the use of simulation to develop speaking skills for third year fast track students at faculty of...

Graduation Paper 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

��

KHUC KIM LAN

THE USE OF SIMULATION TO DEVELOP

SPEAKING SKILLS FOR 3RD- YEAR FAST TRACK

STUDENTS AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH

LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION, ULIS, VNU

AS PERCEIVED BY TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (TEFL)

SUPERVISOR: MRS. VU TUONG VI, MA


ACCEPTANCE

I hereby state that I: Khuc Kim Lan, class 06.1.E1, being a candidate for

the degree of Bachelor of Arts ( TEFL) accept the requirements of the

University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor's Graduation Paper

deposited in the library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited

in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in

accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the

care, loan or reproduction of the paper.

Signature

KHUC KIM LAN

Hanoi, 4th May 2010


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to send my deepest thanks to Mrs. Vũ Tường

Vi, my supervisor, for her encouragement, guidance and her critical

comments, without which I could not have finished my thesis. She also

offered me great help in terms of ideas and materials.

My appreciations are also extended to Mrs. Dang Thi Kim Anh and

Mrs. Nguyen Minh Hue, lecturers of Faculty of English Teacher Education,

ULIS, VNU who provided me a lot of useful materials and suggestions for

my research.

I would like to thank students of class 071E1, 071E20, 061E1 who

helped me pilot as well as fulfill the questionnaires and the interviews.

And finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and

friends for the continued spiritual support they have given me during the

writing of this paper.


ABSTRACT

The context of international integration and development has attached

increasing importance to communication in general and oral communication in

particular. Oral communication skills or speaking skills therefore have become

the focus of language teaching as far as the objectives of English course of the

Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, ULIS, VNU are concerned.

With a lot of advantages, simulation is considered one of the most potential

activities to help students promote their speaking skills.

As one of the first attempts to explore the effectiveness of using simulation

in speaking classroom for a specific group of learners, namely 3rd

- year Fast

Track students, this paper sheds light on both the students' perception on the

advantages and difficulties as well as teachers’ exploitation and suggestions for

utilizing this kind of activity. Additionally, by identifying the hindrance, the

paper provides several pedagogical suggestions for further exploitation of

simulation in the given context.

For the achievements of these purposes, 49 third year Fast track students

and two teachers were involved in completing the questionnaire. To enhance the

quality of information collected from the questionnaire, the interview was also

employed to help the researcher examine and provide more details to the

findings.

The results of this research show many positive signs in students'

perception of the importance of speaking skills as well as the way to exploit

simulation so that they can maximize the benefits of this activity. In this paper,

many aspects of speaking skills are confirmed to be achieved by studied students

when they participate in this activity, though there are some aspects that were

chosen by a small number of participants. Secondly, difficulties in the process of

implementing a simulation as well as some valuable suggestions were discovered

with a concrete analysis.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS Page

Acknowledgements i

Abstract ii

Table of content iii

List of figures, tables and abbreviations v

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1. Statement for the problem and the rationale for the study 1

1.2. Aims and objectives of the study 3

1.3. Significance of the study 4

1.4. Scope of the study 5

1.5. An overview of the rest of the paper 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1. Key concepts 7

2.1.1. The communicative approach 7

2.1.1.1. An overview of communicative language teaching (CLT) 7

2.1.1.2. Communicative competence under the light of the

communicative approach

10

2.1.2. Speaking skills 14

2.1.2.1. An overview of speaking skills 14

2.1.2.2. The importance of speaking skills in L2 teaching and

learning context

15

2.1.2.3. The communicative approach to teaching and learning

speaking skills

16

2.1.3. Simulation 20

2.1.3.1. Definition of simulation in L2 teaching and learning context 20

2.1.3.2. Characteristics of simulation 20

2.1.3.3. Advantages of simulation 23

2.1.3.4. Disadvantages of simulation 24

2.1.3.5. Simulation model for 3rd

year Fast Track students 26

2.2. An overview of related studies 27

2.2.1. An overview of related studies worldwide 27


2.2.2. An overview of related studies in Vietnam 29

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 31

3.1. Selection of subjects 31

3.2. Data collection instruments 32

3.2.1. Questionnaire 32

3.2.1.1. Questionnaire for students 32

3.2.1.2. Questionnaire for teachers 35

3.2.2. Interview 35

3.3. Data collection procedures 37

3.3.1. Piloting 37

3.3.1.1. Piloting the questionnaire 37

3.3.1.2. Piloting the interview 37

3.3.2. Main procedures 37

3.4. Data analysis procedures 37

37

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 40

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 63

5.1. Summary of the findings 63

5.2. Contributions of the research 65

5.3. Limitations 66

5.4. Suggestions for further studies 67

References

Appendices


LIST OF TABLES, DIAGRAMS, FIGURES AND

ABBREVIATIONS

Picture 1: Components of communicative competence

Figure 1: The times participants taking part in the simulation

Figure 2: Aspects of speaking proficiency students can gain (as perceived

by themselves)

Figure 3: Interviewers' difficulties in the preparation stage for the

simulation

Figure 4: Interviewees' difficulties in the preparation stage for the

simulation

Figure 5: Interviewers' difficulties in performing in the simulation

Figure 6: Interviewees' difficulties in performing in the simulation

Figure 7: Recommendations for the preparation stage

Figure 8: Suggestions for the performance in the simulation

Diagram 1: The chronological evolution of Celce- Murcia at al’s model

ELT: English Language Teaching.

ULIS-VNU: University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam

National University, Hanoi.

L2: Second language learning.

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching


CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

This chapter states the problem and the rationale of the study, as well

as the aims, objectives and the scope of the whole paper. Above all, it is in

this chapter that the research questions are clearly stated to work as clear

guidelines for the whole research.

1.1. Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study

The ever growing need for good communication skills in English has

created a huge demand for English around the world. The past few decades

have witnessed a radical methodological change in English language

teaching. Since its appearance in the late 1960s, Communicative Language

Teaching (CLT) has been widely applied in language teaching. This

method’s goal is to aim at teaching “communicative competence” including

not only grammatical competence but also sociolinguistic, discourse and

strategic competence (Canale& Swain, 1980, cited in Lyu, p5).

In the light of this approach, English is looked on as an international

means of communication. The context of international integration and

development has attached increasing importance to communication in

general and oral communication in particular. Oral communication skills or

speaking skills, therefore have become the focus of language teaching as

far as the objectives of English course of the Faculty of English Language

Teacher Education, ULIS are concerned.

Together with Listening, Reading and Writing, Speaking is considered

one of the most important skills in teaching and learning a foreign

language. According to Mackey (1997) “Oral expressions involves not

only the use of the right sounds in the right patterns of rhythm and


intonation but also the choice of word and inflections in the right order to

convey the right meaning.(cited in Bygate, 2000, p5). We use speaking

skills as according to the Advanced Oxford Dictionary, speaking helps us

“express or communicate opinions, feelings, ideas, etc, by or as talking

and it involves the activities in the part of the speaker as

psychological, physiological (articulator) and physical (acoustic) stages.”

(p129). Under the light of CLT principles, speaking skills have a more

crucial role as they have to help students enhance their communicative

competence.

In second language teaching and learning context, among various

kinds of activities applied in teaching speaking, simulation is defined as “a

structured set of circumstances that mirror real life and participants act as

instructed” (Dougill, 1987, cited in Wan Yee Sam, p7). In another

approach, Jones (1982, cited in Yeonhwan, p13) defines simulation as

reality of function in a simulated and structured environment. Simulation

provides many advantages, such as reduction of anxiety, increase in

positive feelings, and improved self-confidence (Crookall & Oxford, 1990,

cited in Doris, 1999, p23).

Obviously, with a lot of advantages as listed above, simulation is

considered one of the most potential activities to help students promote

their speaking skills. In a recent survey that the author of this paper

conducted on January, 2010, 89% of 3rd

year Fast track students have

admitted that simulation is an interesting activity and 85% showed that it is

an effective way to help students develop their speaking skills. These

statistics have opened a promising picture that it is highly recommended to

make full use of simulation.


In the situation of Faculty of English Language Teacher Education,

ULIS, the facts have shown that only in the syllabus for 3rd

- year Fast track

students is there an official speaking activity, namely Simulation, which

earns high assessment (15%) besides Presentation and Debate activity. This

activity is only applied officially for 3rd

year Fast Track students as only

those who have enough knowledge and English language ability to take

part in Simulation. This fact raises a question in the researcher’s mind that

whether or not 3rd

year Fast track students can better their speaking ability

through the activity, and if this activity can be implemented in other classes

of different years. Moreover, up to now, there has been little research on

this field.

All the above reasons have inspired the researcher to conduct a

research on “The use of simulation to develop speaking skills for 3rd

-

year Fast Track students at Faculty of English Language Teacher

Education, ULIS, VNU as perceived by teachers and students”. This is

a serious examination into the current situation of using Simulation in

speaking class for 3rd

- year Fast track students to see whether this activity

has really become an effective speaking activity or not. It also hopes to

discover not only the advantages of using Simulation, the difficulties in

implementing Simulation but also the suggestions to maximize its

effectiveness in enhancing students’ speaking skills.

1.2. Aims and objectives of the study

The study firstly aims at researching the advantages of using

simulation, to be more specific, the aspects of speaking proficiency that

students can gain when implementing simulation in speaking class for 3rd

year Fast Track students. Then, the difficulties in preparing and performing

in the simulation are expected to discover. Lastly, the recommendations of


utilizing Simulation in speaking class for 3rd

year Fast track students at

Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, ULIS, VNU are detected.

In brief, these objectives can be summarized into four research questions as

follows:

1. Which aspects of speaking proficiency under the communicative

approach can 3rd

year Fast track students gain through simulation as

perceived by students themselves?

2. Which aspects of speaking proficiency under the communicative

approach can 3rd


perceived by teachers?

3. What are the difficulties facing 3rd

year Fast Track students at

Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, ULIS in both the

preparation stage and the performance in the simulation to develop their

speaking skills as perceived by themselves?

4. What are the recommendations suggested by teachers and students

to overcome the difficulties in taking part in the simulation to enhance

speaking skills for 3rd

year Fast track students, Faculty of English Language

Teacher Education, ULIS?

1.3. Significance of the study

Once having completed, this research will serve as an investigation

into the exploitation and the effects of using simulation for 3rd

year Fast

Track students in speaking classes. Therefore, it can be beneficial for

students, teachers as well as researchers who are interested in this topic.

To be specific, in the first place, teachers can consult this to be more

aware of their students’ attitudes towards simulation activity in terms of the

advantages they can gain and the difficulties they have to encounter during

the preparation and the performance stage. Hence, teachers can have


various ways to adjust their teaching methods and refer the most useful

strategies and guidelines to enhance students’ speaking skills and interest in

speaking lessons as well.

Secondly, students, accordingly, can indirectly benefit from the

research in that they are completely able to choose the most effective and

appropriate suggestions to improve their speaking skills.

Finally, researchers who have an interest in this topic can refer to this

research for a reliable and update source of information for further studies

on related issue.

1.4. Scope of the study

It is the fact that Simulation is one of the most effective speaking

activities in speaking classroom. However, due to the limitation of time

and human resources, this paper only attempts to research on a small

group of participants, namely 3rd

-year Fast track students, Faculty of

English Teacher Education, ULIS, VNU as in the syllabus there is an

official speaking activity called Simulation besides presentation and

debate which is only designed for 3rd

- year Fast track students with the

guidelines. Added to this, the researcher does not expect to study on the

application of simulation in different fields in general for instance

technology, economics, politics, etc. but specifies in English language

teaching and learning in particular. Last but not least, the paper does not

try to cover all the four skills in teaching and learning a second language,

but focuses merely on speaking skills.

1.5. An overview of the rest of the paper

The rest of the paper includes four chapters as follows:


Chapter 2 – Literature review – provides the background of the study,

including definitions of key concepts, and discussions of related studies.

Chapter 3 – Methodology – describes the participants and instruments of

the study, as well as the procedure employed to carry out the research.

Chapter 4 – Data analysis and discussion – presents the data collected in

details and then analyses major patterns found in the data collected

according to the three research questions

Chapter 5 – Conclusion – summarizes the main issues discussed in the

paper, the limitations of the research, several pedagogical

recommendations concerning the research topic as well as some

suggestions for further studies.

Following this chapter are the References and Appendices.

Summary

In this chapter, the researcher has revealed the following points:

(1) Statement and rationale for the study

(2) Aims and objectives of the study

(3) Scope of the study

(4) Significance of the study

(5) An overview of the rest of the paper

Generally, these elaborations have not only justified the major contents

and structure of the study but also worked as the guidelines for the rest of

the paper.


CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter, as its name suggested, provides a brief review of the

literature related, specifically the background and a number of studies

related to the research topic. Initially, key terms such as Communicative

Language Teaching method (CLT) and communicative competence or

speaking skills and simulation will be defined together with their sub-

related issues such as the characteristics, the importance of simulation in

L2 learning and teaching. Finally, a brief review of the related studies will

disclose the research gap and hence, justify the aims and objectives of this

research paper.

2.1. Key concepts

2.1.1. The communicative approach

2.1.1.1. An overview of the communicative approach

The origins of Communicative language Teaching (CLT) were found

in the changes in the British language teaching tradition dating from the

late 1960s. At that time, a reaction to traditional language teaching

approaches began and soon spread around the world as older methods such

as Audiolingualism and Situational Language teaching fell out of fashion.

The centrality of grammar in language teaching and learning was

questioned, since it was argued that language ability involved much more

than grammatical competence. “While grammatical competence was

needed to produce grammatically correct sentences, attention shifted to

the knowledge and skills needed to use grammar and other aspects of

language appropriately for different communicative purposes such as


making requests, giving advice, making suggestions, describing wishes

and needs, and so on. What was needed in order to use language

communicatively was communicative competence.” (as cited in Richards,

J.C, 2006, p9)

As CLT method is a great issue which still attracts a lot of research

from scholars around the world, the followings expect to equip readers with

the most basic knowledge of CLT. They are merely the summaries of some

of the main features in CLT approach, namely: the goal of CLT, the

objectives, the learners’ roles and teachers’ roles in CLT and the materials

that are often used in CLT.

In terms of the approach, the communicative approach in language

teaching starts from a theory of language as communication. The goal of

language teaching is to develop according to what Hymes (1972) referred

to as “communicative competence”. This term will be studied carefully in

the following sub part.

Regarding to the objectives of communicative language teaching

method, Piepho (1981) (as cited in Richards, J.C & Rodgers, T.S, 1996,

p12) has shown his point of view as follows:

� an integrative and content level (language as a means of expression)

� a linguistic and instrumental level (language as a semiotic system

and an object of learning)

� an affective level of interpersonal relationships and conduct

(language as a means of expressing values and judgments about

oneself and others)

� a level of individual learning needs (remedial learning based on error

analysis)

� a general educational level of extra-linguistic goals (language

learning within the school curriculum)


As the emphasis of communicative language teaching is on the

process of communication, rather than mastery of language forms, it leads

to different roles for learners from those found in more traditional second

language classrooms. Breen and Candlin (1980, as cited in Richards &

Rodgers, 1996, p35) describe the learners’ roles within CLT in the

following terms:

“The role of learner as negotiator- between the self, the learning

process, and the object of learning- emerges from and interacts with the

role of joint negotiator within the group and within the classroom

procedures and activities which the group undertakes. The implication for

the learner is that he should contribute as much as he gains, and thereby

learn in an interdependent way

Along with learner roles, teacher roles have been emphasized by

Breen and Candlin (1980) as well.

The first role is to facilitate the communication process between all

participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the

various activities and texts.

The second role is to act as an independent participant within the

learning-teaching group.

The third role for the teacher is that of researcher and learner, with

much to contribute in terms of appropriate knowledge and abilities, actual

and observed experience of the nature of learning and organizational

capacities. (as cited in Richards, J.C & Rodgers, T.S, 1996, p36)

In terms of materials in CLT, task-based materials are one of the most

popular and effective types of materials in promoting communicative

language use. In task based materials, a variety of games, role plays,

simulations and task- based communication activities have been prepared

to support CLT classes. These typical activities are in the form of one- of-

a- kind items: exercise handbooks, cue cards, activity cards, pair-


communication practice materials, and student- interaction practice

booklets. In pair communication materials, there are typically two sets of

materials for a pair of students, each set containing different kinds of

information. Sometimes the information is complementary, and the

partners must fit their respective parts of the “jigsaw” into a composite

whole, and partners must fit their relationships for the partners (e.g., an

Interviewer and an interviewee). Still others provide drills and practice

material in international formats.

It is obviously seen that this is the most concise and complete

summary of CLT main features which answer many questions about CLT

method.

2.1.1.2. Communicative competence in the light of communicative

approach

As mentioned above, CLT’s goal is to help learners achieve

communicative competence, which caught a lot of scholars’ attention.

The concept of “communicative competence” was first introduced by

Hymes in 1972 in response to Chomsky’s concept of grammatical

competence and continued to be developed by Canale and Swain (1980),

Canale (1983) etc.( cited in To, 2008, p29).

Here are four components of communicative competence classified by

Savignon 1972, 1983, 1987; Canale and Swain 1980; Canale 1983; Byram

1997.


Picture 1: Components of communicative competence

As can be seen from the figure above, communicative competence

comprises grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociocultural

competence, and strategic competence.

The main features of each aspect of communicative competence can

be understood as follows, basing on the study of many famous scholars in

the studied field.

Grammatical competence refers to sentence-level grammatical forms,

the ability to recognize the lexical, morphological, syntactical and

phonological features of a language and to make use of those features to

interpret and form words and sentences. One demonstrates grammatical

competence not by stating a rule but by using a rule in the

interpretation, expression, or negotiation of meaning.


Discourse competence is concerned not with isolated words or phrases

but with the interconnectedness of a series of utterances or written

words or phrases to form a text, a meaningful whole. The text might be a

poem, an e-mail message, a sportscast, a telephone conversation, or a

novel. Discourse competence is also the knowledge of rules regarding the

cohesion (grammatical links) and coherence (appropriate combination of

communicative functions) of various types of discourse ( e.g., use of

appropriate pronouns, synonyms, conjunctions, substitution, repetition,

making of congruity and continuity, topic-comment sequence, etc.)

Sociocultural competence: the mastery of sociocultural rules of

appropriate use of L2; that is, how utterances are produced and understood

in different sociolinguistic contexts (e.g., understanding of speech act

conventions, awareness of norms of stylistic appropriateness, the use of a

language to signal social relationships, etc.)

Strategic competence: the mastery of verbal and nonverbal

communication strategies in L2 used when attempting to compensate for

deficiencies in the grammatical and sociolinguistic competence or to

enhance the effectiveness of communication (e.g. paraphrasing how to

address others when uncertain of their relative social status, slow speech

for rhetorical effect, etc.) (as cited in Savignon, S.J, 2002, p 9-10)

Later on, Celce-Murcia et al (1995) added one more aspect of

communicative competence, which is known as actional competence.

Actional competence is defined as the ability to match actional intent

with linguistic form based on the knowledge of language functions and

knowledge of speech act sets.( To, 2009, p40)

The chronological evolution of Celce- Murcia et al’s model can be

seen in the following diagram:


Canale and Swain

(1980)

Canale

(1983)

Celce-Murcia, Dornyei

and Thurrell (1995)

Diagram 1: The chronological evolution of Celce- Murcia at al’s

model(cited in To 2009, p39)

Although there are some differences in the way different scholars

classified communicative competence, all of them always consider

discourse competence is the core of communicative competence.

Strategic

competence

Strategic

competence

Strategic

competence

Grammatical

competence

Grammatical

competence

Linguistic

Competence

Sociocultual

competence Sociocultural

competence Sociocultural

competence

Actional

competence

Discourse

competence Discourse

competence


For the sake of clarity and consistency, this paper will refer to Celce-

Murcia et al's (1995) classification whenever the term ‘communicative

competence’ is mentioned.

In sum, only gaining linguistic competence can not fulfill the goal of

CLT method. Therefore, teaching English in general, teaching Speaking in

particular need to help students gain all of the five aspects of

communicative competence under the light of the communicative

approach. Simulation, one of the most effective classroom activities also

has to consider this mission.

2.1.2. Speaking skills in second language teaching and learning

2.1.2.1. An overview of speaking skills

There are different ways to define speaking skills, among which

Mackey (2001) summarized oral expression as follows:

“Oral expressions involves not only the use of the right sounds in the

right patterns of rhythm and intonation but also the choice of words and

inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning.( cited in Bygate,

2000, page 5)

In his book, Mackey also recommended some of the activities for oral

practice, such as:

1. information gap activities

2. communication games

3. simulations

4. project-based activities

There are also very good educational reasons to practice speaking

during a lesson as he emphasizes that: first of all, speaking activities can

reinforce the learning of new vocabulary, grammar or functional language

and second, speaking activities give students the chance to use the new

language they are learning


Lastly, speaking activities give more advanced students the chance to

experiment with the language they already know in different situations and

on different topics.

In another research, Brown and Yule (1983) have pointed out the

functions of speaking which are classified into 2 main functions known as

interactional functions of speaking (in which it serves to establish and

maintain social relations) and the transactional functions (which focus on

the exchange of information) (as cited in Richards, p2)

When mentioning speaking skills, it is a shortcoming if "spoken

English" is not noted. In his study, Roger (2003) has pointed out the

characteristics of spoken English, to be specific, it is when " interlocutors

sharing the immediate context within which the dialogue takes place, hence

much information is implicit and assumed" (Collins and Hollo, 2000, cited

in Roger, p3) Moreover, this author also cited a statement of Bygate (2000)

in his research that " A leaner's speaking competence is determined by his

success in conducting a conversation. Success in conversation is more

likely if the grammar, syntax, lexis and discourse patterns used are familiar

to, accurate and appropriate for all the interlocutors"(Roger, p5)

2.1.2.2. The importance of speaking skills in L2 teaching and learning

context

Speaking, along with other three skills including reading, listening and

writing help learners learn a language most effectively. Good speaking

skills help people communicate the fastest and the most effectively.

According to Flohr and Paesler (2006), speaking skills are the most

important ones in learning a foreign language. They also emphasize that

"the focus in learning a foreign language is on communication activities

and expressive abilities and the goal is to become a fluent speaker". (p6)

According to the Advanced Oxford Dictionary, speaking helps us

“express or communicate opinions, feelings, ideas, etc, by or as talking


and it involves the activities in the part of the speaker as

psychological, physiological (articulator) and physical (acoustic) stages.”

(p129)

Moreover, when discussing on the approach to teaching speaking,

they cite a statement in Bygate's book, which is " Approaches to the

teaching of speaking in a foreign language reflect the understanding of at

least two phenomena: the nature of speaking in a second language; and

how people learn" (Bygate, 2000, p563, cited on p6, Flohr and Paesler,

2006)

In general, speaking serves as an indispensible skill for any learners in

learning a foreign language.

2.1.2.3. The communicative approach to teaching and learning

speaking skills

Under the CLT principles, learning and teaching speaking has

different characteristics. This issue has caught many linguists' attention as

well.

In their analysis of the theoretical base of communicative language

teaching, Richards and Rogers (2001, p161) offer the following

characteristics of teaching speaking under communicative view of

language:

1. language is a system for the expression of meaning

2. the primary function of language is for interaction and

communication

3. the structure of language reflects its functional and

communicative areas

4. the primary units of language are not merely its

grammatical and structural features, but categories of functional and

communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse


This analysis shows how easily speaking skills can be accommodated

within this particular view of language. In their paper, they mention that

when they ask students to use the spoken language in the classroom and

require them to take part in a process that not only involves a knowledge of

target forms and functions, but also a general knowledge of the interaction

between the speaker and listener in order that meanings and negotiation of

meanings are made clear. For example, listeners may give the speakers

feedback so as whether or not the listener has understood what the speaker

has just said. The speaker will then need to reformulate what was just aid in

order to get the meaning across a different way.

Recently, To et al (2009) has suggested the aspects of speaking

proficiency basing on the framework of communicative competence under

CLT approach as follows:

Lexis and grammar: the use of number of common lexical, especially

to perform certain language functions such as agreeing, disagreeing,

expressing surprise, approval, etc.

Connected speech: i.e. common phenomenon in spoken interactions

in which sounds are modified (assimilation), omitted (elision), added

(linking r) or weakened (through contractions and stress pattering).

Effective speakers thus need to be able not only produce individual

phonemes (as I would have gone) but also to use connected speech

(I’ve gone)

Expressive devices: native speakers of English change pitch and

stress of particular parts of utterances, or vary volume and speed to

convey meanings beyond their words, especially in face-to-face

communication. Students need to recognize and deploy some of such

features and devices in the same way if there are effective

communicators


Compensating language: effective speaking benefits from the

language of negotiation that we use to seek clarification and to show

the structure of what we are saying. Speakers also need to know

when and how to take the floor, how to keep a conversation going,

how to terminate the conversation, and how to clear up

communication breakdown as well as comprehension problems.

Language processing: effective speakers need to be able to process

language in their own heads and put it into coherent order so that it

comes out in forms that are not only comprehensible but also convey

the meaning that are intended. One of the main reasons for including

speaking activities in language lessons is to help students develop

habits of rapid language processing in English.

Interacting with others: most speaking involves interaction with one

or more participants. This means that effective speaking involves a

good deal of listening and understanding of how the other

participants are feeling and a knowledge of how linguistically to take

turns or allow others to do so.

Real time information processing: the ability to process the

information others tell us the moment we get it. The longer it takes

or allows others to do so.

Socio linguistic knowledge: competence which involves knowing

what is expected socially and culturally by users of the target language.

Understanding the sociolinguistic side of language helps learners know

what comments are appropriate, know how to ask questions during

interaction, and know how to respond nonverbally according to the purpose

of the task. For instance, in some Asian cultures, paying a compliment to

someone obligates that person to give a negative answer such as "No. It is

not so good", and so on in order to show "modesty", whereas n North


American culture such a response might be both inappropriate and

embarrassing.(cited on p170, 171)

Roger (2003) shared some similar ideas about speaking skills when he

summarized in his research that "Competent English speakers also display

an ability to negotiate meaning (cited in Nunan 1991). Conversation often

requires phrases of negotiation and re-negotiation as interlocutors attempt

to make their intentions or meaning clear."(cited on p7). It was also stated

in this paper that " Learners lack the full repertoire of negotiative functions

and strategies that native English speakers possess like clarification

requests, expressing opinions, making requests, expressing reactions to

other utterances as well as including input on indirect speech as (e.g. "I

wonder if you could..."( cited on p7). Moreover, discourse management is

another key sub-skill learners should acquire as he stressed on his paper.

That is to say, when achieving those above mentioned aspects of

speaking proficiency, it also means that students can achieve the goal of the

communicative approach, which is “communicative competence”. In other

words, students have to develop those aspects of speaking skills in order to

gain communicative competence to match the purpose of the syllabus.

Moreover, as 3rd

year Fast Track students are assumed to be advanced

students in English. Thus, it is highly recommended that the speaking

activities in general, simulation in particular must help them to achieve the

aspects which have been mentioned precedely. As those above aspects of

speaking proficiency are chosen basing on the framework of

communicative competence, they fully reflect the aspects of competence as

well. For instance, lexis and grammar, connected speech, expressive

devices are considered to belong to linguistic competence. Meanwhile,

compensating language, language processing, real-time information

processing is a part of discourse competence. The other aspects including

interacting with others belong to strategic competence. Finally, the last


aspect, namely sociolinguistic knowledge refers to socio-cultural

competence.

So as to get the clarity and consistency, this paper will refer to To et

al. (2009) clarification whenever the term "aspects of speaking proficiency"

is mentioned.

2.1.3. Simulation

2.1.3.1. Definition of simulation in L2 teaching and learning context

There are a lot of definitions on the term “simulation”, among which

Dougill and Jones’ (1987) are the very first researchers in this field.

According to Dougill, “Simulation can be defined as a structured set of

circumstances that mirror real life and participants act as instructed”(p21).

Meanwhile, Jones (1982) in his own research defines simulation as

reality of function in a simulated and structured environment. This

definition shows three essential elements in simulations: reality of function,

simulated environment, and structure.

The two definitions agree in that simulation “mirror real life” and

“reality of function in a simulated and structured environment”, which

means that simulation is not real life, it is only a type of simulating real life

in a simulated environment.

2.1.3.2. Characteristics of a simulation

In simulation, the roles of students in simulations are classified into 3

major categories, namely:

(1): taking the functional roles such as reporter, survivor, or customer

as a participant, etc.

(2): stepping into the event, and


(3) shaping the event, carrying out their duties and responsibilities.(as

citied on Lyu, Y, 2006, p13)

Jones, also further states that reality of function is the key concept in

simulation. (cited on Lyu,2006, p13)

Moreover, "in order to fulfill the essential condition of being a

simulated environment, there must be no contact between the participants

and the world outside of the classroom (Jones, 1982, p5). In other words,

when an office in a company is the setting for a simulation, we do not

provide a real office or a building, yet we create a simulated environment

representing the office that is outside of the classroom by arranging some

desks with other props like a computer, office materials, and so on. (...)

One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that only the environment is

simulated but the behavior of a participant is real.

Behavior is not controlled and the participants bring to the situation

their own skills, experience and knowledge. Additionally, simulation is

often a problem-solving activity to which the student brings his own

personality, experience and opinions (Livingstone, 1983, p26, cited in By

gate 2000). It involves being oneself or someone else in a simulated real-

life situation. Authenticity and credibility are important elements in

simulation. Often documents and materials of validity and even realia to fix

the setting are used to make the simulation as true to life as possible.

A simulation generally is divided into three phrases: firstly, a stage for

giving the participants necessary information; secondly, the problem

solving discussions, and thirdly follow- up work. Herbert and Sturtridge

(1979, cited in Bygate 2000, p81) illustrate this in their diagram of

structure of a simulation as follows:


= = = = = = = = == = == == = == = = = == = = = = = = = = = = == =

= = =

= = = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = = = = = = =

Diagram2: The structure of a simulation

Information input

Language work based

on the task

The role- cards (if

any)

The background to the

task

Linguistic input

Classroom practice

of the language of

discussion and

essential lexis

Discussion of the task

Phase 3 Follow- up

Further work arising

from the discussions

Follow- up

Feed back and evaluation

session

Immediate remedial work

Phase 2 Sub-group discussions

Phase 1


One well - known simulation for language teacher to consult is “the

Canbian Educational Aid Project” (Herbert and Sturtridge, 1979, cited in

Bygate 2000, p83)

First of all, the participants are introduced to the country and given

facts about the national and educational background. They read information

sheets and listen to recorded tapes to build up a fuller picture. In this

example there is a maximum of nine role cards so groups of up to nine are

formed, each with a chairman, and each student with a role card. Students

from different groups with the same role card prepare their positions before

the role play starts. The simulation groups then try to resolve the problem,

starting from the positions outlined on their role cards. Results may be

reported orally or in writing.

It is certain that everything activity has both two sides, simulation is

not exceptional. Followings are the advantages and disadvantages of a

simulation in L2 context as summarized by Wan (1990)

2.1.3.3. Advantages of a simulation

In terms of advantages, Simulation:

1. Stimulates authentic conversations

Simulation activities stimulate authentic learner-to-learner

conversational interaction (Richards, 1985). The activities also develop

conversational competence among second language learners.

2. Is a fluency activity

It is where opportunities arise for the learner to use language freely

and creatively.

3. Is suitable for consolidation

Since simulation activities are more practice/revision activities than

teaching activities, they are useful and more suitable for consolidating and

practising aspects of conversational proficiency than teaching new forms.


4. Creates sensitivity and a sense of awareness

Simulation brings the outside world into the classroom. This could

have affective effects in terms of social interaction and cultural awareness.

5. Increases motivation

Simulation prompts mental and bodily activity. The activities require

active participation. Concentration is also often required and it is not easy

for a student to stay passive for long. Situations are created for the students

to use the language meaningfully and this would motivate the students

towards participation. The less motivated students will be gradually drawn

into the activity when they see the rest of the group having a good time.

6. A break from routine

The use of simulation activities is a break from the usual textbook

teaching and the 'chalk and talk' method of the teacher. The students have

opportunities to mix around and to act out different roles. The atmosphere

in the classroom is less formal and this can reduce tension.

7. Prepare students for real life and unpredictability

Real life situations and communication are unpredictable. A student

may learn all the correct forms of communication but may not know when

to use them appropriately. Simulation provides opportunities to react to

these situations and to give the students a taste of real life. (cited on p7-8)

Nevertheless, shortcomings are unavoidable. Following are some of the

main disadvantages of a simulation:

2.1.3.4. The disadvantages of simulation

1. Activity is artificial

The situations sometimes were artificial and not relevant to the needs

of the students.

2. Activities are difficult to monitor

With so much activity both physical and verbal going on, it is

sometimes difficult for the teacher to monitor a student's performance.


There is the fear among teachers that the students are having too much fun

and that no learning is taking place.

3. Causes embarrassment

In some situations, especially among adult learners, simulation

activities cause a lot of embarrassment, awkwardness and very little

spontaneous language use. The choice of appropriate roles for different

students is thus very important.

4. Encourages incorrect forms

Since the teacher is not encouraged to correct mistakes immediately so

as not to discourage students, this provides opportunities for learners to

produce and practise ungrammatical and inappropriate forms.

5. Has cultural bias

According to Richards (1985), this activity is more suited for learners

from cultures where drama activities and learner - directed activities in

teaching is common. In cultures where the teacher-dominated classroom is

still the norm, the learners may not respond willingly to the activities.

6. Spontaneity is lost

Very often the students get too caught up with WHAT to say. They

hesitate to choose their words and do not interact spontaneously.

7. Timing lessons is difficult

The teacher has to spend a lot of time in preparation work especially

for simulations. He is not able to predict the amount of class time that will

be taken to carry out the activity since the ability of each class varies.

8. Activities may not be suitable for all levels

Role-play and simulation involve a lot of conversation and discussion.

Thus it may not be very suitable for low proficiency students who do not

have the necessary communicative competence to carry out the activity.

These activities would be more suitable for intermediate and advanced

learners.


(cited on p9)

2.1.3.5. Simulation model for 3rd year fast track students

There are many different formats of simulations. Yet, in the Speaking

syllabus for 3rd

year Fast track students- Faculty of English language

Teacher Education, ULIS, there is a detailed guideline format for this

activity.

The following definition of simulation, the guidelines and criteria of

assessments are provided by the teachers in Fast Track Group, Faculty of

English Language Teacher Education, ULIS (updated in 2010).

First of all, simulation is known as "a group of speaking task, in which

two students act as employers, two students act as short- listed candidates

to the advertised post. The simulation is in the format of a job interview".

In this simulation, the duty of the candidates is to "promote

themselves" while the employers' task is interviewing and/or assigning

tasks before making decision on the recruitment.

Moreover, it is in the guidelines that the procedures are clearly stated.

There are two stages in implementing a simulation, namely the preparation

and the simulation. First of all, in the preparation stage, groups have to

send their topic, outline, materials to teacher for comments and approval

two weeks before the simulation. Secondly, in the simulation, there are

three main parts, namely: the introduction, the interviews and the role-play.

In the introduction, two employers provide background information

about their company, requirements for the candidates, and the selection

process and outcome.

In the interviews: the employers interview one candidate at a time

while the other candidate waits outside.

In the last part, known as role- play, each candidate is required to act a

role. In this part, there is a situation that needs to be solved by the


candidates either individually or altogether depending on choice of the

interviewers in different simulations.

Going along with the format of a simulation is the criteria for the

feedback and assessment. The assessment includes the self reflection from

students after finishing a simulation, the feedback from class and teacher's

final assessment.

The guidelines also enclose a list of topics for students to consult,

such as: recruiting an MC for the weather forecast program on VTV8, a

food caterer for a wedding, an actress for new TV series, or a teacher for an

international kindergarten, etc.

2.2. An overview of related studies

2.2.1. An overview of related studies worldwide

2.2.1.1. Simulation in educational context

The issue of using simulation in educational context has attracted

many linguists' attention for a long time.

The definition, the advantages and disadvantages of using simulation

in educational context are clearly shown very soon in many papers, such as:

"The utilization of simulation in teacher preparation" by Peck (1971) and

in "Educational simulation/Gaming" by Twelker, Layden (1972). The only

difference is that Twelker pointed out some characteristics of using

simulation in teachers training while the other one showed a basic distinct

features of simulation and game by giving a table of comparisons between

simulation and gaming with 12 criteria, for instance: the dependability of

learning outcomes, the ease of adaption, degree of teacher centeredness,

peer interaction, and so forth.

Regretfully, both of these two papers only showed the theories about

simulation in general without applying it into practice to testify the real

effectiveness of this activity for a specific group of learners.

2.2.1.2. Simulation in L2 teaching and learning context.


Traditionally, some of the first studies of this field can be listed, such

as:

"An investigation in adult learning to determine if simulation enhance

communication skills" written by Brozik (2000, p15) not only focused on

using simulation in teaching specking skills but on communication skills as

well. A brief background for simulation was indicated in this paper as well

as a clear methodology when using the adults as participants and a

persuasive presentation of result.

After that there also witnessed a paper which is known as "Simulation

and Second/ Foreign Language learning: Improving communication skills

through simulations" by Lyu (2006). This paper obviously indicates a

complete understanding of CLT method and communication skills. It is in

this research that many useful suggestions are shown, such as the

suggestions on how simulations can be used in EFL class of basic level,

intermediate level and advanced level. This paper could not be more

complete if it focused on a specific group of learners to examine the

effectiveness of the suggestions the researcher had pointed out previously.

Hence, it is a limitation as only theory is mentioned in the paper, which, to

some extent, reduces the liability and validity of the outcome.

To bridge this gap, "Using simulation in an ESL Classroom: a

descriptive analysis", written by Jung and Levitin (2006), pointed out both

the theories and practice to testify the effectiveness of simulation by

describing a typical courtroom simulation that was used in English in a

program called EIC. It also provides information concerning the

preparations for the activity, the simulation itself, and the students'

responses to and the perceptions of the activity. The participants are the

government officials and their English levels ranged from low beginner to

low advanced. The instruments that are used in this paper are questionnaire

and observation with the video camera. After that all the information are


analyzed in detail. It can be seen that the results of this study is of great

reliability and practicality.

It is the fact that a lot of research have touched upon the issue of using

simulation in L2 teaching and learning. Yet, there still remains a gap as no

previous research agreement on using simulation for a group of students

whose major is English in a foreign language university.

The creation of this research hopes to become one of the first attempts

to bridge this deficiency.

2.2.2. An overview of related studies in Vietnam

Referring to the current situation in Vietnam, it is unlucky that few

studies have explored the topic of applying simulation activity to develop

speaking skills for students. More specifically, in Faculty of English

Language Teacher Education, ULIS, VNU, in a research on " Role play and

simulations as used in developing speaking skills for 1st year Students of

English Department- CFL- VNU", Tran (2003) was one of the first pioneers

of the field when she investigated the advantages of using role play and

simulation in teaching speaking skills for 1st year students. However, she

merely compares the similarities and difficulties between role play and

simulation without investigating deeply whether it is really effective in

developing students' speaking skills when applying those methods or not.

Later on, another research also touched the same issue called

"Common classroom activities to help develop speaking skills for students

of Foreign language gifted Hanoi high school" by Nguyen (2006). Among

the most common classroom activities in speaking class, she did mention

simulation with its advantages and disadvantages. However, again, no

intensive research has been studied to testify the effectiveness of using

simulation in a specific majority of participants. Moreover, the only

instrument that she applied in her research was the questionnaire, which

could not show a reliable result.


This fact prompted the researcher to conduct this study to help fill the

gap and hopefully to serve as an updated and reliable reference about

applying simulation in speaking classrooms for teachers and students


CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides a detailed picture of the methodology of this

study by describing and explaining the selection of subjects, the data

collection instruments (including questionnaire and interview), the

procedures of data collection as well as data analysis.

3.1. Selection of subjects

As stated in the title of this research paper, 32 third year Fast track

students from two classes 071E1 and 071E20, Faculty of English Language

Teacher Education, HULIS, VNU were chosen as participants of the study.

Moreover, as the researcher needed more data, respondents who used to be

3rd

-year Fast track students, namely 17 students of 061E1- 4th year Fast

track students were singled out to make the statistics more valid and

reliable. Moreover, 2 teachers were chosen as well. Therefore, there were

51 participants in total.

For the questionnaires, there were two kinds of questionnaire for

teachers and students. Two teachers and all 49 above- mentioned

participants were asked to give their responses.

For the interview, there were also two sets of interviews for students

and teachers. First of all, 5 students out of 49 participants from 2 classes,

namely 071E1 and 071E20 were chosen provided that all of them stated in

the questionnaires that they had difficulty in implementing a simulation.

Moreover, the participants had to meet the criteria, to be more specific, one

student had experience playing as interviewer, one played as an

interviewee, one played as both interviewer and interviewee, and two

others took part in more than two simulations. The purpose of choosing

those participants was that different participants had different points of


view about the role(s) they played. Additionally, for those who took part in

more than one simulation, the situation was different from the ones who

only participated in just one simulation in terms of the experience, the

knowledge and the improvements they gained after each simulation. Above

all, by implementing that, the researcher would gain different points of

view from different participants about the same items with the same

questions.

Secondly, two teachers who had experience in teaching simulation for

3rd

year Fast track students were chosen in the interview. The purpose was

getting various points of view from different teachers.

As the lack of time and human resources, not all third - year Fast track

students could participate in the interview as well as the teachers in Fast

track group.

In sum, thanks to the carefully considered selection of participants

described above, a high reliability and validity could be expected from the

findings of the whole paper.

3.2. Data collection instruments

3.2.1. Questionnaire

3.2.1.1. Questionnaire for students

Questionnaires, as Brown (2001) defined as " any written instruments

that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which

they are to react either by writing out their answers or selecting them

among existing answers" (cited in Mackey and Gass, 2005, and p92). This

instrument was singled out in this paper as it is "one of the most common

methods of collecting data on attitudes and opinions from a large group of

participants" and it "allows researchers to gather information that learners

are able to report about themselves, such as their beliefs and motivation

about learning or their reactions to learning" (Mackey and Gass, 2005, p92-

93).


The questionnaire aimed at answering the four research questions:

(a) Which aspects of speaking proficiency under the communicative

approach can 3rd



(b) Which aspects of speaking proficiency under the communicative

approach can 3rd


perceived by teachers?

(c) What are the difficulties facing 3rd

year Fast Track students at

Faculty of English Language Teacher Education- ULIS in both the

preparation stage and the performance in the simulation to develop their

speaking skills as perceived by themselves?, and

(d) What are the recommendations suggested by teachers and studied

students to overcome the difficulties in taking part in the simulation to

enhance speaking skills for 3rd

year Fast track students, Faculty of English

Language Teacher Education- ULIS?

The first five questions in the questionnaire were not used to seek the

answers for four research questions, yet searching for students' evaluations

of the importance of speaking skills as well as simulation. The result of

these questions would reinforce the rationale for the researcher to conduct

this study. To be more specific, the first three questions asked about

participants' opinion about the importance of speaking skills as well as

simulation. Meanwhile, question 4 asked about the number of simulation

that participants took part in. Its purpose was to identify if they performed

better or worse than in different simulations. Added to this, different

participants with different times participating in the simulation would lead

to different evaluations and points of views. Meanwhile, question 5 asked

about the role(s) that participants played in the simulation as it was possible

that there were some students who played only one role but the others had a


chance to play different roles. As a result, their judgments were not alike.

All of the first five questions were closed- ended questions. The first

question was a type of Likert scale which asked participants to choose only

one level.

Then, question 6 asked about the aspects of speaking proficiency,

whose answers were also the answers for research question one, which is

"Which aspects of speaking proficiency under the communicative approach

can 3rd

year Fast track students gain through simulation as perceived by

students themselves?" This question was designed following the multiple

choice style. Each aspect of speaking proficiency was an option. In this

case, participants were allowed to choose more than one option.

Next, question 7 served as the link to the next one, namely question 8

and 9 about the difficulty in implementing a simulation. It was a Yes- No

question. In this situation, if the students did not have any difficulty in

implementing a simulation, they would stop there. In contrast, the others

who had difficulty in the preparation stage or the performance or both of

the two stages would move to answer the next questions.

Question 8 asked about the difficulties in preparing a simulation,

whereas question 9 asked about which of the performance.

These two questions played the role of answering the research

question two, which is: "What are the difficulties facing 3rd

year Fast Track

students at Faculty of English Language Teacher Education-ULIS in both

the preparation stage and the performance in the simulation to develop their

speaking skills as perceived by themselves?" They were multiple choice

questions which were divided into two categories, namely for interviewers

and interviewees. Moreover, the researcher added two more clarification

questions, namely "Others (Please specify)". Those questions hope to

figure out more opinions from the participants.


Last but not least, question 10 asked about the recommendations,

serving as the answers to the third research question, that is "What are the

recommendations suggested by teachers and studied students to overcome

the difficulties in taking part in the simulation to enhance speaking skills

for 3rd

year Fast track students, Faculty of English Language Teacher

Education, ULIS?" The format of this question is the same as in the

previous questions, namely multiple choice questions and is added with

two clarification questions and separated into categories which are called

suggestions for the preparation stage and for the performance.

3.2.1.2. Questionnaire for teachers

This questionnaire had a small difference from the one for students as

it based on the research questions as well. As stated in the research

questions, only question two and three asked about teachers' perceptions,

hence the questionnaire would focus to answers those items.

This questionnaire had four questions. The two first ones asked about

teachers' viewpoint on the importance of speaking skills as well as the

effectiveness of applying simulation in speaking classroom for third year

Fast Track students. The third question, similar to the one for students, was

used to seek for teachers' judgments and confirmation on which aspects of

speaking proficiency students could achieve through simulation. Last but

not least, the fourth question searched for teachers' suggestions to help

students maximize the effectiveness of using simulation.

3.2.2. Interview

Mackey and Gass (2005) have emphasized that "Interviews are

associated with survey-based research, as well as being a technique

used by many researchers." (p173). Therefore, interview was chosen

as one of the effective methods in this paper. Specifically, semi-

structured interviews were applied as "researcher uses a written list of


questions as a guide, while still having the freedom to digress and probe for

more information" (Mackey, Gass, p173). What is more, these two authors

also inserted that: "In unstructured interviews, no list of questions is used.

Instead, interviewers develop and adapt their own questions, helping

respondents to open up and express themselves in their own terms and at

their own speeds" (p173)

For those above advantages, two sets of semi-structured interviews

were used in this study to exploit further information from the two teachers

and a group of five representative students from the 49 students after they

had completed the questionnaires. All the interviews were recorded and the

most important pieces of information were noted down on the spot.

The interview guidelines for students were different from those for

teachers basing on the research questions.

First of all, there were five interviews with students. The questions in

these interviews based on the result of the questionnaire that they had

completed. The researcher asked for more explanations about the answers

that were not clear enough, especially in the clarifications questions, which

is called "Others, please specify". There was a small difference in the

questions for different participants, yet all the clarification questions were

asked for all the participants.

Secondly, as only the second and third research question asked about

teachers' opinions and recommendations, there are three main questions

were used in the interview guidelines for teachers, for example "Which

aspects of speaking proficiency do you think your students can gain

through simulation?", "What are your recommendations to help students

overcome the difficulties in preparation stage for a simulation?" and "What

are your recommendations to help students overcome the difficulties in

performing in the simulation?" Furthermore, before answering the

questions, teachers were allowed to look at the result of the questionnaire


regarding to the difficulties students had to overcome when implementing a

simulation. Thank to this, teachers easily gave the suggestions and

solutions for each difficulty of the students.

3.3. Data collection procedures

3.3.1. Piloting

3.3.1.1. Piloting the questionnaire

The process was implemented by the piloting phase whereby the

questionnaire was tested in a sample of five random third - year Fast track

students. They filled in the first version of the questionnaire and based on

the item analysis, the wording of some items had been modified before the

final version was delivered.

3.3.1.2. Piloting the interview

The piloting process of interviewing was similar to conducting the

questionnaire. However, only two participants were chosen in this process

provided that the interview questions could be kept confidential to other

participants. Some wordings were also modified to suit the research's

purpose.

3.3.2. Main procedures

At first, the revised questionnaires were distributed among 49 students

of 3rd

year Fast track program. The researcher collected the questionnaires

right after the participants had finished answering the questions.

In the next phrase, the researcher interviewed the participants one by

one in a room and in the campus on different dates.

After all the interviews had been conducted, the data collection

process finished and the data were ready to be analyzed.

3.4. Data analysis procedures

All the data gathered from questionnaires and interviews contributed

to answering the four research questions. Both statistical and interpretative

methods were used.


Data obtained from questionnaires in the form of scores, after being

calculated and classified, were transcribed into tables and chart in order to

reflect the proportion of each option and described in details.

Seven interviews were analyzed together with the notes the researcher

took during the interviews basing on the interview guideline questions.

Besides facts and figures, some detailed descriptions were pointed out to

find more comprehensive and thorough answers to four research questions.

All the names of the participants taking part in the interviews were coded.

To be more specific, there are five participants for student interviewees,

who are respectively interviewee A, interviewee B, interviewee C,

interviewee D and interviewee E. The two last participants are teacher

interviewees, in turn interviewee F and interviewee G.

Finally, data collected from questionnaires and interviews, after being

classified and quantified as explained above, were compared and contrasted

to find out the similarities, the gaps as well as the observed manifestations

Summary: In this chapter, the researcher aims at justifying the

methodology of the study. The participants were randomly chosen to

guarantee the generalization of the whole population as much as possible.

Questionnaire and interview were employed as the instruments for data

collections. More specifically, both of them were designed to answer four

research questions and the interviews were planned to check and intensify

the result of the questionnaires. Elaboration has also been given to the data

analysis methods and process. The results from such analysis are going to

be presented in the next chapter.


CHAPTER 4

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this chapter, all the data collected from the questionnaire and

interview will be revealed and discussed in detail. This chapter will show

the presentation and discussion of results and implications. More

specifically, data collected from two different methods will be integrated to

support and complement each other all in the forms of answers to the four

research questions. It is noteworthy that the connection between these

findings and other related studies in the literature will also be discovered

to underline the similarities as well as the new findings on the research

topic.

4.1. Background of students' attitudes towards the importance of

speaking skills and simulation

Before coming to the discussion of results for each research question,

the results for the first 5 questions in the questionnaire will be analyzed

even though they are not used to answer the research questions, they play a

crucial role in supporting the rationale of this study.

To be more specific, 96% of the proportion of the participants agreed

that speaking skill is the most important skill, in other words, is more

important in comparison with the other three skills, namely listening,

reading and writing skill. The interviewees A, B, D also added that

nowadays, learning English under the communicative approach, speaking

skills are much more important as good speaking skills help learners

communicate well and effectively. This result supports the study a lot as its

purpose is on speaking skills.


For the second and third question, 89% of the total proportion found

simulation interesting and 85% out of the total rate of participants agreed

that simulation activity helps them develop their speaking skills effectively

because after taking part in each simulation, they improved a lot. What they

could gain will be revealed in the answers for question 6 in the

questionnaire. This idea is agreed by the teachers as well. All of the

teachers taking part in the questionnaire confirmed that simulation useful in

helping develop speaking skills for students.

Question 4 and 5 were used for only one reason, which is to find out

how many simulations and which roles they have taken part in. this result

was used to choose the participants who took part in the interviews.

The chart below will show the result:

45%

40%

15%

once

twice

more than twice

Figure 1: The times participants taking part in the simulation

From the chart it can be seen that nearly half of the participants have

taken part in the simulation once, while more than half have experienced

two times and more than two times.

Question 7 asked about whether or not students had difficulty in

implementing simulation to develop their speaking skills. The result was

that 96% of the whole participants admitted that they had to face many

obstacles in both the preparation and the performance in the simulations.

This result was also one of the factors that support this paper as it raised an

issue that needed to be taken into consideration and called for the solutions.


4.2. Which aspects of speaking proficiency under the communicative

approach can 3rd



In order to collect the data for this research question, question 6 in the

questionnaire asks the participants to choose any aspects of speaking

proficiency they think they can gain through simulation activity. It was also

possible for them to choose no option or all the options.

The bar chart below shows the results of the questionnaires that are

converted into the percentage (%).

15%

11%

68%

53%

53%

85%

40%

49%

0% 50% 100%

Aspects of

speaking

skills

H. socio-linguistic

knowledge

G. socio-linguistic

knowledge

F. interacting with

others

E. language processing

D. compensating

language

C. expressive devices

B. connected speech

A.lexis and grammar

Figure 2: Aspects of speaking proficiency Students can gain (as

perceived by themselves)


It can be obviously seen from the bar chart that the involved students

can gain all the 8 aspects of speaking proficiency, however different

aspects own different proportions.

85% of the respondents said that they could improve their ability of

interacting with others accounts for the largest proportion. Many further

explanations were pointed out from the interviews. Four out of five

respondents who took part in the interviews showed that they could gain

this skill and learn by themselves. For instance, interviewee A emphasized

that:

"As an interviewee I have to interact with your partner to produce an

effective simulation, and the same for interviewers, moreover both

interviewers and interviewees have to interact with each other as well. Not

only the interviewers have to give questions one by one, but sometimes they

have to encourage and stimulate the candidates".

It can be inferred from these statements that when taking part in the

simulation, the participant has learnt how to interact with the other partners

flexibly, not only how to ask questions but also knows how and when to

encourage interviewees. Meanwhile, interviewee B inserted another sign of

interaction skill to illustrate this issue from her own viewpoint:

"At the moment I think I have talked too much, and I wanted to give

the floor to my partner another interviewer) and said like "Can you help

me with this part?"

This example shows the participants' good interaction skill when she

could cooperate with the other partner in an appropriate moment and she

can control the situation very well instead of dominating the partner.

Another interesting example of interacting skills was added by interviewee

E when she said:

"I have to interact with the candidates and my partner (another

interviewer). First I have to interact with the other interviewer, I can not


jump up into the other's mouth and I have to wait until she ends her part,

her speech. And for the candidates I try to be patient, not interrupting the

candidate suddenly and not showing my boredom".

For this case, the participant showed that she knew how to interact

with the others and control the situation. From what she said, it can be

inferred that she knew when to use politeness in interacting in the

simulation and she has achieved the skill of "listening and understanding of

how the other participants are feeling" as defined in To et all's viewpoint

(2009), as cited in the previous chapter ( Literature review)

Closely following the above skill is the skills of using expressive

devices, which accounts for 68% of the total. Referring back to the

literature review, good use of expressive devices means learners know how

to "change pitch and stress of particular parts of utterances, or vary

volume and speed to convey meanings beyond their words, especially in

face-to-face communication. This point was clearly clarified in the

interviews when 3 out of 5 participants said they can gain this skill. For

instance, the following example is extracted from the conversation with

interviewee B in which she said:

"When I was an Interviewer, I had to introduce about a company, the

job descriptions and the rounds the candidates must attend. And when

introducing about the company I had to raise my voice to involve the

audience, to attract them to the company because I was advertising.

However when I come to the interviewing part, my voice is unnecessary to

be high as I did in the introduction part. It should be lowered and I should

show the formality in interviewing interviewers"(interviewee B).

She also stressed that she realized and learned by herself once

observing the others' performance. The same situation happened to

interviewee E, when she showed an example that:


"It happens in the situation part, I have to take part in a role play and

solve the problems. And it is the first time I have to try to be angry, because

I am the customer of the restaurant, and there is a flight in my cup of coffee

so I have to pretend to be angry and criticize on the restaurant, and I have

to express a lot of my emotions, my feelings. I have to raise my voice many

times, and I even have to scream."

In other words, from their own evaluation, the participants have

known how and when to raise their voice, to change volume and stress and

pitch to achieve effective communication when they participating in the

simulation.

For other aspects, the chart pointed out that more than half of the total

number of participants chose "compensating language" (the ability to

show the structure of what we are saying, ability to show when and how to

take the floor, how to keep a conversation going, etc- To et al, 2009) and

"language processing"( in other words, the ability to process language in

their own head and put it into coherent order and habit of rapid English

processing process- To et al 2009), which coincidentally have the same

percentage, namely 53%. Meanwhile, only two out of 5 participants chose

these skills in their interviews. For instance, interviewee E clarified that

"Before the simulation, I had to prepare some common structures I

will speak in the simulation. However there are some simulations that I

hadn't expected. And it's the time for me to use other structures; in general

I can control what I am going to say".

Added to this, interviewee D revealed an example of language

processing skill from her own experience and knowledge, which is "as an

interviewer, when the interviewee answered my question, I had to be very

attentive to think what she was trying to express and put the information in

a comprehensive way to give feedbacks right away, even though there were

some sentences I could not catch what she intended to convey."


It can be implied from the interview that this participant can use the

structures in an effective way and can control her conversation very well.

Moreover, all of the participants who chose this aspect confirmed that they

learned those skills from simulation, by observing other peers and improve

themselves from teachers' comments for their peers.

Coming closely is sociolinguistic knowledge, which accounts for

49%. This competence as already mentioned in the literature review of the

research "involves knowing what is expected socially and culturally by

users of the target language, which helps learners know what comments

are appropriate, how to ask questions during interaction and how to

respond nonverbally, etc". Two out of five participants taking part in the

in-depth interviews chose this skill, as they gave some examples to

illustrate:

"uhm... I just think of the knowledge of the ways we behave

appropriately, when to give comments. For example when I give comments

to the candidates, I use the "sandwich model", it means I give comments of

good points first, and then the weakness is later. Well, I think this way is

more effective and sensible". (interviewee A)

Moreover in another interview, one interviewee shared that " this time

I must know the suitable words to give comments to interviewee, and I

know when I should encourage them or to put more pressure on them. For

example in the problem- solving part, it's very challenging. And I warn that

it is not easy to deal with. And I put more pressure on them and if the

interviewee says "I am very nervous", I will say that "ok, I can see you did

a good job and you get a lot support from the audience". So I must choose

the suitable words for each situation." (interviewee B).

It can be understood that these two participants can apply the skill

appropriately in different situations. Meanwhile, the other three participants


thought that they could not gain this skill as they did not realize this skill

clear enough and how much they could learn this skill.

Having a smaller percentage is "real- time information processing",

namely 40%. The situation was the same when only two participants out of

five admitted they could gain this skill. They mentioned that within a very

short period of time to think, they had to process the information and gave

feedbacks very quickly, even sometimes, they did not have any time to

consider. One typical example that has been extracted from the interview

with interviewee B:

"When I am interviewing the interviewee, I asked her some questions

and she gave the answers and after she finished her answers, I must know

something to give comments to her and conclude her answers and move to

the next part. And that's the moment I must process the information I got".

Interviewee E also shared the same opinions when she mentioned that

"Before I asked the candidates, I didn't know the answers, I had to

concentrate on what they were saying because in some situations I have to

give comments on the candidates right away. Of course I have difficulty in

listening to someone, it is the first time I was forced to process the

information and respond immediately"

Accounting for the smallest percentage are option A, namely "lexis

and grammar" with 15% and B called "connected speech" with 11%. From

the in-depth interviewees, one participant who did not choose this skill

explained that "I think simulation is used to practice impromptu speaking,

so the other skills, such as "lexis and grammar" and "connected speech"

are somehow not noticeable. I try to speak fast and fluently but still make

some grammar mistakes. So I think I can not improve the lexis and

grammar in simulation"(interviewee C).

Furthermore, the fact is that it is hard for both teachers and students to

evaluate how well students can learn the connected speech in simulation.


Thus, this explanation, to some extent, is logical and acceptable. Sharing

the same opinion, as a result, many participants taking part in the

questionnaires as well as all participants who joined in the interviews did

not choose these two aspects.

In sum, from the chart it can be seen that all of the aspects of speaking

proficiency were chosen, which means students can gain all of them.

However, among the 8 aspects, "interacting with others" earn the highest

percentage and outnumbers the other aspects, which also means the most

students can gain this skill. Going along with that are "expressive devices",

" compensating language", " language processing" and " sociolinguistic

knowledge".

4.3. Which aspects of speaking proficiency can third- year Fast Track

students gain through simulation as perceived by teachers?

From the questionnaires, one teacher chose all the options while the

other only chose 6 out of 8 aspects, which are:

A. lexis and grammar

C. expressive devices

D. compensating language

F. interacting with others

G. real- time information processing

H. sociolinguistic knowledge

Detailed explanations were revealed in the in-depth interviews. For

example, when asked about why the interviewee chose option A ( lexis and

grammar), she answered " In the simulations, candidates sometimes had to

discuss with each other to solve some tasks designed by the interviewers, so

they can develop language functions such as agreeing, disagreeing,

expressing surprise, approval, etc."(Interviewee G)


Another example, the reason why interviewee F chose "expressive

devices" was "In the simulations, candidates sometimes had to discuss with

each other to solve some tasks designed by the interviewers, so they can

develop this skill. They knew when and how to raise their voice or change

the volume appropriately, especially in the problems- solving part"

For option H "socio linguistic knowledge", both of the two

respondents stated that some of their students can achieve this skill by

themselves, while some others got comments from teachers and improved

in the following simulation.

When asked about the criteria for evaluation, both teachers admitted

that they had the simulation marking rubrics for the interviewers and

interviewees. Teachers would base on that to give comments and feedbacks

to students.

It can be inferred that students can improve this skill through

simulation.

It is a coincidence that both the students and teachers agreed in most

of the options they chose, for instance, option A, D, F, and H, respectively

are expressive devices, compensating language, interacting with others

and sociolinguistic knowledge.

Though there were some disagreements in the skills teachers and

students evaluate, in general, what students can achieve have been

confirmed by the teachers. In other words, it can be admitted that

simulation was a useful activity for students to enhance their speaking

skills.

4.4. What are the difficulties facing 3rd

year Fast Track students at ED-

HULIS in both the preparation stage and the performance in the

simulation to develop their speaking skills as perceived by themselves?

4.4.1. Difficulties in the preparation stage


Though at the first sight, it appears to readers that there is no

relationship between the preparation stage and the performance in the

simulation to develop students' speaking skills as there is little English oral

communication among the learners. Yet, in fact this stage provides learners

time to prepare the structures, the ideas as well as the readiness to produce

a speech. That is to say, the preparation stage directly affects the

effectiveness of a simulation. Without preparation, students can hardly

implement effectively.

A. Interviewers' difficulties

There are four options in the question 8 of the questionnaire, not

including option E "Others". It is a multiple choice questions in which the

participants can choose more than one option. The result is illustrated as in

the chart below.

85%

23%

87%

28%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

1

Types of difficultie

s

D. in making the interview

questions

C. in designing the situations

for the interviewees

B. in searching for the

interesting and appropriate

materials and information

related to the themes and

topicsA. in choosing the interesting

topics

Figure 3: Interviewers' difficulties in the preparation stage

The chart shows that option C owns the highest percentage, namely

87% of the total proportion. Coming right closely is option A with 85%.

This means a majority of the participants have problems in designing the


situations for the interviewees and choosing the topics or the jobs to recruit.

The two other options have much smaller percentage, which are 13% for

option D and 11% for option B. In some questionnaires and interviews, the

participants also chose option E "Others" with another difficulty, which is

designing and choosing appropriate requirements for the answers for the

interview questions as well as the suggested solutions for the situations.

(Anonymous participant)

Further detailed explanations for each option were revealed in the in-

depth interview. First of all, in terms of the difficulties in choosing the

suitable and interesting topic, followings are the lists of opinions from the

participants about why they thought choosing the topic was not an easy

task and they gave their own opinions for an "interesting and suitable topic"

as well (please note that the quotes from students are only examples, more

can be seen in the Appendices):

- when we work together, we come up with many different topics, more

ideas make us more confused(...) An interesting topic, uhm, I think it must

be real, related to real life, but something challenging, that's good because

it can test ourselves and challenge our knowledge. ( interviewee A)

- I think it must be not too familiar, not too strange. For example some

topics including a tutor, a teaching assistant or doing a part time jog as a

cashier, something like that, something familiar to us. But when I recruit a

director, and it will be a strange situation, with high qualification, and we

are not skilled enough to deal with the questions in that situation

(interviewee B)

- it should be suitable to our level, and secondly it should be related to

our major, for example, my major is translating, so some jobs like

translator or interpreter will be suitable. ( interviewee D)


In general, most of the participants find choosing the topics that are

suitable for the assigned themes difficult as they had to choose the ones that

required being close to their life, their majors, their interest, etc.

B. Interviewees' difficulties

There are two options in the questionnaire for this issue. Both of them

were chosen. The chart below will show the result.

15%

85%

0% 50% 100%

1

B. in writing CVs

A. in searching for the

suitable information

for the topic

Figure 4: Interviewees' difficulties in the preparation stage for a

simulation

It can be shown from the chart that the proportion of writing CVs

outnumbers the other choice. Three out of five interviewees found writing

CVs difficult as well. Interviewee B admitted that "a good CV must show

off your ability as much as possible, but for a lower position, if you boast

too much, it will be unsuitable. And with that CV, you should apply for

higher information. And in contrast, if you apply for a high position, but

you are too modest when you show very little information about yourself,

you may fail".

No participant chose option C "Others" both in the questionnaire and

the interviews.


4.4.2. Difficulties in performing in the simulation

A. For interviewers

The result is shown in the chart below:

4%

11%

32%

13%

45%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Types of

difficulties

E. in interacting with

the partner

D. in giving comments

for each candidate

C. in asking candidates

questions

B. in expressing ideas

clearly and effectively

A. in pronunciation

Figure 5: Interviewers' difficulties in performing in the simulation

The chart has shown that more participants have difficulties in

interacting with the partners. Coming next are the participants' difficulties

in asking candidates questions and giving comments for each candidate.

Only 11% of the total percentage of participants shows they have the

difficulty in expressing ideas and only 4 % admitted they have problems

with pronunciation.

The interviews also reveal some further explanations for those

difficulties. Following is one typical case:

Interviewee B pointed her problems in interacting with the partner, to

be more specific, she said "sometimes my partner and I (we are both

interviewers) talk at the same time. And at that time, I tried to stop but

sometimes she talked too much, I must stop her. And I also had difficulty in

role- playing part. At that moment there will be interaction between


interviewees and interviewers. If we can not guess the interaction from the

interviewees, we maybe put in a passive situation"

Meanwhile, interviewee D shared - "for example, sometimes the

interview makes me bored, and moreover giving comments somehow like

criticizing others. I don't know how to give the most sensible comments in

order not to hurt others but now I change a little bit, so the problem is not

very serious now"

B. For interviewees

Following is the result:

11%

49%

53%

55%

28%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Types of difficulties

E. forgetting to be in a simulation

and act as students in real life

D. being confused in interacting

with the partner

C. being nervous and unconfident

when facing challenging

questions in selling yourself partB. in expressing ideas clearly and

effectively

A. in pronunciation

Figure 6: Interviewees' difficulties in performing in the simulation

In is accidentally that the result for option A"difficulty in

pronunciation" accounts for a small percentage, namely 11%, which is

quite similar to which for the interviewers. This result provides a positive

sign that very few students have problems with pronunciation, even though

there still exists some exceptional cases, such as: "pronunciation is my

weakness, because I have a habit of pronouncing some sounds from my

experience in high school, and now it digs into my brain (...) for example, I


have problems with the ending sounds "s", and "z". (interviewee E) She

also added that she realized her mistakes from her teacher's comments. She

also revealed her problems when giving comments to the candidate

"sometimes the interview makes me bored, and moreover giving comments

somehow like criticizing others. I don't know how to give the most sensible

comments in order not to hurt others but now I change a little bit, so the

problem is not very serious now"

There are more difficulties in the performance that were added in the

questionnaires from the anonymous participants, as follows:

� forgetting some make up information in CV

� in responding to the questions and situations

� in dealing with some challenging situations ( beyond the capacity of

students)

� in giving prompts, logical answers

� in dealing with some technical terms of the jobs applied

4.5. Recommendations to overcome the difficulties in both preparation

stage and performance in the simulation.

4.5.1. Recommendations for preparation stage

A. From students


53%

85%

87%

89%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Suggestions

D. all interviewers and interviewees

should rehearse carefully before coming

to the simulation

C. interviewers and interviewees should

prepare themselves some unexpected

questions and situations before taking

part in the simulation

B. topics and situations should be

commented by teachers beforehand

A. more familiar themes and topics

should be applied

Figure 7: Recommendations for the preparation stage from students

It is clearly pointed out from the chart that a majority of the

participants chose suggestion B, C and D. That is to say, many suggestions

listed in the questionnaire, to some extent, can do some goods as the advice

for the participants from the author of this paper' own experience. Option

A, namely "more familiar themes and topics should be applied", though

was not preferred by a majority, still was chosen by more than half of the

participants.

The participants also added more useful suggestions, as listed below:

� students should go into real life to experience more interviews

because sometimes the interviews in real life are not

complicated as in the simulation

� interviewers should think some possible solutions for the

questions as well as the situations.

� interviewees should think some possible situations before they

take part in the simulation


� Interviewers and interviewees should pay attention in non

verbal communication as well to be as much professional as

possible.

Not only in the questionnaires but in the interviews, the participants

provided more explanations and suggested many recommendations as well,

specifically:

Interviewee A

� rehearse before the simulation: "Especially for the interviewees, they

should rehearse advertising themselves carefully. Otherwise, they

may make some mistakes in both grammar and expressing ideas

clearly. And they will fail to attract the interviewers as well as the

audience"

Interviewee B

� choosing the topics: "There are some fields that we can consider,

such as entertainment, an MC for example, manager for a music

band, manager of a fashion shop"

� topics and situations should be commented by teachers beforehand:

"I think it is a good idea as from teacher's comments, we can revise

or change something"

� advertise special things to attract the interviewers: "for example,

some awards they get during their career and the experience or

some challenging situations they have dealt with"

Interviewee C

� choosing the topics/ jobs to recruit: "hospitals and health, spiritual

life, besides entertainment, economics in the schedules should be

considered"

� topics and situations should be commented by the teacher

beforehand: "I think it's necessary because she can give us some

comments and suggests some activities"


Interviewee D

� topics and situations should be commented by the teacher

beforehand: "because our teacher has much more experience and

she will know which situation is appropriate, which one is too

challenging, or she can suggest some activities to test the

candidates"

Interviewee E

� perform professionally and using expressive devices appropriately

"I think in the role play, students should put themselves in the

situation. For example, there's a flight in my cup of coffee. If I am

not angry and do not raise my voice, the interviewers can not

evaluate that performance. And I think that candidates should

perform as much professionally as possible"

� writing a CV: "If the candidates find it difficult, they can consult

some templates in the websites, there are a lot of model CVs. But for

the information and the knowledge, the candidates should do a

research on it and I think that it takes a lot of time and it needs

patience a lot"

B. From teachers

The results have shown that:

� More familiar themes and topics should be applied

� The topics and situations should be evaluated by the teachers

beforehand to make sure that they are sound and feasible topics.

� Both interviewers and interviewees should prepare for

themselves some unexpected questions and situations before

taking part in the simulation.

� Both interviewers and interviewees should rehearse carefully

before coming to the simulation

4.5.2. Suggestions for the performance in simulation


A. From students

The chart below shows the result:

87%

53% 49%34%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Suggestions

D. interviewers and interviewees should process the information quickly before giving the response to reduce

pronunciation mistakes as well as have good ideas expressions

C. interviewers and interviewees should be calm and listen to the partner in order to interact smoothly and effectively

B. interviewers should advertise the most basic and special information to attract the audience

A. interviewers should not ask interviewees too personal and irrelevant questions

Figure 8: Suggestions for the performance in the simulation from

students

It can be shown from the chart that alternative D, namely

"interviewers and interviewees should process the information quickly

before giving the response to reduce pronunciation mistakes as well as

have good ideas expressions" earns the highest percentage, which is 87%,

outnumbers the other three options. Going along with that are option C

with more than half choice from the participants, and B, about nearly half

of the total amount of the participants. Owning the smallest percentage is

option A "interviewers should not ask interviewees too personal and

irrelevant questions"


Besides the recommendations listed in the questionnaires, the

participants also inserted many other recommendations which are of high

value. Some of them are summarized as the followings:

• candidates should be calm, confident, give enough basic and

valuable information relevant to show his strength. This suggestion

emphasizes on expressing ideas skill.

• interviewers should give clear and brief explanations or

guidelines for each situation because sometimes the situations seem to be

very complex and uneasy to understand. This is a piece of advice for

expressing ideas as well.

+ pay attention in non verbal communication as well to be as

professional as possible. This suggestion focuses on socio linguistic

knowledge when learners learn when and how to use appropriate nonverbal

communication.

B. From teachers

Option C and D were chosen by the two teachers. Meanwhile, A and

B were not chosen by teacher F. She also added that " for alternative A

(interviewers should not ask too personal questions), it depends on the

purpose of each certain interview, sometimes asking about personal details

will be helpful for the employers to know more about the candidates. So,

again, it depends on each situation)

For option B (Interviewees should advertise the most basic and

special information to attract the audience), the same interviewee stated

students have already done that.

Other recommendations from teachers were pointed out clearly below:

Teacher F

Interviewers as well as interviewees should find the authentic materials on

websites. For example, they can find the authentic materials to design


questions for the interviewees. And for the interviewees, again, they can

find some suggestions to answer the questions from the interviewers.

Teacher G:

The situations in part 2 should be more specific (some situations were too

broad and it was impossible for interviewees to solve within a few minutes).

It was these teachers that gave valuable advice as well. For instance:

"Interviewees should imagine that they were being interviewed by the

real interviewers and they try to act as best as they can" (Teacher F)

"For the interviewers, the questions should be real life questions, and

for the situations and every part of the simulation, it should be like

authentic, useful for them" (Teacher F)

Summary: The chapter has provided detailed answers to the four

research questions based on an intensive presentation of data collected

from the survey questionnaire and interview. These findings have laid the

foundation for the pedagogical implications in the final chapter.


CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Previous chapters have thoroughly elaborated the introduction, the

literature, the discussions and the results of the research. Finally, this

concluding chapter will summarize and evaluate the outcomes of the whole

paper by summing up the findings, the contributions of the paper, the

limitations as well as several suggestions for further studies.

5.1. Summary of findings

Generally speaking, this research paper has acquired some major

discoveries in the practice of using simulation in teaching speaking for 3rd

year Fast Track students, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education,

ULIS, VNU.

First and foremost, the study indicates that speaking skills have great

importance and they play a crucial role in helping learners to communicate

well. Added to this, simulation is confirmed to be an interesting and

effective speaking activity which provides useful help for students to

develop their speaking skills.

Through exhaustive analysis and discussion of data collected from

interviews, questionnaires, significant findings concerning the research

questions were revealed as follows:

The study has discovered the aspects of speaking proficiency gained

by the studied students as perceived by students themselves as well as

evaluated by the teachers. Among all the aspects, interacting with others,

expressive devices", "compensating language", "language processing"


and "sociolinguistic knowledge earned the most proportion from the

respondents. It can be further implied from this result that by taking part in

simulation, students can achieve and improve many aspects of

communicative competence, namely discourse competence, socio-cultural

competence, a part of linguistic competence, and strategic competence.

That is to say, simulation has played a great role in enhancing students to

develop speaking skills as well as to gain many aspects of communicative

competence, the goal of CLT method.

Besides, also based on students' opinions and evaluations, some of the

typical difficulties have been discovered, such as: difficulties in choosing

the topics and designing the situations for the candidates (for the

interviewers), and in writing CVs (for the interviewees).

Last but not least, many useful suggestions have been pointed out and

depicted from both the studied students and the teachers so that speaking

teachers can be aware of the benefits of simulation activity and therefore

try to improve the teaching methods to enhance the English speaking

environment. Some of the most typical suggestions can be named are

"more familiar themes and topics should be applied" to attract the

candidates as well as the audience; topics and situations should be

commented by teachers beforehand; interviewers and interviewees should

prepare themselves some unexpected questions; and situations and

rehearse carefully before taking part in the simulation and (in the

preparation stage); and for the performance of the simulation, some most

helpful advice are including: interviewers should advertise the most basic

and special information to attract the audience, interviewers and

interviewees should be calm and listen to the partner in order to interact

smoothly and effectively, interviewers and interviewees should process the

information quickly before giving the response to reduce pronunciation

mistakes as well as have good ideas expressions.


All in all, the results of this research have supported many points in

the theories in the chapter of Literature review, for instance, the aspects of

speaking skills, the characteristics of a simulation, its advantages and

shortcomings and so forth. It is also indicated in the results that besides the

advantages achieved from simulation activity, it still remains a lot of

shortcomings, specifically, there are many difficulties that students have to

face when implementing this kind of activity which need to be more

noticeable by both teachers and students in order to reduce the obstacles

and maximize the effectiveness of this activity.

5.2. Contributions of the research and pedagogical implications

First of all, this research has disclosed many advantages and

difficulties when implementing a simulation as well as provided teachers

and students a lot of useful suggestions. Thanks to that, teachers can

improve the format of the simulation, and students can create their own

styles to participate in simulation so as to enhance their speaking skills the

most effectively. Moreover, this finding can become one of the useful

references for teachers of different classes when they want to apply this

activity for students of lower levels.

Secondly, a clear and brief summary of CLT method has been

elaborated to equip teachers and students concerned if they want to broaden

their knowledge of this field.

Next, the research also equips students with basic interviewing skills

and experience when facing to the real interviews after having graduated

from university, which, to some extent, can help students become more

confident in the interviews.

Next, the research creates chances for both teachers and students to

widen knowledge of different fields, not only related to their majors but of


other fields of life, for instance economics, entertainment, health,

psychology, nursing, etc.

Moreover, there are two pedagogical implications that can be taken

into consideration, which are it is advisable for the teachers that they

should give more comments beforehand for students when they hand-in the

topics as well as give more concrete feedbacks right after students'

performance so as to help students see their progress after each simulation.

5.3. Limitations

Despite the researcher' notable efforts, certain limitations are

unavoidable in which they can be seen in the paper as a result of some

unexpected problems.

First and foremost, as stated in the first chapter, the scope of this

research is 3rd

year Fast Track students and some from 4th

year Fast Track

programs, who have experience in implementing simulation. However, the

time and human resources limit enabled the researcher to conduct the

survey questionnaires more groups of students from the previous

generation in order to generalize the result reliably.

Secondly, in regard to the methodology, it was another restriction

when the researcher could not interview all the students who took part in

the questionnaires as well as some other teachers who have experience in

teaching simulation for 3rd

year Fast Track students. Therefore, only five

students and two teachers participated in the in-depth interviews.

Last but not least, the aspects of speaking skills provided in the

questionnaires, to some extent, are general, which somehow obstructs

students in giving a detailed response. As a result, it limits the feasibility of

the research as well.

However, generally, in the data analysis, some details and illustrations

found in the interviews and relevant references were attached to equip

readers a clear depiction of studied speaking skills.


5.4. Suggestions for further studies

As this paper has remained many limitations, hence suggestions for

further studies are necessarily mentioned.

First of all, as cited in the two first research questions that the results

would base on studied students' perceptions about the aspects of speaking

skills they can obtain or the difficulties they have to encounter when

implementing simulations. Further studies should research on the

perception of teachers as well, so that the results can become more reliable

as it is teachers who will give the most objective judgments and comments.

Secondly, classroom observation method should be applied to have

reliable and detailed evaluations whether students really gain the skills or

not.

Thirdly, the interviews are recommended to apply for all the

participants who took part in the survey questionnaires in order to get the

most concrete and reliable results.

Moreover, another research can use the idea of comparing and

contrasting the similarities, differences as well as the effectiveness of role

play and simulation in developing speaking skills, as even now it still

remains a controversial topic about the distinct features between these two

activities.


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English language teachers. p5-6. Retrieved on 16th

January 2010 from

http://books.google.com.vn/books?id=IG37FRrcoFkC&pg=PA133&dq=sp

eaking+skills+in+ELT&lr=&ei=ickdS8-

XMqnUkgSrlMSmCQ&cd=1#v=onepage&q=speaking%20skills%20in%2

0ELT&f=false

Brozik, D. (1999). An investigation in Adult Educational Learning to

determine if Simulations enhance Communication skills. Master thesis

Bygate, M. (2000). Speaking. Oxford university press. Pp5-24

Flohr, S & Paesler, P. (2006). Teaching listening and Speaking. P6.

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ver&dq=susanne+Flohr&cd=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Jim, F. (1986). A review of simulation in Teacher Education Training.

Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the Mid- south Educational

Research Association.

Jones, K. (1995). Simulations – A handbook for teachers and trainers. (3rd

ed). 1995. Retrieved on 15th January 2010 from

http://books.google.com/books?id=vq89AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover

&dq=simulations+in+language+teaching&ei=5R4CS7fxIIKmkATxiLXiDg

#v=onepage&q=simulations%20in%20language%20teaching&f=false

Jung, C.S.Y & Levitin, H. (2002). Using a simulation in an ESL classroom:

A descriptive analysis. Simulation & Gaming 2002, Vol 33, p367.

Kamiya, M.( 2006). The role of Communicative competence in L2 learning.

p65


Kurfwan, D .G & Phillips, I.M. (1970). Using Simulation to involve

Students: Instructor’s Guide and Participant’s manual. Teaching

Procedures for the New Social studies.

Hamilton, J.B et al.(1977). Professional teacher education module series.

Employ simulation teaching techniques. Module C-5 of Category C-

institutional Execution

Lyu, Y.( 2006). Simulations and Second /Foreign Language Learning:

Improving communication skills through simulations. p13-15. University of

Toledo. Master thesis.

Mackey, A & Gass, S. M. (2005). Second language research. Lawrance

erlbaum associates publishers, p92- 93, p173

Nguyen. T. Q. (2006). Common classroom activities to help develop

speaking skill for students of Foreign Language gifted Hanoi high school.

BA Thesis.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. (5th

ed). Oxford University Press.

p1129.

Peck, R. H. (1971). The utilization of simulation in teacher preparation.

Bureau of Educational Personnel Development, Washington DC.

Richards, J. C. (2006). Communicative Language Teaching Today.

Cambridge University press. p9

Richards, J.C & Rodgers, T.S. (1996). Communicative language teaching

in Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge University

Press (p12-36)

Roger, A.E.M. (2003). Teaching the speaking skill to Japanese students

part 1: Construct and Practice, p3-5. Thesis.

Salleh, L.M. (2001). Communicative competence: a Malaysian Perspective

Human Communication. A publication of the pacific and Asian

communication Association. Vol 11, No 3 pp303-307


Savignon, S.J. (2002). Interpreting Communicative Language Teaching.

P.7-9

To, H (edit); Nguyen, H, Nguyen, M; Nguyen, M; Luong, T. (2009). ELT

Methodology II. p170-171. Vietnam National University Press.

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Vietnam National University Press.

Tran. T. N. (2003). Role play and simulation as used in developing

speaking skills for 1st year students of ED-CFL-VNU. BA Thesis.

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Stanford university express.

Twelker, P.A. (1968). Simulation: an overview. Stanford University

express. p44-45

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A Communicative Approach .The English Teacher. Vol XIX. University of

Malaya p7-9. Retrieved on 12th January from

http://www.melta.org.my/ET/1990/main8.html


APPENDIX 1

QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS)

I am Khuc Kim Lan from Class 061E1. I am conducting a research on

“Simulation as used to develop speaking ability for 3rd

- year Fast Track

students at English Department, HULIS, VNU” so I would like you to

help me by completing this questionnaire. This is not a test so there is no

“right” or “wrong” answers and you do NOT even have to write your

name on it. Please give your answers sincerely as only this will guarantee

the success of the investigation. Thank you very much for your kind

cooperation!

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

1. In your opinion, circle the level of importance of speaking skill in

comparison with the other three skills: reading, listening, and writing:

1 2 3

More important As important as Less important

2. How do you find simulation activity in speaking class?

A. very interesting

B. interesting

C. not very interesting

D. boring

E. very boring

3. How effective do you think simulation can help you develop your

speaking skills? A. very effective

B. effective

B. not very effective

B. ineffective

4. How many simulation(s) did you participate in? A. once

B. twice

C. more than twice

5. Which role (s) did you play in the simulation?

A. only interviewer


B. only interviewee

C. both interviewer and interviewee

6. In your opinion, which of the following aspects of speaking

proficiency can you gain through simulation activity? You can choose

MORE THAN ONE option.

A. lexis and grammar (the use of a number of common lexical, especially

to perform language functions such as agreeing, disagreeing, expressing

surprise, approval, etc.)

B. connected speech (i.e. assimilation, elision, added ( linking r) or

weakened through contractions and stress patterning)

C. expressive devices (the change of pitch and stress or vary volume and

speed to convey meanings beyond their words)

D. compensating language (ability to show the structure of what we are

saying, ability to know when and how to take the floor, how to keep a

conversation going, etc.)

E. language processing (ability to process language in their own heads and

put it into coherent order and habit of rapid English language processing)

F. interacting with others ( good deal of listening and understanding of

how the other people are feeling and a good knowledge of how

linguistically to take turns or allow others to do so)

G. real- time information processing (ability to process the information

other tells us the moment we get it)

H. sociolinguistic knowledge (competence which involves knowing what

is expected socially and culturally by users of the target language. This

competence helps learners know what comments are appropriate, how to

ask questions during interaction and how to respond nonverbally, etc.)

7. Do you have any difficulties in preparing and performing in the

simulation?

A. Yes

B. No

If Yes, move to the next question. If No, please stop here.


8. Which of the following difficulties you have to face during the

preparation for a simulation. You can choose MORE THAN ONE

option:

For interviewers:

A. In choosing the interesting and suitable topics/ jobs to recruit

B. In searching for the interesting and appropriate materials and

information

C. In designing the situations for the interviewees

D. In making the interview questions

E. Others (Please

specify)……………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

………………

For interviewees: A. in searching for the suitable information for the topic

B. In writing CVs because they are not your real information

C. Others: (please

specify)……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………….

9. Which of the following difficulties you have to face when performing

in the simulation?

For interviewers:

A. In pronunciation

B. In expressing ideas clearly and effectively

C. in asking candidates questions to know more about candidates

D. in giving comments for each candidate

E. in interacting with the partner

F. Others: (please

specify)……………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………….


For interviewees: A. In pronunciation

B. In expressing the ideas clearly and effectively

C. Being nervous and unconfident when facing challenging questions in

the selling yourself part

D. Being confused in interacting with the partner in the problem-solving

and decision- making part.

E. Forgetting to be in a simulation and act as students in real life

F. Others: (Please

specify)……………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………

10. What are your recommendations to overcome all the difficulties in

implementing Simulation and maximize its effectiveness to improve

your speaking skills?

I. In the preparation stage: A. More familiar themes and topics should be applied

B. The topics and situations should be evaluated by the teachers


C. Both interviewers and interviewees should prepare for themselves

some unexpected questions and situations before taking part in the

simulation.

D. Both interviewers and interviewees should rehearse carefully before

coming to the simulation.

E. Others: (please specify the reasons as well)

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

…………………………

II. In the performance

A. Interviewers should not ask interviewee too personal questions.

B. Interviewees should advertise the most basic and special information

to attract the audience

C. both interviewers and interviewees should be calm to listen to and

observe each other so that they can interact smoothly and effectively.


D. interviewers and interviewees should process the information quickly


have good ideas expressions

E. Others (please specify the reasons as well)

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………

The end!

Thank you again for your kind support!


APPENDIX 2 QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR TEACHERS)

I am Khuc Kim Lan from Class 061E1. I am conducting a research on

“Simulation as used to develop speaking ability for 3rd

- year Fast

Track students at English Department, HULIS, VNU” so I would like

you to help me by completing this questionnaire. This is not a test so there

is no “right” or “wrong” answers and you do NOT even have to write

your name on it. Please give your answers sincerely as only this will

guarantee the success of the investigation. Thank you very much for your

kind cooperation!

1. In your opinion, circle the level of importance of speaking skill in

comparison with the other three skills: reading, listening, and writing:

1 2 3

More important As important as Less important

2. How effective do you think simulation can help your students

develop their speaking skills? A. very effective

B. effective

B. not very effective

B. ineffective

3. In your opinion, which of the following aspects of speaking

proficiency can your students gain through simulation activity? You

can choose MORE THAN ONE option.

A. lexis and grammar (the use of a number of common lexical, especially

to perform language functions such as agreeing, disagreeing, expressing

surprise, approval, etc.)

B. connected speech ( i.e. assimilation, elision, added ( linking r ) or

weakened through contractions and stress patterning)

C. expressive devices ( the change of pitch and stress or vary volume and

speed to convey meanings beyond their words)


D. compensating language (ability to show the structure of what we are

saying, ability to know when and how to take the floor, how to keep a

conversation going, etc.)

E. language processing (ability to process language in their own heads and

put it into coherent order and habit of rapid English language processing)

F. interacting with others ( good deal of listening and understanding of

how the other people are feeling and a good knowledge of how

linguistically to take turns or allow others to do so)

G. real- time information processing (ability to process the information

other tells us the moment we get it)

H. sociolinguistic knowledge (competence which involves knowing what

is expected socially and culturally by users of the target language. This

competence helps learners know what comments are appropriate, how to

ask questions during interaction and how to respond nonverbally, etc.)

4. What are your recommendations to help your students maximize the

effectiveness of implementing simulation to improve their speaking

skills?

I. In the preparation stage:

A. More familiar themes and topics should be applied

B. The topics and situations should be evaluated by the teachers


C. Both interviewers and interviewees should prepare for themselves

some unexpected questions and situations before taking part in the

simulation.

D. Both interviewers and interviewees should rehearse carefully before

coming to the simulation.

E. Others: (please specify the reasons as well)

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

………………

II. In the performance

A. Interviewers should not ask interviewees too personal questions.

B. Interviewees should advertise the most basic and special information

to attract the audience


C. Both interviewers and interviewees should be calm to listen to and

observe each other so that they can interact smoothly and effectively.

D. Interviewers and interviewees should process the information quickly


have good ideas expressions

E. Others (please specify the reasons as well)

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………

……

The end!

Thank you again for your kind support!


APPENDIX 3

INTERVIEW 1- INTERVIEWEE A

DATE: 12th

, March, 2010

Interviewer: Hi, are you ready with the interview?

Interviewee: Yes, I am ready now.

Interviewer: Ok, the first question, in your opinion, speaking skill is the

most important skill, why do you think so?

Interviewee: Well, because even you can write something well, you can

not express ideas well, as a result, communication is not effective.

Interviewer: And you find simulation interesting, in which way?

Interviewee: Simulation brings us chance to role play, and it gives us than

chance to overcome some simulated situation in real life.

Interviewer: Ok, now move to question 6, about aspects of speaking

proficiency, you circle 5 out of 8 aspects. The first option you choose is "

expressive devices", so can you gain this skill by yourself or from your

teachers' and your peers' comments and suggestions?

Interviewee: Yeah, from both my teachers and peers' comments, and after

that I realize my mistakes and improve it.

Interviewer: And I want to ask you about the aspect "interacting with

others". Can you give me one example?

Interviewee: oh yes, this one is very clear, as an interviewee you have to

interact with your partner to produce an effective simulation, and the same

for interviewers, moreover both interviewers and interviewees have to

interact with each other as well. Not only the interviewers have to give

questions one by one, but sometimes they have to encourage and stimulate

the candidates.


Interviewer: And about "sociolinguistic knowledge". Can you give one

example to illustrate this point?

Interviewee: Well, let me think...uhm... I just think of the knowledge of the

ways we behave appropriately, when to give comments. For example when

I give comments to the candidates, I use the "sandwich model", it means I

give comments of good points first, and then the weakness is later. Well, I

think this way is more effective and sensible.

Interviewer: yeah, thank you. Now move on to the difficulty you have to

face during the preparation stage. First about choosing the topic. What can

you say about this? Can you be more specific?

Interviewee: Yes, when we work together, we come up with many

different topics, more ideas make us more confused

Interviewer: In your opinion, what is a 'sound, interesting" topic or carrier

to recruit?

Interviewee: uhm, I think it must be real, related to real life, but something

challenging, that's good because it can test ourselves and challenge our

knowledge.

Interviewer: Now come to the difficulty in the performance stage. You

add one more option "be as much professional as possible". Can you

explain more about this point?

Interviewee: For example, we should improve our body language,

postures, gestures.

Interviewer: Thank you, and for "expressing ideas clearly and

persuasively" ?

Interviewee: Yeah, because within a very short period of time to think,

sometimes we make some mistakes, or we know what we should say but

the way we express somehow can make others misunderstood, and it

affects the fluency as well.


Interviewer: Ok, move to the last question about the recommendations.

You circle "prepare some unexpected situations and questions" right?

Interviewee: Yes, because it is a good ideas. We can expect and prepare

ourselves some solutions before coming to the real simulation. It will make

us more confident.

Interviewer: And " rehearse carefully before taking part in the simulation'?

Interviewee: Yes, of course. Especially for the interviewees, they should

rehearse advertising themselves carefully. Otherwise, they may make some

mistakes in both grammar and expressing ideas clearly. And they will fail

to attract the interviewers as well as the audience.

Interviewer: Ok, do you have any other recommendations?

Interviewee: Well...I think that's all.

Interviewer: Thank you very much!


APPENDIX 4

INTERVIEW 2- INTERVIEWEE B

DATE: 12th March 2010

Interviewer: Hi, I have some questions for you. I see from the

questionnaire that in your opinion speaking skill is the most important skill.

So why do you choose that?

Interviewee: Because when you contact with someone, you communicate

with someone, speaking skill is the first impression that others can judge

you, especially for a teacher when students attend a lecture, uhm, even

though they haven’t known about the content of the lecture but the voice,

the intonation, the words the lecturer speaks out is the first impression for

them

Interviewer: Ok, you also said that simulation activity is very interesting

and effective to help you develop speaking ability.

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: And move to the question 6 on the questionnaire, here I list 8

aspects of speaking proficiency. You know that you are at year 3 of

university, and you are expected to achieve speaking proficiency. And you

chose 6 out of 8, the first is lexis and grammar, expressive devices, it is the

change of pitch and stress or vary volume and speed to convey meanings

beyond their words. How do you know that you gain this skill? From

teacher’s feedback, your peers’ feedback or you realize by yourself?

Interviewee: when I was an Interviewer, I had to introduce about a

company, the job descriptions and the rounds the candidates must attend.

And when introducing about the company I have to raise my voice to

involve the audience, to attract them to the company because I was

advertising. However when I come to the interviewing part, my voice is


unnecessary to be high as I did in the introduction part. It should be

lowered and I should show the formality in interviewing interviewers

Interviewer: So you can realize by yourself?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: And compensating language, the ability to show the structure

of what we are saying, so you realize on your own, right?

Interviewee: uhm, before the simulation, i had to prepare some common

structures I will speak in the simulation. However there are some

simulations that I hadn't expected. And it's the time for me to use other

structures; in general I can control what I am going to say.

Interviewer: uhm, and about interacting with others, can you give me an

example?

Interviewee: When I am an interviewer, uh, yeah, for example at that

moment I think I talked too much, and I wanted to give the floor to her, and

said something like "Can you help me with this part?"

Interviewer: and "real- time information processing", the ability to process

the information other tells us the moment we get it?

Interviewee: uhm, for example when I am interviewing the interviewee, I

asked her some questions and she gave the answers and after she finished

her answers, I must know something to give comments to her and conclude

her answers and move to the next part. And that's the moment I must

process the information I got.

Interviewer: ok I see, and the last aspect is "sociolinguistic knowledge".

Can you give me one example?

Interviewee: yes, this time I must know the suitable words to give

comments to interviewee, and I know when I should encourage them or to

put more pressure on them. For example in the problem- solving part, it's

very challenging. And I warn that it is not easy to deal with. And I put

more pressure on them and if the interviewee says "I am very nervous", I


will say that " ok, I can see you did a good job and you have got a lot

support from the audience". So I must choose the suitable words for each

situation.

Interviewer: thank you. And you admitted that you had difficulty in both

the preparation stage and the performance in the simulation. For example n

the preparations stage, you find it difficult to choose the interesting topic.

How can you say about it?

Interviewee: for example i must choose the topic that i know something

about it. If the topic is so strange to me, and it can not involve the audience

as well as the candidates and myself.

Interviewer: in your opinion, what is an "interesting topic", what are the

criteria for "interesting"?

Interviewee: yeah, I think it must be not too familiar, not too strange. For

example some topics including a tutor, a teaching assistant or doing a part

time jog as a cashier, something like that, something familiar to us. But

when I recruit a director, and it will be a strange situation, with high

qualification, and we are not skilled enough to deal with the questions in

that situation

Interviewer: thank you, now go on. The second difficulty is in searching

for the interesting and appropriate materials and information

Interviewee: yeah, most of the information we must make up and look for

the information. For example when i have the topic about entertainment, an

MC in particular, i must search for what an MC has to do in his job.

Interviewer: so what is "appropriate information"?

Interviewee: suitable for the topic, the knowledge of the audience, the

candidates

Interviewer: ok, and in designing the situation for the interviewees,


Interviewee: I think it is the most difficult thing. I have to choose the one

that is not very easy, but not very challenging. And it must test the

candidates' knowledge and reaction and their behaviors.

Interviewer: yep, and also in making the interview questions

Interviewee: well, actually in this part we can ask many questions, like

"what do you think of the company? What's the most difficult experience

you have ever had? Etc. but the difficulty is that the questions must show

the candidates' knowledge and ability and the candidates must think for a

while before they give the final answers.

Interviewer: now for the interviewees in the preparation stage. You circle

"in writing CVs". Can you clarify it?

Interviewee: a good CV must show off your ability as much as possible,

but for a lower position, if you boast too much, it will be unsuitable. And

with that CV, you should apply for a higher position. And in contrast, if

you apply for a high position, but you are too modest when you show very

little information about yourself, you may fail.

Interviewer: ok, now, for the performance. Firstly for interviewers, you

find difficulty in interacting with your partners? Can you be more specific?

Interviewee: yeah, for example, sometimes my partner and I (we are both

interviewers) talk at the same time. And at that time, i tried to stop but

sometimes she talked too much, i must stop her. And i also had difficulty in

role- playing part. At that moment there will be interaction between

interviewees and interviewers. If we can not guess the interaction from the

interviewees, we maybe put in passive situation.

Interviewer: so what is your recommendation, your solution for this

problem?

Interviewee: maybe good at guessing the ability of the candidate, how she

can solve the problem so that we can give the comments, the evaluation.


Interviewer: how can you (the interviewers) give the evaluation to the

interviewees?

Interviewee: in the role play, everything comes suddenly, and we have to

say something immediately, so there's no discussion between us.

Interviewer: ok, for the interviewees in the performance, the first difficulty

is expressing the ideas clearly and effectively?

Interviewee: from the previous semester, but now I don't think so.

Interviewer: it means you have improved that?

Interviewee: yes.

Interviewer: Go on, 'being nervous and unconfident when facing

challenging questions in the selling yourself part"?

Interviewee: Yes, because I don't have any ideas at that time and we pause

a lot.

Interviewer: in your opinion, what are the reasons for being nervous and

unconfident?

Interviewee: Because of the lack of idea, lack of knowledge, sometimes

the interviewers are too strict, serious

Interviewer: Any more difficulties or is that all?

Interviewee: uhm....I think that's all.

Interviewer: Ok, now come to the recommendations, first for the

preparation stage, you circle A "more themes and topics that are familiar to

students should be applied". What are the "familiar topics" in your point of

view?

Interviewee: there are some fields that we can consider, such as

entertainment, an MC for example, manager for a music band, manager of

a fashion shop, some other themes like economics and politics, but to be

honest I'm not very interested in them

Interviewer: "the topics and situations should be evaluated by the teachers

beforehand to make sure that they are sound".


Interviewee: yeah, all the times we hand in all the situations and the

materials but the teacher gave comments to us not always but sometimes

when there are serious problems. However, I think it is a good idea as from

teacher's comments; we can revise or change something.

Interviewer: for the performance, "interviewers should choose the most

suitable questions to ask interviewees". In your opinion, what is a "suitable

question"?

Interviewee: yeah, the candidate should answer something and it must be

some how equal to their knowledge.

Interviewer: "interviewees should advertise the most basic and special

information to attract the audience"?

Interviewee: yes, for example, some awards they get during their career

and the experience or some challenging situations they have dealt with.

Interviewer: what else? Other recommendations?

Interviewee: I think the interaction should be considered, when we

understand each other well, we will find the process smooth and find the

solution easily

Interviewer: how can you have good interaction?

Interviewee: I think flexibility is the key factor here. For example, when

one interviewer is saying, the other should keep silent. And if the solution

is good enough, interviewers do not need to say too much.

Interviewer: right, ok, is that all?

Interviewee: I think that's all.

Interviewer: thank you very much!

APPENDIX 5

INTERVIEW 3 - INTERVIEWEE C


DATE: 12th

March 2010

Interviewer: Hi, are you ready?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: The first question, why do you think speaking is the second

most important skill?

Interviewee: Yes, because I think when we listen well, we can speak well,

so I choose speaking skill is the second most important skill.

Interviewer: Right. And you find simulation activity is interesting and

effective, right? Move to the next issue. For the aspects of speaking

proficiency, I list 8 aspects of speaking proficiency here because you know

that you are now at year 3 of the university, so you are assumed to have

proficient speaking ability. You circle "expressive devices", "compensating

language" and "interacting with others". What can you say about this?

Interviewee: Well, I think simulation is used to practice impromptu

speaking, so the other skills, such as "lexis and grammar" and "connected

speech" are somehow not noticed and I try to speak fast and fluently but

still make some grammar mistakes. So I think I can not improve the lexis

and grammar in simulation.

Interviewer: Ok, so can you give me an example of compensating

language?

Interviewee: For example when I was an interviewee, I had to persuade

that I am a good employee so I try to express clearly, and..that is.

Interviewer: And what's about "interacting with others"?

Interviewee: Yeah, because there are 3 parts in a simulation, the 1st is CV

introducing, the 2nd

is situation, and the last is problem- solving, and in this

part we often have the role play, so it's good to help develop interacting

skill.


Interviewer: Ok, now the next question is about the difficulty you have to

face. Can you explain more why you find designing the situation difficulty?

Interviewee: For example in my group, 2 interviewers designed too easy

situations, and the candidates act differently, and there are no criteria to

evaluate

Interviewer: In your opinion, what can be called a good, sound situation?

Interviewee: Well, I think the situation must check the candidates' ability

and knowledge that suits the position that he/ she applied for.

Interviewer: The next question, you find writing CVs difficult and

complicated. Can you be specific?

Interviewee: Yeah, it's the part that I spend a lot of time preparing, and

because it's not my own information and experience, I have to make up. I

am not sure whether it suits the position I apply for or not.

Interviewer: Ok, do you have any other difficulties?

Interviewee: Well, I think that's all. The others I have explained in the

questionnaire.

Interviewer: For the difficulty in the performance. You say you are

nervous and unconfident when facing challenging questions. Why so?

Interviewee: well, it's my weakness. When I have to speak fast in front of

class, in front of many people, without thinking I often make some

mistakes and I am nervous.

Interviewer: So have you found the solution?

Interviewee: Well, I am searching for the solution, I think maybe I should

forget the audience and be attentive to answer the questions from the

interviewers, and try to speak as much as possible, and think I am doing the

job well.

Interviewer: Alright, what about the recommendations, I just want you to

clarify, for example "about the familiar topics should be applied". In your

opinion, what can be called the familiar topics?


Interviewee: For example, hospital and health, spiritual life

Interviewer: And "the teacher should evaluate and comment the situations

beforehand"?

Interviewee: Yep, I think it's necessary because she can give us some

comments and suggests some activities.

Interviewer: So besides the recommendations listed here, do you want to

add any other suggestions?

Interviewee: Well, I think that's enough.

Interviewer: Alright. Thank you very much for joining in this interview.


APPENDIX 6

INTERVIEW 4 - INTERVIEWEE D

DATE: 15th

March 2010

Interviewer: Hi, can we start the interview now?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: Ok the first question, you say that in your opinion speaking

skill is the second most important skill, right? Why do you think so?

Interviewee: Yes, I choose speaking skill is the second most important

skill because I think listening is more important. I think there has a

relationship between listening and speaking, reading and writing but I think

firstly if we want to speak well, you have to listen, to understand well.

Interviewer: Next question, you find simulation is not very effective?

Interviewee: Because I think the role of the interviewees is not effective.

Sometimes in the interview I can not remember all the information I make

up in the CV because it is not real.

Interviewer: Does it really affect the effectiveness of the simulation in

general?

Interviewee: Well, I think, one of the most important characters in the

simulation is the promotion of the interviewees but when they can not

remember their experience they wrote in the CV, it will reduce the

effectiveness.

Interviewer: Any other reasons?

Interviewee: Well, I had a chance to observe the real interviews and I see

that it is not as complex as in the simulation in university, too many steps

and complicated situations.

Interviewer: Thank you, and about the aspects of speaking proficiency.

You know that you are at grade 3 of university and you are assumed to gain

proficient speaking skills. I can see that you circle four aspects: lexis and


grammar, connected speech and expressive devices and language

processing. What about other aspects? You can not gain those skills in the

simulation right?

Interviewee: Well, actually for language processing, as an interviewer,

when the interviewee answered my question, I had to be very attentive to

think what she was trying to express and put the information in a

comprehensive way, even though there were some sentences I could not

catch what she intended to convey. And for other skills, I can find the in

debate activity.

Interviewer: Coming to the difficulty. You said that you have difficulty in

choosing the interesting topics. In your opinion, what are the criteria for an

interesting topic?

Interviewee: Well, it should be suitable to our level, and secondly it should

be related to our major, for example, my major is translating, so some jobs

like translator or interpreter will be suitable.

Interviewer: What about the suggested jobs for those who are specify in

teaching?

Interviewee: uhm...for example recruiting a lecturer, teaching assistant

Interviewer: And the second difficulty is designing the situations. Can you

give be more specific?

Interviewee: I have just one chance to be an interviewer. And at that time I

choose an easy position to become a volunteer in the Vietnamese museum

of ethnology, and everyone finds it easy.

Interviewer: Have you ever seen a very difficult situation that the

candidates have no idea about?

Interviewee: Well, for example one candidate wrote in her CV that she can

sing and draw, she makes up the experience but in the simulation, when the

interviewers ask her to draw a duck or a chicken, she can not draw. That's a

funny experience.


Interviewer: And for the interviewees, you find it challenging to write a

CV because it's not your own experience and information. Why do you

think so?

Interviewee: yeah, because sometimes I do not really understand the

position I chose, and I can not remember all the information in write in the

CV because it is artificial.

Interviewer: Now move on to the difficulty in the performance in the

simulation, first for the interviewers, you say you have difficulty in

pronunciation. Can you give me an example?

Interviewee: Actually it is quite normal when making some mistakes, but

because sometimes I am not confident, then I make some pronunciation

mistakes.

Interviewer: And another difficulty is in responding the interviewers'

questions?

Interviewee: Yes, in some parts, I do not understand clearly about the job I

apply, and the information I search in the internet does not match with what

the interviewers have found, so sometimes my answers c an not satisfy the

interviewers.

Interviewer: Thank you, and for interviewees, you choose B " forgetting to

be in the simulation and act as a student in real life"

Interviewee: Yeah, at that time I was very nervous and I didn't know what

to say, then I answered " I'm sorry, I have no idea about this".

Interviewer: uhm...and move to the last question, about recommendations.

You circle "more themes and topics that are familiar to students should be

applied" well, it is clear now because you have mentioned already, in other

words, the topics should be close to real life and your major right? And the

topics, the situations should be evaluated and commented by the teacher

beforehand. Why do you think that?


Interviewee: Yes, because our teacher has much more experience and she

will know which situation is appropriate, which one is too challenging, or

she can suggest some activities to test the candidates.

Interviewer: uh huh. And you also suggest that students should experience

some real interviews to know what they really are in real life. Can you

explain more about this?

Interviewee: Because I have some experience in interviewing, and I think

it's not as complex as in the class. I did interview as a tour guide of an

organization, or a volunteer, and assistant for VTV6. They give us some

videos to test us translating.

Interviewer: Ok, do you have any other recommendations?

Interviewee: Well, I think I have mentioned clearly in the questionnaire.

And I think that's all.



APPENDIX 7

INTERVIEW 5- INTERVIEWEE E

Date of interview: 12th

, March 2010 Interviewer: Hi, are you ready with the interview?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: From the questionnaire, you choose speaking skill is the

second most important skill.

Interviewee: Yes, because fist of all you have to listen well, only after

listening well, you can speak well.

Interviewer: Yes, number 2, 3 are very clear, you find simulation

interesting and effective. I find it clear. And the next question about the

aspects of speaking proficiency. You know that you are at year 3 of the

university, and you are in Fast track program, so you are expected to gain

proficient speaking ability. And you choose 4 out of 8 aspects, which are

"expressive devices". How do you know you can gain this skill, from your

teacher's comments, your peers' or you realize by yourself?

Interviewee: Yeah, thank you for your question. I realize from my peers'

comments and realize by myself.. It happens in the situation part, I have to

role play and solve the problems. And it is the first time I have to try to be

angry, because I am the customer of the restaurant, and there is a flight in

my cup of coffee so I have to pretend to be angry and criticize on the

restaurant, and I have to express a lot of my emotions, my feelings. I have

to raise my voice many times, and I even have to scream.

Interviewer: Yeah. That's an interesting story. And about " compensating

language' it means the ability to show the structures of what you are saying,

how and when to take the floor. You achieve by yourself or your teachers

teach you?

Interviewee: mostly I realize and improve by myself.


Interviewer: yeah. And for option F "interacting with others". Can you

give me one specific example?

Interviewee: uhm, I have to interact with the candidates, my partner. First I

have to interact with the other interviewer, I can not jump up into the

other's mouth and I have to wait until she ends her part, her speech. And for

the candidates I try to be patient, not showing my boredom, not interrupting

the candidate suddenly, that is the kind of interaction

Interviewer: And for G " real time information processing", in other words

it is the time we process the information the others tell us the moment we

get it

Interviewee: of course, before I asked the candidates, I didn't know the

answers, I had to concentrate on what they were saying because in some

situations I have to give comments on the candidates right away. Of course

I have difficulty in listening to someone, it is the first time I was forced to

process the information and respond immediately.

Interviewer: And you admitted that you have difficulty in both the

preparation and the performance right? And you find it difficult to choose

the interesting topic. In your opinion, what is an interesting topic?

Interviewee: Yes, of course we are assigned the themes, but we have to

narrow down the themes to find the topic. I think it's quite difficult, for

example the theme is economics, but we can not recruit a CEO because to

become a CEO, the candidates have to search a lot of information to get the

economical knowledge even though it is a very interesting job. So for such

a theme like economics, we can find the job that is both simple and

interesting

Interviewer: so what are the criteria for an interesting topic or a job?

Interviewee: uhm, I think there is something related to our major, for

example in the theme communication, we recruited an English MC, but we

can not choose the singer, it is difficult


Interviewer: thank you. And what's about the difficulty in designing the

situation for the candidates?

Interviewee: well, I think there are some requirements for the situation.

First it should be designed to check the ability of the candidate; second it

should be interesting enough to attract the audience. And the situation

should be related to the themes and has a suitable time restriction

Interviewer: What about writing a CV?

Interviewee: Actually I haven't played as an interviewee, but if the

candidates find it difficult, they can consult some templates in the websites,

there are a lot of model CVs. But for the information and the knowledge,

the candidates should do a research on it and I think that it takes a lot of

time and it needs patience a lot

Interviewer: next question, you admitted that you have difficulty in

pronunciation

Interviewee: yes, pronunciation is my weakness, because I have a habit of

pronouncing some sounds from my experience in high school, and now it

digs into my brain

Interviewer: For example?

Interviewee: Yeah, for example, I have problems with the ending sounds

"s", and "z",

Interviewer: so you realize by yourself or from your teacher's and your

peers' comments?

Interviewee: My teacher, especially in the simulation, when I have to

speak fast and without thinking, I forget the ending sounds.

Interviewer: And in giving comments for each candidate, for example?

Interviewee: For example, sometimes the interview makes me bored, and

moreover giving comments somehow like criticizing others. I don't know

how to give the most sensible comments in order not to hurt others but now

I change a little bit, so the problem is not very serious now.


Interviewer: Ok, and the last question will be related to the

recommendations. You choose D "both interviewers and interviewees

should search for different types of information related to the job they are

applying for". Do you have any other recommendations in the preparation

stage?

Interviewee: I think that's all.

Interviewer: What's about recommendations for the performance?

Interviewee: I think in the role play, students should put themselves in the

situation. For example, there's a flight in my cup of coffee. If I am not

angry, the interviewers can not evaluate that performance. And I think that

candidates should perform as much professionally as possible



APPENDIX 8

INTERVIEW 6- INTERVIEW TEACHER F

DATE: 18th

March 2010

Interviewer: Good afternoon! Are you ready for the questions?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: The first question, I just want to confirm about the options you

chose in the questionnaire. For question 3, you chose A "lexis and

grammar". Can you be more specific?

Interviewee: Well, I chose that because in the simulations, candidates

sometimes had to discuss with each other to solve some tasks designed by

the interviewers, so they can develop language functions such as agreeing,

disagreeing, expressing surprise, approval, etc. I see that my students can

achieve and improve this skill a lot. Their vocabulary is widened much.

Interviewer: What about other aspects, for example, the ability to interact

with other and real time processing? Or the ability to use expressive

devices? Can you give me an example?

Interviewee: Yeah, for example in the simulation, they knew when and

how to raise their voice or change the volume appropriately, especially in

the problems- solving part.Another example, the interviewers have to

interact with the interviewees and interviewers, I mean their partners as

well. So when they observe others, they can learn this skill. Moreover,

when I give comments for one student, others can learn it and improve a

lot. And this is the same for other options I chose. My students have gained

much progress, especially for the second time.

Interviewer: Do you have any criteria to evaluate your students'

performance?


Interviewee: Of course, we have. You can take a look at the simulation

marking rubrics for both interviewers and interviewees. We have clear

criteria.

Interviewer: Ok, next I would like you to look at the question number 8 in

the questionnaire, which is about the difficulties students have to face

during the performance stage for a simulation. Many students said that they

have the difficulty in designing the situations for the candidates. So in your

opinion, what are the criteria for a good situation?

Interviewee: Yeah, you can find the answer by looking at the simulation

marking rubic for the criteria.

Interviewer: Yeah, I will look at it again. And the next question, a

majority of students found writing CVs difficult as those CVs are not their

own information; they don't know how to make it attractive. In your

opinion, what can be called a good CV?

Interviewee: I think a good CV is the one that you can sell yourself best,

and it has a relevant writing style, language use. And actually I think we

have a lot of model CVs for students. And...they have learnt about how to

write a CV in the previous year, so I don’t think that they have any excuses

to say they don’t know how to write a CV.

Interviewer: Thank you. And for the performance of simulation, some of

them admitted that they find it difficult to express their ideas clearly and

persuasively because they lack time to think carefully. So what are your

suggestions?

Interviewee: I think my suggestion is that they should rehearse many times

and I think for anyone in the first time taking part in the simulation,

mistakes are unavoidable, so practice many times to get familiar with this

type of activity.


Interviewer: Some participants say that in the simulation, the interviewees

often solve the problems individually, so they don't have to interact with

the partner, is it true?

Interviewee: Yes, for some. I think it depends on the design of activity by

the interviewers

Interviewer: Some of students have difficulty in interacting with partners.

What are your recommendations?

Interviewee: Well it's the way the interviewers have to do to choose the

best candidates by observing through the whole simulation.

Interviewer: And the last question. About your recommendations to help

students to overcome all the difficulties in both the preparation stage and

the performance. You can have a look at the questionnaire and give me

some examples.

Interviewee: Yes, let me see. For the preparation stage, more familiar

topics should be applied.

Interviewer: I mean "familiar" are the topics that are closed to life and

their career.

Interviewee: Yes...ah, it's a good idea. Moreover, the topics and the

situations should be commented and evaluated by the teachers beforehand.

Well, I do it always. Uhm...and I agree that both interviewers and

interviewees should prepare by themselves some unexpected questions and

situations before taking part in the simulation. Yep, it is very important.

And...both interviewers and interviewees should rehearse carefully before

coming to the simulation. I do agree I think it's very clear.

Interviewer: Do you have any other recommendations for the preparation

stage?

Interviewee: uhm, I think that for both interviewers and interviewees, they

should find the authentic materials on websites. For example, they can find

the authentic materials to design questions for the interviewees. And for the


interviewees, again, they can find some suggestions to answer the questions

from the interviewers.

Interviewer: Yeah, is that all?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: What about the recommendations for the performance?

Interviewee: Well, for the interviewees, they should rehearse before going

to class, and they should imagine that they were being interviewed by the

real interviewers and they try to act as best as they can, and for the

interviewers, well, again I think they should have a good preparation, I

mean the way the design the questions should be real life questions, and for

the situations and every part of the simulation, it should be like authentic,

useful for them. I think that's all I think about.

Interviewer: Yes, thank you very much for joining in this interview.


APPENDIX 9

INTERVIEW 7- INTERVIEWEE: TEACHER G

DATE: 20th

March 2010

Interviewer: Hi, thank you for joining in this interview. Are you ready?

Interviewee: Yes

Interviewer: ok, here we go. Look at the questionnaire first, this thesis

focuses on using simulation to develop speaking skills for 3rd year Fast

Track students. So I list 8 aspects of speaking proficiency, which aspects

do you think your students can achieve?

Interviewee: well, as I chose in the questionnaire, my students can gain all

these skills as when taking part in the simulation, they have to use all of

those skills. Moreover, because simulation requires real-life language use

and it requires them to make use of all the resources they have and seek

others to fulfill the task.

Interviewer: among the 8 aspects, more of them choose expressive devices

(C). Students also add that they realize and improve by themselves. What

do you think about this? Can you see the improvement in their

performance?

Interviewee: You mean the aspects in question 6 of the questionnaire?

Interviewer: Yes

Interviewee: Yeah I think my students did improve quite a lot as they

proceeded. Most of the time they were able to recognize their weaknesses

and I can see that through their reflection

Interviewer: Yes

Interviewee: However, there are other factors contributing to their

development as well, for example, I did incorporate some sort of training in


voice inflection within class hours, based on the weaknesses identified in

my students' performance

Interviewer: yes

Interviewee: They also got many helpful comments from their peers and

myself.

Interviewer: Okay

Interviewee: Does that answer your question?

Interviewer: Very supportive. And do you have any criteria for the

evaluation?

Interviewee: Yes, I have the simulation marking rubrics. You can consult

it.

Interviewer: Thank you. Do you think the evaluation checklist helpful?

Interviewee: Of course, it is updated and we base on that to give marks for

students.

Interviewer: Next question, 93% of them choose interacting with others.

They can learn a lot from the simulation, but a problem is that some of the

participants said the interviewees are interviewed individually so there's no

interaction with their partner. Is it true?

Interviewee: Yes, in a job interview, there's no partner, but they did

interact with the interviewers

Interviewer: Yes, ok next question

Interviewee: Ok

Interviewer: Related to Question 8, about difficulty. Participants said they

prefer familiar topics, such as about entertainment or related to their career

like teaching or interpreting. Can you suggest some other topics?

Interviewee: Well, we have a list of themes under which they will conduct

simulations

Interviewee: You can find the list of topics in the course outline


Interviewer: Some say that they have difficulty in designing the situations

for interviewees and in making interview questions

Interviewee: Actually I've come up with some ideas to try out next year.

Maybe at the beginning of the semester we'll elicit some topics that

students are more interested in and put them in the course schedules rather

than assigning them a list of topics like we did this semester

Interviewer: how about designing the situation? In your opinion, what is a

good situation?

Interviewee: I'm afraid your last question is too large to answer

Interviewer: You can list the most typical criteria for a good situation

Interviewee: Designing situations is and will be a difficult task for students

because they are not real employers, additionally as they said they lack

background knowledge of some topics. We do not aim at a simulation that

can be like real job interviews. We aim at creating opportunities for our

students to develop their skills and knowledge. So any simulation that

creates lots of opportunities for development and that shows students'

development can be seen as a good one, in my way of assessment

Interviewer: What if it is a too strange situation when the interviewees

have no idea, they can not say anything?

Interviewee: In fact none of my students had been in such situation

Interviewer: Alright, thank you, and next, some students suggest all the

topics and situations need to be evaluated by teachers beforehand. Did you

always do that?

Interviewee: They are required to send the topics, outline and situations to

me one week in advance for approval. But some of them just forgot to do

so. When they sent materials in, of course I checked and commented on

them


Interviewer: Yes, and next, some of Ss suggest to observe the real job

interviews, and ask experience from the real person in the real job to gain

experience, like ask the experience of an MC. Do you share the same idea?

Interviewee: Maybe it's a good idea, as long as they are allowed to

observe a real interview.

Interviewer: And the last one, please look at the last question in the

questionnaire. Do you share the same ideas with the recommendations in

the questionnaire? And do you have any other recommendations?

Interviewee: About your last question, I agree with A, recommend students

send their prepared materials in for teachers checking before hand, and the

situations in part 2 should be more specific (some situations were too broad

and it was impossible for interviewees to solve within a few minutes), D is

already in place. For the performance, let me see. A (interviewers should

not ask too personal questions), Well, it depends on the purpose of each

certain interview, sometimes asking about personal details will be helpful

for the employers to know more about the candidates. So, again, it depends

on each situation). For option B (Interviewees should advertise the most

basic and special information to attract the audience), actually my students

have already done that.

Interviewee: I also recommend students rehearse more carefully

Interviewer: Yes, some students say they feel nervous

Interviewee: Yes, some, and mostly because they are not very well-

prepared

Interviewee: Ok, any other questions?

Interviewer: How to interact smoothly with the partner? Some said they

don't know how, and they talk at the same time?

Interviewee: That happened, but I guess the solutions differ from one

situation to another. But I think in general, if they are better prepared, they

can avoid that


Interviewer: Well it is the last question. Thank you very much for

spending your time.

the use of simulation to develop speaking skills for third year fast track students at faculty of...

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