1. Rationale of the Study
For the past few years, with the introduction of the new Tieng Anh 6-9 textbook series based on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in junior high schools, language teaching in Quang Ngai has experienced the shift from grammatical form to communicative function. In order to prepare for this shift, short training courses (usually from 3 - 5 days in length) have been organized for junior high school (JHS) teachers in Quang Ngai province on how to use these textbooks. However, these short courses cannot satisfy teachers' needs in communicative language teaching because these courses largely deal with the introduction of the textbooks with little methodology component. Besides, teachers in Quang Ngai province, most of whom graduated from 1979 to 1999, had to learn English under difficult conditions without any opportunity to meet native English speakers, and did not have access to up to date materials. As a result, they have met a lot of difficulties in English language teaching, especially techniques for teaching oral skills.
Being teachers at Quang Ngai Teachers' Training College, we have met many junior high school teachers, observed junior high school lessons and have been involved in the training courses on how to use the new Tieng Anh textbook series for JHS teachers. Through this process, we have begun to identify the particular problems that many teachers of English deal with in Quang Ngai province. With this in mind, I decided to conduct the research named "A Study on Techniques for the Improvement to the Teaching of Oral Skills in Light of Communicative English Language Teaching for Junior High School Teachers in Quang Ngai Province".
The aim of the study is to give teachers a greater understanding of the communicative approach and to introduce practical techniques for the teaching of oral skills that can be used with the new Tieng Anh textbooks. Many of these techniques are a change from what teachers normally do. We know that teachers in Quang Ngai province deal with such particular problems as large classes, limited resources which make their language teaching difficult. However, by making some small changes and trying out new techniques, teachers can help the English language come alive for the students and slowly move away from the teacher-centered approach. I hope the study will encourage the process of change in language teaching.
2. Aims of the Study
The purpose of this study is to examine the areas of difficulties in language teaching that junior high school teachers deal with in Quang Ngai province so that techniques can be given to help them improve their teaching of oral skills.
The specific aims are:
- To investigate the current performance of English teaching and learning in JHSs in Quang Ngai province.
- To find out the difficulties that JHS teachers deal with in Quang Ngai province.
- To suggest techniques to help JHS teachers improve their teaching of oral skills.
3. Methods of the Study
To achieve the above - mentioned aims, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used and the following tasks are involved:
- Collecting data for the analysis from 100 junior high school teachers of English and 25 hours of class observations in junior high schools in Quang Ngai province.
- Assessing particular problems.
- Evaluating which oral techniques are applicable.
4. Scope of the Study
The study is intended to focus on practical techniques. After having investigated the current performance of English teaching and learning in JHSs in Quang Ngai province by means of a survey questionnaire and class observations, we suggest techniques to help JHS teachers improve their teaching of oral skills.
