RSUSSH 2020
IN20-172 The Use of the Teaching-Speaking Cycle Model to Improve the English Speaking Skills of Wing 4 Officers, Royal Thai Air Force
Presenter: Kanwalai Inprom
Rangsit University, Thailand
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the use of the teaching-speaking cycle model to improve the English speaking skills of 32 Wing 4 officers in the Royal Thai Air Force, based in Takhli District, Nakhon Sawan Province, Thailand. The participants of this study included 15 officers from technical corps and 17 officers from other corps. To find out
the teaching-speaking cycle model’s effectiveness, 4 research instruments were constructed and employed: 1) 4 lesson plans based on the 7-stage teaching-speaking cycle model, 2) pretest and posttest, 3) an English speaking rubric, and
4) a satisfaction questionnaire. The researcher collected data by assessing English speaking skills of Wing 4 officers individually before and after learning through the teaching-speaking cycle model. For the satisfaction data, the officers were assigned to fill in a satisfaction questionnaire after taking the posttest. The results revealed that there was
a significant difference between the English speaking pretest and posttest mean scores at the significant level of .01. However, when comparing between the technical corps and the other corps, it was found that there was no statistical significance in the pretest and posttest mean scores between the two groups. Therefore, the teaching-speaking cycle model remarkably helped improve the English speaking skills of Wing 4 officers as a whole and the military corps
they were based on did not affect their development of English speaking skills. Although they were from different military corps, their learning of English speaking did not have any differences.
Citation format:
Inprom, K., & Chalermnirundorn, N.. (2020). The Use of the Teaching-Speaking Cycle Model to Improve the English Speaking Skills of Wing 4 Officers, Royal Thai Air Force. Proceeding in RSU International Research Conference, May 1, 2020. Pathum Thani, Thailand.QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Do you think can we use this for Thai students?
What do think it is the problem of Thai people with English speaking skill eventhough they can read but can not speak?
Dear ดร.ดารุณี เสริฐผล
Answer 1 : Do you think can we use this for Thai students?
In my opinion, the teaching-speaking cycle, developed by Goh and Burns (2012), can be used in teaching Thai students because it's a seven-stage model that systematically and gradually improves learners' language fluency as well as accuracy. Thai students are terribly shy to speak when it comes to foreign languages. They do not like to be rushed. Therefore, teachers can follow this model step by step as each stage means to develop different aspects of foreign language speaking skills as described below.
Stage 1 : focus learners’ attention on speaking -> to encourage learners to think about and control their learning of foreign language speaking. (METACOGNITION)
Stage 2 : Provide input and/or guide planning -> to provide necessary knowledge such as vocabulary, grammar, key sentences related to speaking topics. (1st INPUT)
Stage 3 : Conduct speaking tasks -> to let learners put knowledge from stage 2 into practice in order to create speaking fluency while teachers observe their language use. (1st OUTPUT)
Stage 4 : Focus on language/skills/strategies -> to correct mistakes heard from learners in stage 2 and provide more knowledge on grammar, pronunciation, communication strategies to allow better communication and improve language accuracy (2nd INPUT)
Stage 5 : Repeat speaking tasks -> to let learners put knowledge from stage 2 and stage 4 into practice with more focus on language accuracy. Task repetition also helps with speaking fluency and confidence. (2nd OUTPUT)
Stage 6 : Direct learners’ reflection on learning -> to let learners reflect their speaking performance and how they have improved their foreign language speaking. (SELF-REFLECTION)
Stage 7 : Facilitate feedback on learning -> to let learners know how they can further improve their foreign language speaking skills. (FEEDBACK)
Also, to support the effectiveness of the model, there was a previous research conducted by Sawongta (2017) using the teaching speaking cycle with sixth grade Thai students and reporting that it could enhance their English oral communication ability. Therefore, the teaching-speaking cycle can be a potential model for enhancing English speaking skills of Thai students.
Answer 2 : What do think it is the problem of Thai people with English speaking skill eventhough they can read but can not speak?
Regarding problems of Thai people speaking English, Thais people tend to have poor English speaking skills because of several reasons. To start with, Thai people are terribly shy and afraid to make mistakes when speaking English because of the way they were taught English in school. Thai schools in the past tended to focus on grammar, reading and writing skills. Moreover, some Thai people make fun of each other speaking English which causes embarrassment and lack of confidence. In addition, English is a foreign language in Thailand (EFL). It is neither an official language nor a language for communication. Therefore, they hardly speak English in daily life. Although they have learned how to speak English, they barely have opportunities to actually speak English with anyone.