-esteem.. Key words: Speaking, adolescents, self-esteem, opportunity..
(5) Salinas 5. 3. Resumen. Enseñar un idioma extranjero es muy complicado, debido a que para los estudiantes es difícil de entender el inglés y consecuentemente es difícil para ellos hablarlo. Es por esto que escogí el tema de expresarse oralmente, porque me di cuenta de que los estudiantes, específicamente adolescentes, quieren intentar hablar en un idioma distinto, pero no se arriesgan a hacerlo. De este modo, profesores deben dar la oportunidad a sus estudiantes para que hablen. Por esta razón esta propuesta de investigación podría ayudar a profesores quienes piensan que la expresión oral debería ser más desarrollada en las clases de inglés, usando listas de verificación, juegos o presentaciones con el propósito de obtener resultados de l proceso de aprendizaje de los adolescentes y de la autoestima de ellos.. Key words: Expresión oral, adolescentes, autoestima, oportunidad..
(6) Salinas 6. 4. Introduction. Speaking is one of the most important factors in our lives. Without speaking, our lives would be absolutely difficult and different. Through speaking we establish relationships because we are interacting with someone else using different intentions like giving an opinion, comment about something or someone, telling stories, talking about our lives, telling jokes in a party, among others. As speaking is important in our lives, then it is necessary to give it the same importance but in the classroom. Many teachers do not care about let their students speak in English, but it should be essential due to the fact it is a way of interaction with others and a way of expressing their feelings and thoughts. “Language instructors should provide learners with opportunities for meaningful communicative behavior about relevant topics by using learner – learner interaction as the key to teaching language for communication” (Richards & Renandya 208). This is how should be every class, but it is not. That is why I want to let my students speak in English no matter if they are following grammar structures or not, because I want them to know that the message is the essential factor in a conversation. Through this research proposal, I will develop some information that would help me to improve speaking skills in adolescents. I will develop different topics like speaking, teaching adolescents, motivation and self-esteem to understand adolescents’ behavior, certain things to consider when teaching adolescents, what motivate adolescents or not, among others. If teachers know about all these topics, they would improve also their students’ self-esteem and therefore, their own English classes..
(7) Salinas 7. 5. Context. Colegio San Andres is a subsidized school which does not belong to any religious corporation. It has classes from pre - kindergarten to 12th grade and English classes are incorporated from kindergarten to 12th grade. I am teaching a 9th grade. They are 34 students who are very talkative but very smart. Some of them are able to carry on a very simple conversation in English, but for the rest of the class understanding is very difficult. In terms of their materials, the school follows the Ministry curriculum therefore we use the textbook from the government to work with in every class called “Teens Club”. At the moment of observing the classes, I noticed that English classes were in Spanish, so when students had to face English by listening to a conversation in English, they did not comprehend anything and their frustration could be seen through their eyes. Another important factor is that students just worked using their English textbook and anything else. I know that the school does not have many technological sources to use in classes, but maybe some handouts could have been more interesting than the textbook. Finally, the most important disagreement at the moment of observing the English lesson, it was how my teacher treated the 9th grade students. My guide teacher was very cruel to them and as a result, the 9th grade students hate her, and her lessons..
(8) Salinas 8. 6. Rationale. My main problem is that I do not know how to take advantage of my students’ willingness to talk. Consequently, the most important idea of researching information about speaking and adolescents is because I want my students to improve their speaking skills. I want them to speak in English without thinking about grammatical structures. I want them to be spontaneous at the moment of speaking in English. What is more, I want my students to believe in themselves and trust that they can do it. To achieve all suggested above, it is important to find some strategies and some activities to make my students speak, without damaging their self-esteem. For this reason, I want my students believe that the classroom is the place where mistakes are welcome because they will help us to learn. In other words, create a safe place for my students, where it does not matter if they are speaking in English right or wrong because the important matter is the fact that they give a try..
(9) Salinas 9. 7. Problem. 7.1 Topic Speaking 7.2 Question How Can I help my students of 9th grade to improve their speaking skills? 7.3 Hypothesis Even though my 9th grade students have been attending to English classes for eight years, they cannot establish a very simple conversation. Sadly, to have English classes since 1st grade does not mean that that they have learned..
(10) Salinas 10. 8. Objectives 8.1 General Objectives. This would be a big opportunity for my students to open their eyes and see that they can speak in other language. Moreover, they would change their shy attitude when speaking in English. For this reason, the main objective is to improve my students’ speaking skills. Besides, there are also specific objectives that help to complement the general one.. 8.2 Specific Objectives. • To establish simple conversations spontaneously among their classmates. • To Speak in English naturally without hesitating so much. • To participate in classes voluntarily (asking questions in English to the teacher and among the students and giving opinions). • To stand in front of the class and speak in English without feeling so anxious or nervous..
(11) Salinas 11. 9. Theoretical Framework. In consideration of how important speaking is for me to communicate with others, I wanted to focus my English classes on helping my ninth graders to speak in a language that they do not know so much. Consequently, the following theoretical framework about speaking, teaching adolescents, motivation and self-esteem will help me to find answers to improve my students’ speaking skills.. 9.1 Speaking. Speaking is our essential way of communication. Through speaking we can argue, express our feelings, thoughts and establish relationships with other people. Speaking can be seen as the easiest ability in our lives, but what about speaking in a different language? Therefore, is it easy to speak in a foreign language as well as in our mother tongue? In the case of English as a foreign language, “the most difficult aspect of spoken language is that it is almost always accomplished via interaction with at least one other speaker” (Lazaraton 103). Some students know some words in English and sometimes they can understand some dialogues, songs, or short texts, but they do not know how to express themselves with others because maybe there are others in the class with the same problem, but nobody in the class says it. Consequently, the opportunity to speak in English with a classmate is totally wasted, because they think spoken English is more difficult. Therefore, what makes spoken English difficult? According to Brown in his book called Teaching by Principles (270) there are several characteristics that make speaking difficult or easier, these characteristics are:.
(12) Salinas 12. •. Clustering (fluent speech). •. Redundancy. •. Reduced forms. •. Performance variables (hesitations, pauses, backtracking and correction). •. Colloquial language. •. Rate of delivery (speed). •. Stress/rhythm/intonation. •. Interaction. To help improve all those characteristics in students, teachers have to consider how much input students are receiving such as, videos, songs, news, TV shows, interviews and their teachers of English actually speaking in English. Another important factor to consider is the different kinds of speaking people can use. Scrivener suggests a word to describe types of speaking, which it is called “genre”. The genre “determines the choice of grammar, words, how much you talk, how polite you are, how much you speak and how much you listen” (230) and the consequence of using genre properly is that students “must become more metalinguistically aware of many features of language in order to become competent speakers and interlocutors in English” (Lazarato 108). In other words, when students are able to choose different kinds of genres, they are aware of what they are talking because of the context that students are facing, so they think in words that will work better in certain types of conversations such as, an academic speech, a conversation in a party, or telling jokes, among others. As a result of the steps mentioned to improve students’ speaking skills, it is necessary that as Lazaraton argues “students should warned not to correct grammar or pronunciation mistakes” (108) . The importance is that students will be able to communicate with others whether they are using structures correctly or not..
(13) Salinas 13. 9.2 Teaching Adolescents. Teaching adolescents is not an easy task, due to the fact that there is a big enigma about teaching adolescents because of their misbehavior, laziness and personality. Adolescence is mostly defined as a horrible period of time, because of “changes in self-image associated with changes in body proportions and function, increases in self-reflection as a by-product of their improved cognitive abilities…” (Bjork Lund and Hernandez454). While teaching adolescents, it is crucial that teachers do not left behind those factors in order to have a very safe and friendly atmosphere in the classroom. Therefore that atmosphere would help every student to develop their changes positively. Based on Brown in his book called Teaching by Principles, teenagers suffer several changes that are important to point out to understand their attitude better. During adolescence the “intellectual capacity adds abstract operational thought around the age of twelve … complex problems can be solved with logical thinking” (92). This means that at the age of twelve, students have the cognitive ability to identify a problem, identify its variables to then find solutions, not just at school but also in their lives. Moreover, teenagers’ “attention spans are lengthening as a result of intellectual maturation” (92). Teenager students can concentrate for longer times that in their childhood, so it is easier for them to identify specific information in longer classes. “Factors surrounding ego and self-esteem are at their pinnacle. Teens are ultrasensitive to how others perceive their changing physical and emotional selves along with their mental capacities” (92). That is why it is so important for teachers to be very.
(14) Salinas 14. careful with adolescents and to not hurt their feelings or put them into embarrassing situations that could affect their self-image. Taking all adolescents’ changes into consideration, according to the American Psychological Association, it is important that “professionals can help adolescents begin to define their identity through the simple process of taking time to ask questions and listen without judgment to the answers.” (15). Some students are afraid of being judged by their teachers or their peers, because their identity is not developed positively. That is why is so necessary to make students see that there are not stupid questions or answers. As a result, students will not be afraid to give an opinion or a comment because they will feel that they are in a safe place to express themselves. It is essential to take advantage of adolescents’ changes. Try new strategies and methodologies to make teenagers feel engaged with a class, to increase their creativity, just as Harmer says: “Teenagers, if they are engaged, have a great capacity to learn, a great potential for creativity, and a passionate commitment to things which interest them” (39). Consequently, teachers just have to intertwine students’ experience in life and interests with their classes to show students that those classes are useful for their lives. In order words, motivation is needed to engage adolescents in class.. 9.3 Motivation. As it is said before, teaching adolescents is not an easy task due to the fact that teachers need to motivate them in every class. But what is motivation? There are many definitions of motivation according to Brown, in his book called Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, these definitions depend on a behavioristic view, cognitive view or a constructivist view..
(15) Salinas 15. “From a behaviorist perspective, motivation is seen as … the anticipation of reward” (160). This means that students always need to get as a reward to do what they have to do. “In cognitive terms, motivation places much more emphasis on the individual’s decisions.” (160) In other words, from a cognitive view, motivation is developed more internal than the behaviorist view. This is because motivation is based on human needs as the need of explore new things in life and know new knowledge about a specific topic. “A constructivist view of motivation places even further emphasis on social context as well as individual choices. Each person is motivated differently, and will therefore ant on his or her environment in ways that are unique” (161). In this view of motivation, it is essential the social context of the person because in terms of academic learning, students need recognition for their work and social acceptance. After describing motivation according to Brown (164), it is important to classify motivation into two types. One is intrinsic motivation and the other is extrinsic motivation. Based on Harmer “Intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual. Thus a person might be motivated by the enjoyment of the learning process itself or by the desire to make themselves better” (51). On the contrary, “Extrinsic motivation is caused by any number of outside factors, for example, the need to pass an exam, the hope of financial reward, or the possibility of future travel”(51). These types of motivation can be changed any time depending on each situation in life, but it will also depend on the teacher and on his/her classes, but first it is important to know what the characteristics of motivated learners are. Penny Ur (275) suggests seven characteristics of motivated learners..
(16) Salinas 16. “Positive task orientation”: Students are willing to face challenges and have confidence in their success. “Ego-Involvement”: Students have the need to succeed in learning in order to promote their self-image positively. “Need of achievement”: Students feel the need to achieve and to overcome difficulties. “High aspirations”: Students go for demanding challenges. Consequently, they develop a high proficiency in school and in life. “Goal orientation”: Students are aware of their goals about learning. That is why they direct their efforts toward achieving them. “Perseverance”: Students make a big effort to learn until they get everything taught. “Tolerance of ambiguity”: Students are not frustrated if they are confused or cannot understand. They know that they will understand the contents later. All these characteristics of motivated learners are useful to then implement new strategies to make students be proud in themselves and at the same time, improve their self-esteem.. 9.4 Self-esteem. Before defining self-esteem, it is necessary to comprehend what an adolescent needs to develop a positive self-esteem. According to Rivlin “The young person looks for affection from his family and for acceptance, at least, by his teachers. He wants to feel that he `belongs’ in the informal society of his peers. He needs to believe that he is achieving, that he is doing worthwhile things and doing them well – learning, earning, getting along with others, performing in sports and recreational activities” (398). First, it.
(17) Salinas 17. is required to understand adolescents’ emotions, and their feeling of belonging to certain group of people to feel good with themselves. During adolescence, the sense of emotional autonomy is developed, but what is emotional autonomy? Bjork Lund and Hernandez say that “Emotional autonomy only refers to increases in an adolescent’s subjective sense of his or her independence, especially in relation to parents or paternal figures” (455). At this period of life, adolescents want an independent identity to start exploring the world by their own. Due to emotional autonomy start appearing some problems related with their independent identity. These problems are defined by Bjork Lund and Hernandez as internalizing problems and externalizing problems. “Internalizing problems affect the people who experience them (they internalize their problems, or turn inward) and include anxiety disorders (phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder), depression, and eating disorders, among others”(456).This problem is mostly seen in girls than in boys, and “externalizing problems reflects acting out, such that one’s behavior adversely affects other people … externalizing problems are more frequent in boys than in girls” (456). These are important factors to understand adolescents because they show that boys are more aware of their peer group status, but in girls increase their inhibitory behavior, increasing also their anxiety. Taking all those aspects of adolescents’ development into account, it is necessary to define self-esteem in order to help adolescents to develop their self-image. According to Brown in his book Principles of Language Learning and Teaching, self-esteem is “selfconfidence, knowledge of yourself, and belief in your own capabilities for that activity” (145). In other words is the capability that everyone has to believe in their abilities and accept them. Brown in his book Principles of Language Teaching also describes three levels of self-esteem (145)..
(18) Salinas 18. “Global self-esteem: It is relatively stable in a mature adult, and is resistant to change.” “Situational or specific self-esteem: It is related with one’s self appraisals in particular life situations such as social interaction, education, home...” “Task self-esteem: It is related to particular tasks within specific situations … task self-esteem might appropriately refer to one’s self-evaluation of a particular aspect of the process: speaking, writing, a particular class in a second language, or even a special kind of classroom exercise”. Now, that it is understood that self-esteem can change in every situation that students face in their adolescence that is why it is also important that “professionals can help to enhance adolescents’ self-esteem by helping to face a problems instead of avoiding it” (American Psychological Association 16). This is essential to develop adolescents’ self-esteem, due to the fact they use their cognitive abilities to find solutions to problems, consequently their ability of risk-taking will increase due to their capability of believing in themselves. As a result, adolescents will accept their image, abilities, and faults in order to be proud of their identity. At this point is very important the work of the teachers as Rivlin says: “The adolescent can be aided a great deal by a wise and sympathetic teacher who can help him to see his problems from a better vantage point and in whose presence ha can think of solutions that would not otherwise come to mind. He can be helped immeasurably by a teacher who sees him as an individual and not merely as a sophomore English student …” (399) Teachers’ guidance is an important factor in order to make students feel proud of themselves, and also with teachers appreciation of each student, they will feel that they.
(19) Salinas 19. belong to that group because he/she is a unique individual who is important in that group..
(20) Salinas 20. 10. Methodology. Through this semester I had the opportunity to be in charge of the English class in the 9th grade A from San Andres School located in Maipú. First, I had to observe every English class. During the first week, students had to present in front of the class about a technological object they already chose. When they were speaking about their topic, I could notice how nervous they were and that their attitude influenced they performance and consequently their marks. When the moment of teaching the English class arrived, I could notice that they were very talkative and that they did not understand English that much, and also they did not take the risk of speaking in English. Moreover, when someone spoke in English, some students started to laugh at him/her. Therefore, it was an uncomfortable situation for the one who spoke in English and for me. At that moment I thought about improving my students’ speaking skills through this semester because everybody would has the opportunity to speak in English. Also they would improve their self-esteem and motivation during their English classes because speaking other language as English implies take the risk of speak and attitude too.. 10.1 Instruments. To help my students improve their speaking skills, it is necessary to have some instruments that would help me to notice their progress through the semester. I have thought in two instruments to realize my students’ progress in spoken English and in their attitude when they speak in English in front of the class..
(21) Salinas 21. If I had the opportunity to implement this research proposal, I would use two instruments.. • Checklists will help me and my students to evaluate them from the beginning of the semester until the end. At the end of any activity, students and teacher will have a checklist that would be the same at the beginning and at the end of the semester. That checklist would help me to realize students’ progress to know if the objectives are being achieved or not because at the end of the semester students will compare their checklists and they will notice their improvement. Moreover, checklists would help me to notice if I am wrong about teaching some contents or if I’m doing my job good or wrong. • Group Presentations will help me to see my students attitude in front of the class at the moment of speaking in English. I think it is important to implement at least three presentations through the semester because it is a way to see my students’ progress in terms of self-esteem and attitude. If my students think they can do it, they will do it perfectly because they will believe in themselves.. 10.2 Action plan - proposal. If I had the opportunity to implement this action plan in my English classes, I would use these activities and strategies to make my students speak more in English and to improve their speaking skills that will complement the instruments mentioned above.. • Games activities that will help to improve my students’ pronunciation like tongue twisters, singing songs and telling stories. The idea of these.
(22) Salinas 22. activities is to use them constantly. Therefore, students will take the risk to do these activities more easily than if I do them once a week. Through those activities, the strategy will be that students will listen before they speak to then imitate some sounds in order to take the risk and repeat some words that then they will use to give an opinion, comment something or even in a conversation with a classmate. • Constant pair work activities to make my students talk in conversations about a specific topic. Through a conversation students will start feeling confident when speaking in English because they are not doing it by their own. They will receive help from each other and they will notice that nobody in the class is an expert at the time of speaking in English. Therefore the strategy will be team work because if one of them makes a mistake, the other will help him/her to do a better job. Also, by speaking about certain topics, students will have to say their opinions and it will help to develop their critical thinking..
(23) Salinas 23. 11. Conclusion. In conclusion, this research proposal helped me to see my strengths and weaknesses through the semester. I could notice how important is giving the opportunity to students to speak in English and show them that there is nothing to be afraid. On the one hand, one of my weaknesses was that I used to speak the whole class, so the TTT (teacher talking time) was too much. As a result, students felt that there was no opportunity for them to speak. Hopefully, I could notice my attitude to then change it and therefore, let my students speak in Spanglish if it was necessary because the important fact was that they could take the risk and speak. On the other hand, one of my strengths was my rapport with my 9th grade students. I think I could intertwine their consciousness about their behavior and their responsibility in life. If they do what they have to do right, then the results will be totally positive. Personally, that was the key to have a good relationship with my students because they could notice that they were important for me. I know that at the beginning of the semester was very difficult to establish a rapport with them, but finally I could do it and I am happy with that. Lastly, this research proposal gave me the opportunity to think about my students’ self-esteem, and work thinking about that first and then planning my lessons according to that. Also, it helped me to increase my willingness to find answers to problems that came up during this semester..
(24) Salinas 24. Works Cited. Bjorklund, David F., and Carlos Hernandez. Child & Adolescent Development. Wadsworth ed. 2012. Web Brown, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents, 1994. Print Brown, H. D. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 4th ed. Harlow: Longman, 2000. Print Developing Adolescents: A Reference for Professionals. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2002. Print Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 3rd ed. London: Longman, 1983. Print Lazaraton, Anne. Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language.Ed. Marianne Celce-Murcia. 3rd ed. Boston: Heinle&Heinle, 2001. Print Richards, Jack C., and Willy A. Renandya. Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. New York: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print Rivlin, Harry N. Teaching Adolescents in Secondary Schools; the Principles of Effective Teaching in Junior and Senior High Schools.New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1961. Print Scrivener, Jim. Learning Teaching: A Guidebook for English Language Teachers. 3rd ed. Oxford: Heinemann (Oxford), 1994. Print.
(25) Salinas 25. Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge England: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.
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