DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEAKING SKILLS AT THE UPPER- SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL IN LARGE CLASSES: CHALLENGES AND FUNCTIONAL ACTIVITIES AS WAYS TO COPE Master’s Thesis MARIA VIRUNEN

2 Aims to describe and classify difficulties that both teachers and students have in large classes where speaking skills are practiced to suggest principles and activities for the development of speaking skills and conversational competence in the classroom with the focus being placed on big in the number of students classes. to examine the effectiveness of certain activities and techniques in helping students shed their complexes and diffidence and become more fluent communicators.

3 Hypotheses The present research hypotheses that: 1. development of speaking skills in large classes can be effective and productive in terms of communicative competence and language mastery 2. implementation of functional speaking activities, such as role-plays, group work and discussions is the best way to achieve results and eliminate most of the problems teachers have while teaching speaking in large language classes 3. it is possible to study in big classes at the upper- secondary school level and be prepared for the National exam.

4 The structure of the research : Introduction of the topic and a survey of relevant theoretical background sources to present the hypotheses ( in Introduction and Chapter I of the paper) Empirical research to analyse students’ and teachers’ opinions and suggestions regarding “large classes’ and the development of speaking skills in them (in Chapter II) Practical recommendations to develop a programme for teachers to cope with difficulties (in Chapter III)

5 Theoretical part Outcomes: According to the analysis of works of such researchers as Skeffington, Doff, F. Lawtie, Hayes, M. Richard, Felder, etc students’ not so active participation in class depends on: low quality of teaching inappropriate for productive learning class atmosphere the lack of teacher’s support and advice wrongly chosen speaking activities.

6 Theoretical part Outcomes: It was recommended to improve the situation with: more effective speaking tasks which seem to be more appropriate for certain class atmosphere, supportive and reliable teachers and their professionalism. some recommendations were suggested to improve the situation when students do not speak English or use their mother tongue.

7 Empirical Part The I questionnaire was distributed among 25 English and German language teachers from Narva, Tallinn and Kiviõli secondary and upper-secondary schools who work in th forms and the average number of students they have in a language group is 20. Aims: to reveal problems of teaching spoken language in large classes and challengers that teachers face while teaching speaking what functional speaking activities are considered to be the best way to achieve results in terms of speaking

8 Questionnaire for Teachers 1. What classes are you working in? 2. What is an approximate number of students studying in language groups? 3. What are the main activities used at your lessons? 4. I should devote more than 50% of my teaching to promoting oral skills. 5. At least 20% of time at lesson is to be set to speaking. 6. I want my students to speak much more English at lesson. 7. My students have few or no opportunities to practice spoken English outside the classroom. 8. It is a good point in teaching practice if students do not hesitate to ask questions in English. 9.Students should be allowed to use mother tongue during speaking activities. 10. All my students got used to work in groups 11. Group work as a ‘time eater’ and there is no use in practicing it. 12. Speaking activities may cause discipline problems, and they are impossible to be done with active and noisy students 13. I know what favourite speaking activities of my students are. 14. My aim is merely to ensure that my students will pass the National exam. 15. Do you manage to speak with all students during a lesson period? 16. What do you understand by the phrase ‘a good language class”?

9 Questionnaire for Teachers

10 Questionnaire for Teachers Outcomes: speaking activities as dialogues, role-plays and speaking practice organised in groups are widely used by teachers and considered to be the most productive ones for successful practice of speaking English. speaking is the most important skill for language acquisition. teachers wished to have lessons where 50 % of time would be devoted to speaking activities, though the National Exam in English, at the end of the 12th form still remains one of the most important requirements for perspective graduation.

11 Empirical Part (Questionnaire for students) The II questionnaire was distributed among 50 students from the 10 th, the 11 th and the 12 th forms, who study in large groups (20 students and more) Aims: to find out if students like or dislike speaking activities in a class and which ones are their favorite. To find out their attitude towards big class. to prove the hypothesis that it is possible to study in big classes at the upper-secondary school level and be prepared for the National exam.

12 Questionnaire for students What class are you studying in? How often is English a week? What is your favourite speaking activity at lesson (Why? How often do you have a chance for two-way communication with the teacher while speaking practicing? What is your favourite seating place in the class and why? How can you describe the atmosphere, the so called ‘learning environment”, while speaking task is given in the class? Do you like studying in a large class? Why? What are the advantages and disadvantages of studying in a large class?

13 Questionnaire for students: what is your favourite speaking activity in the lesson? such speaking activities as dialogues, role-plays and speaking practice organised in groups are accepted by students and considered to be the most productive ones for successful practice of speaking English.

14 Questionnaire for students:Do you like studying in a large class? Why? the most number of students (70% of the respondents) can easily accept the studying atmosphere in the large class and do not see any serious problems in it. Students know how to cope with studying in a large language group and achieve successful results in speaking.

15 The outcomes of both surveys prove hypotheses of the research that: implementation of functional speaking activities, such as role-plays, group work and discussions is the best way to achieve results and eliminate most of the problems teachers have while teaching speaking in large language classes it is possible to study in big classes at the upper- secondary school level and be prepared for the National exam.

16 Programme for teachers to cope with difficulties in large class There was also a special programme suggested for teachers with some recommendations and steps for speaking skills development. It was organised with the help of such speaking activities as dialogues, role-plays and group discussions a special check list with squares to tick recommended for teachers to follow while group and pair work activity preparation. It has been worked out in order to help teachers cope with challengers during group or pair work in large classes. Questions for teachers’ self reflection after role play activity There were also some challenging practical activities suggested for teachers to use.

17 The following check list can be recommended to teachers to follow while group and pair work activity preparation. Teacher should tick the circle if he/she agrees with the statement. My group/pair work activity follows the lesson goals. I can easily explain the value of the proposed activity. I am ready to give certain instructions to my students I know the relations between students within the group or pair My speaking activity let me organize groups of different abilities. There is always time left for group/pairs organization. There is time left for students to reflect on their speaking progress and results. I see the student who is: a non-participant a leader a curious student a discipline breaker

18 After role play the teacher can make a kind of self- reflection with the help of the following questions What was the atmosphere in the class during a role play activity? Who started the activity first? Were there any volunteers? Were the instructions clearly presented? How much time was given to students to prepare? How many conversational topics had each pair practiced? Were the role play topics close to real life situations? Was a sample model given to students to follow? Did students share their ideas and opinions after the activity?

19 Programme for teachers to cope with difficulties in large class Outcomes: As for functional speaking activities, role-plays are interesting, memorable and engaging, and students retain the material they have learned. In their assumed role, students drop their shyness and other personality and cultural restrains, which makes role plays one of the best tools available for teaching a second language communicatively. the most successful activities for school leavers are considered to be group work, role play and monologues as they are widely used and accepted by teachers and students. What is more, these activities can be organised in classes with a big number of students and finally they are very similar to oral exam tasks that let students be well prepared for the Exam procedure and give the opportunity to express them clearly and effectively later in life.

20 Conclusion Finally, teaching a large class effectively is hard work, but it is possible to do it if teacher is not a ‘big- league entertainer’. If teacher makes the necessary logistical arrangements far enough in advance, provides plenty of active learning experiences in the classroom instead of relying on straight lecturing, and takes full advantage of the power of groups and pairs in- work, large classes can come close to being as educationally rewarding as small ones.

21 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!