Running head: USING TOPIC-BASED GROUP DISCUSION TO PROMOTE STUDENTS CHINESE SPEAKING SKILLS 1

Using Topic-Based Group Discussion to Promote Students Chinese Speaking Skills Gang Chen

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Abstract Speaking skills are important but difficult to develop for ELL learners, which also applies to students who taking Chinese as a second language. Many students are struggling with speaking Chinese due to insufficient communicative-based activities. Group discussion is a commonly used strategy in teaching speaking. This study aims to find what effect the topic-based, group discussion will have on the participants Chinese speaking skills. The participants were 12 seniors in a high school in U.S and the action research spanned over four weeks, when they finished 6 discussions with different topics. The design was a mixed- design and data were collected and analyzed qualitatively from the teachers observational notes, an interview and a questionnaire and quantitatively from a protest, posttest and rating scale. The findings show that group discussion can promote students speaking skills, motivation and receptive skills in Chinese. Moreover, the study finds that controversial topics are likely to increase students language production.

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Using Topic-Based Group Discussion to Promote Students Chinese Speaking Skills Introduction I have been teaching Mandarin Chinese in an International Baccalaureate (IB) high school for more than two years. There are two benefits of taking IB courses. One benefit is IB diplomas enhance candidates competiveness for applying to top universities and some credits earned in IB assessments are able to be transferred to some colleges. Moreover, the IB program prepares learners to becoming global citizens through learning a foreign language. Our school offers 4 languages to students to choose from: Spanish, French, Chinese and Japanese. Students select their language at the beginning of their freshman year and then take a four-year IB language course. I have 12 seniors in my Chinese class, who are highly motivated, hardworking and engaged in their Chinese studies as well as other subjects (e.g. history and biology). Despite the effort they have made, their Chinese speaking skills are unsatisfactory. They can handle daily conversations in Chinese (e.g. greeting and hobbies) but have difficulty expressing their ideas on abstract topics (e.g. one-child policy in China). I have noticed the following issues they have when asked an abstract topic in Chinese: Firstly, my students grow a little nervous, feel uncomfortable and become unconfident. Second, when speaking, they become hesitant, which causes many pauses in their speech. Third, their intonations sometimes sound unnatural and are incomprehensible. Fourth, my students have difficulties producing language and could only use limited vocabulary and simple sentence structure when expressing their ideas. These issues not only interfere with their scores on Chinese oral tests but also prevent them from being successful language speakers. These issues have brought three questions to my mind:

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1 What is speaking and how are speaking skills developed? 2 What strategies could be taken to improve students speaking skills? 3 To what extent will topic-based discussions affect students speaking skills? 4 What effect will different topics have on students speaking skills? After reviewing these questions, I plan to implement research topic-based group discussion and evaluate the effects it has on my students speaking skills. To guide my research, I am asking the question: What effects will 15 minutes topic-based group discussion, which spans over 4 weeks, have on the Chinese speaking skills of high school seniors? Literature Review 1 Productive and Speaking skills Productive skills refer to a persons abilities in speaking and writing, which is often mentioned with receptive skills, which deal with listening and reading. Some stated that learners productive skills usually underperform their receptive skills but learners are able to become more proficient in both skills through constant practice in teaching-learning development (Mirahmadi,Jalilzadeh & Nosrazadeh, 2011, p.199). Sheri (2012, Para. 6) stressed that productive skills, compared with receptive skills, are more difficult to develop through independent practice. It could be inferred from Sheri that developing productive skills need more interaction. Speaking is a productive skill that deals with a speakers ability to express himself/herself orally with the language. Ur (1991) said that, Speaking is the productive aural/oral skill. It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance to convey meaning. (p.48). Speaking, as a first language,

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could be easily acquired because speakers are immersed in their native language and use it as a way of communication for various purposes in different situations. However, speaking is much more difficult learned as a second language as there is, for most second language learners, less exposure to the language and chances to practice speaking outside of the classroom. In learning a second language, speakers engage in a variety of classroom activities that promote their speaking learning. Kayi (2006, p.2-p.5) suggested the following activities to promote students second language speaking skills: discussions, role-play, simulations, information gap, brainstorming, storytelling, interviews, story completion, reporting, playing cards, picture narrating, picture describing and find the difference. 2 Group Discussion and Speaking skills 1) Topics for Group Discussion Discussion is a commonly used teaching strategy in which participants express and exchange their views on a certain topic. Some studies have taken topics into research. Gower et al. (1995, p.107-p.108), considering students motivation, suggested that to make discussion fruitful, teachers should ensure students take interest in the topic of discussion. Some argued that good discussion topics come from literature, school events or problems, experiences, current news, etc. (Yellen, Blake & Devries, 2004, p.2). Sood (2012, Para. 1) classified group discussion into four types in terms of topics, which are knowledge based topics, abstract topics, controversial topics and opinion seeking topics. Sood (2012, Para.2- Para.5) also listed some specific samples in each type and explains why these topics fit the type: 1. Cold War belongs to knowledge based topics for participates need profound information.
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2. A Walk to Remember is an abstract topic for it is about intangible thing and could be interpreted in different ways by the participants. 3. Controversial topics, like Reservation Should Be Removed and Politics in India, can triggers an argument among participants and measure their analytical skills for thinking rationally without bias. 4. Opinion seeking topics, such as nuclear family or Joint Family and Love Marriage or Arranged Marriage, request participants to put across their viewpoints to demonstrate presentational skills and leadership skills. 2) The Effects that Group Discussion Has on Speaking Skills Group discussion, as one type of group work, can exert a positive effect on students speaking skills. Group work, as Long and Porter (1985, p.208) stated, can increase practice opportunities and improves the quality of students talk. Discussion, being formal and topic-centered, can enhance socialization skills, as well as language skills, during which students not only can practice pronunciation, fluency, expression and vocabulary but also build confidence to express themselves orally (Yellen, Blake & Devries, 2004, p.2). Bashirin (2013, p.10) also believes that topic-based discussion can enhance students speaking skills. Some experiments have been made on researching the effect of discussion practice on students speaking skills and the results are positive. A study made on 12 Grade 11 students found that the average scores on English tests increased from 60.8% to 85.63% after constructive activities, such as discussion, problem solving and role-playing were used (Oradee, 2012, p.533-p.534). These activities, as Oradee (2012, p.534) said, can encourage students interaction and provide students with chances to use languages for real communication. In addition, Oradee (2012, p.534)

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mentioned that working in groups can reduce fear of speaking, strengthen confidence and create a joyful environment that facilitates their learning. Another study made on ELL students in Indonesia found that the mean score of students who were taught through discussion method was higher than of those taught in traditional lecturing technique (Pariwisata et al, 2013, p.5-p.7). Moreover, this study showed there is a sharp contrast between the scores of experimental group students (using the discussion method) and the control group (using traditional method): 8.7% gained very good, 65.2% got good and 26.1% got fairly good in the experimental group while 21.7% gained fair, 56.5% got poor and 21.7% got very poor. It was also shown in this study that students, after using discussion method, made great progress in accuracy, fluency, comprehensibility and structure. 3) Summary It could be told, by the studies made on productive skills, that speaking skills can be enhanced through constant practice and require more interaction. Speaking skills are much more difficult to develop in second language learning because the learner has less exposure to the second language than his/her first language. A lot of activities, such as discussions, role-play and describing pictures have been used to improve students speaking skills in classroom teaching. The already- made studies indicate that group discussion has positive skills on ELL learners speaking skills: 1 Students oral test scores have improved 2 Students have made progress in vocabulary, fluency, accuracy and structure. 3 Students not only build their confidence but also enhance socialization skills. The studies made on discussion topics remind us that topics should trigger students interest, tell us where to choose topics and inform us the classification of topics.

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There are, however, some questions that remained unanswered about group discussion: What effect will group discussion have on students speaking skills in other languages (such as Chinese)? Will group discussion affect students other skills in discussion? To what extent will different topics affect students production of language? My research would seek answer to these questions. Method My research was taken in my classroom and 12 seniors participated in my research. They were aged from 17-18 and diversified in ethnic backgrounds. Three of them were from Asian American families, eight were European Americans and one had African American heritage. They came from well-off families and none of them received reduced or free lunch offered by our school. To protect my seniors privacy, I did not mention their real names but used aliases in data collection. Secondly, I kept my results and findings accessible only to my TE 808 supervisor and peers. My research approach incorporated both qualitative study and quantitative study. I implemented observer design in qualitative study and correlation design in quantitative study. I chose observer design because I wanted to collect valid and objective data on students performance without my intervention. The correlation design was to find out how and to what extent would group discussion have on students speaking skills. I used both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data. My methods consisted of observations, an interview, a rating scale, a questionnaire and two tests. The following were the detailed description of my data collection methods.

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1 During four weeks, I observed and noted down my 12 seniors performance in 6 topic-based group discussions (see appendix 1 for the procedures of this group discussion). 2 After 6 discussions (see appendix 2 for discussion topics) were done, I interviewed 5 students and asked how they thought our group discussion went. 3 A rating scale (see appendix 3) was used, after 4 weeks, to collect my 12 students feedbacks of the group discussion. 4 The 12 students were asked in a questionnaire on their opinions of different topics on their language production. 5 The 12 seniors took a spoken pretest and posttest in Chinese and were graded on the grading rubrics of the IB language B Guide (2013, p.57-p.58). My data collection was based on both my observations and students voice (an interview, rating scale and questionnaire), which avoided one-sided narration and viewpoints (either from the observer or participant) and improved datas trustworthiness and reliability. After data collected, I analyzed my qualitative data in terms of summary and conclusions and quantitative data in terms of figures. My data was collected on six topic-based discussions in four weeks. More reliable and valid data could be collected if this action research was done in a longer period of time and more topics were covered. Additionally, 12 seniors were a small sample size and I concerned that the results obtained from them could also be applicable to larger groups. Findings

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1) Improvement in Chinese Speaking Skills I observed that my students began to produce more language orally. As the group discussion went on, they were speaking more and more Chinese than before. Whats more, their Chinese pronunciation improved and the words, phrases and sentences they articulated were generally correct in tones. Most of the time their tones could sustain the discussion and their partners seldom had difficulty figuring out their meanings. Additionally, they were gradually expanding their vocabulary by using more and more topic-related words to the discussion. The results of the pretest and the posttest also showed that the 12 seniors had made progress in speaking Chinese. As the two bars in Figure 1 showed, the students mean score in the Chinese speaking test increased from 6.08 to 6.75(out of 10). Figure 1 Students Mean Score in the Chinese Speaking Test

7 6.8 6.6 6.4 6.2 6 5.8 5.6 Pretest Posttest 6.75

6.08

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More evidence from students voice affirmed their improvement in Chinese speaking skills after the group discussion practice. In an interview, three students were asked whether the topic-based group discussion helped with their Chinese speaking skills in some way. One student said: I have to sometimes look for characters that I do not know. I get to learn new words and it also increases my Chinese vocabulary. My speaking skills are better than they used to be because of the topic-based group discussions that we have been doing every class. I am also learning how to express my opinion on something using the Chinese language and I also like hearing everyone else's viewpoints. It could be told from her narration that she felt her Chinese vocabulary grew and her Chinese speaking skills benefited from the group discussion. Another student talked about her changes in the group discussion: It had forced me to speak more Chinese and make sure my pronunciation is correct. In the beginning, I was nervous because I speak very little Chinese and I read directly from my paper instead for referring to my points in the discussion. Now, I am speaking Chinese more fluently and more formal due to these group discussions. This showed that the topic-based group discussion contributed to her pronunciation, language production and speech fluency in the target language. The third student expressed her progress in intonation and vocabulary: The discussion also helps us with the tones and accents. I can tell when my classmates are saying the wrong tones and putting everything out of context. The activity also helps

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with learning what forms of a work to use. For understand, I know I can say but they have slightly different meanings. 2) Motivation, Receptive Skills and Discussion Skills The students completed 6 topic-based, group discussions in four weeks. I noticed that the 12 participants grew more confident and motivated in these group discussions. Despite a few short and silent pauses, they were, most of the time, presenting their opinions eagerly, listening to others talk attentively, asking questions and responding to others promptly. One student, when interviewed, told of his feeling about the group discussion: My table had a good discussion. Specifically from Amy. I feel Amy was always well prepared and ready to be active in discussion. She and I enjoyed discussing the topics with each other and always learned from each others comments. Our opinions were similar, but the way we expressed them or defended them was different. Because of that, we were able to really develop our discussion skills. This student had a positive attitude towards the group discussion and the girl he mentioned (alias Amy) demonstrated her motivation through being active and well-prepared. They both enjoyed discussing topics and helped promote each others discussion skills. After six discussions were done, each participate was given a rating scale (see appendix 3) for evaluating the group discussion. The data collected from the rating scale was illustrated with four pie charts. Figure 2 showed that almost all students believed that the group discussion improved their motivation of speaking and learning Chinese. Their feeling about motivation growth could also be seen in their becoming active participants, as Figure 3 indicated that 83% held a positive

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view, 17% stayed neutral and none disagreed Figure 4 illustrated that most students (83%) agreed that their receptive skills developed and a few (17%) chose neutral. The students answers to the connection between argumentative skills and the group discussion were a little complicated (in Figure 5), with 30% strongly agree, 40% agree, 10% neutral and 20% disagree. Still, 70% student believed that the group discussion helped with their argumentative skills. Figure 2 Students Opinions on Motivation

The group discussion improves my motivation of speaking and learning Chinese.

Neutral 17%

Strongly Agree 33%

Agree 50%

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Figure 3 Students Opinions on Active Communication

I become more active in exchanging my ideas with others in Chinese

Neutral 17% Strongly Agree 41%

Agree 42%

Figure 4 Students Opinions on Receptive Skills

My receptive skills(understanding others speak) develop during the group discussion.

Neutral 17% Strongly Agree 41%

Agree 42%

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Figure 5 Students Opinions on Argumentative Skills

My argumentative skills grow during the group discussion.

Disagree 20% Neutral 10%

Strongly Agree 30%

Agree 40%

3) Topics and Language Production My observation showed that students had more language production on topics 2, 3, 4, 5 than they did on 1 and 6. I made a questionnaire and asked their opinions of the effect of different topics on their speaking skills. The following findings were based on their answers. 1 Controversial topic can generate more language production among the students, just as one student put , There were a lot of opinions on this topic so it was easier to have a more engaged, heated discussion. The topic of cloning, although being controversial, seems a little difficult for the students to debate in Chinese due to their vocabulary limitation. 2 The students feel interested in Beijing Opera, a Chinese cultural related topic but lack of sufficient words and back ground knowledge to engage in further discussion.

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3 Topic 2 and 3 are related to their life and important to develop their Chinese practical speaking skills. Students can manage these topics with more language production and speech fluency. Discussion It seems that the group discussion has a positive effect on the seniors Chinese speaking skills: more language production, improved pronunciation, enlarged vocabulary and enhanced fluency. The group discussion also exerts a positive effect on the seniors in other aspects: it can increase students motivation and improve students receptive skills as well as discussion skills. Different topics seem to affect the language production of the seniors. The students are likely to talk more on controversial topics they are familiar with. Culture-related topics and science topics limit the language production of the seniors to some extent. This action research has convinced me that group discussion is an effective way of enhance students Chinese speaking skills. Moreover, it has intrigued me into trying other activities, such as story-telling and songs, to improve students spoken Chinese. Conclusion The time for my data collection was short (4 weeks) and discussion topics were small in number (6 topics). I recommend that researchers implement the topic-based group discussion on Chinese learning students over a longer time span and try more topics. In addition, I recommend that teachers, who are teaching Chinese, try different classroom activities to improve students Chinese speaking skills, such as role plays, skits, songs and story-telling.

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This action research have turned me into a real researcher in teaching, who is able to discover issues, raise research questions, review related literature, design a plan, carry the plan out, collect data , present findings on data, draw conclusions and give recommendation to other researchers.

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References Hasssan Mirahmadi,Kaven Jalilzadeh & Heidar Nosratzadeh(2011). Skill Acquisition Theory in Second Language Teaching: A Focus on Productive Skills, International Conference on Languages, Literature and Linguistics, IACSIT Press, Singapore, P.199.

Sheri (2012, August 23rd). Receptive Vs. Productive Language Skills, Retrieved from: http://blogs.mtroyal.ca/srhodes/2012/08/receptive-vs-productive-language-skills/

Raunika Sood(2012, January 23rd). Types of Group Discussions, Retrieved from: http://www.htcampus.com/article/types-of-group-discussions-gd-1217/

Ur, P. (1991). A Course in Language Teaching: Practice & Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University press, P.48.

Kayi, H. (2006). Teaching speaking: Activities to Promote Speaking in A Second Language. The Internet TESL Journal, 7(11), 2-5. Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/KayiTeachingSpeaking.html

Gower. R., Phillips, D.,& Walters, S(1995). Teaching Practice Handbook, UK: Macmilan Heinemann, P.107-108

Yellen, Blake & Devries(2004). Developing Speaking Skills: Notes from Integrating the Language Arts, 3rd Ed. Holcomb Hathaway Publisher, Scottsdale, AZ, P.2.

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Thanyalak Oradee(2012). Developing Speaking Skills Using Three Communicative Activities (Discussion, Problem-Solving and Role-Playing). International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity, 2(6):533-534. Syeda Dishari Bashrin(2013). Productive Skills: Teaching Beginners in English Medium School. A Report Submitted to the Department Of English and Humanities of BRAC University, P.10 Michael H. Long & Patricia A. Porter (1985). Group Work, Inter-language Talk and Second Language Acquisition. Tesol Quarterly, 19(2):208. Akademi Pariwisata, Makassar Sulsel, FatultasAdab, UIN, Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan, FakultasKeguruan,IlmuPendidikan, UAISMUH Makassar&Sulawesi Selatan(2013). Utilizing Discussion Technique in Improving English Speaking Skill. India Streams Research Journal, 2(3):5-7. Language B Guide (2011). International Baccalaureate Organization, Cardiff, P.57-P58.

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Appendix 1 Group Discussion Guideline 1 Get prepared. You are given a topic and develop your ideas on the given topic. Highlight your ideas with 8-10 sentences, which means you can be presenting your ideas rather than read the article word for word. You might use a lot of new words that your peers do not familiarize with. In this case, prepare a word list of 15-20 words (pinyin, bilingual) that facilitate your classmates understanding. Whats more, they can ask you questions on your presentation using the words you provide. 2 Engage in group discussion (around 15 minutes). 1) Presentation: One participant presents his/her opinions. While he/she presents, other group members listen and take notes of what he/she has said. Others follow this pattern until everyone is done with his/her presentation. This takes about 3-5 minutes in total. 2) Discussion and Debate: Now, it is time for discussion. You can show your agreement, disagreement and restate your pinions using the Chinese phrases provided. Also, you can ask others on what they mean in their presentation. Moreover, you can engage in further discussion relate to the topic. Remember, in this part, you are expected to communicate and exchange ideas with others but not re-read your points of view. This takes about 7-10 minutes. 3) Conclusion: You have listened to others presentations and discussed with peers. You points of view on the given topic might change a little bit or stay unchanged. In this

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session, you want to summarize what you learned about this topic and your final conclusion. This takes 2-3 minutes.

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Appendix 2 Topics for group discussion 1. Beijing Opera () 2. What is your opinion of teenager love ()?

3. Should the use of cell phone be allowed in school ()? 4. Will Chinese replace English as the first language ()? 5. Does having money mean happiness ()? 6. Will cloning be promoted /banned in modern world (/ )?

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Appendix 3 Group Discussion Evaluation 1_After group discussion practice, I become more confident in speaking Chinese. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

2_I begin to produce languages rather than read memorized words and sentences. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

3_Group discussion improves my motivation of speaking and learning Chinese. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

4_I can present my views in Chinese much easier than before. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

5_I become more active in exchanging my ideas with others in Chinese. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

6_I feel that my intonation is improving in group discussion. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

7_I feel that my vocabulary is growing in group discussion. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

8_I have used a few difficult Chinese sentence structures in discussion. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

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9_My receptive skills (understanding others speak) develop during group discussion. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

10_I am likely to ask others in Chinese for clarification in group discussion. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

11_I think that my argumentative skills grow during group discussion. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

12_I think group discussion is beneficial to my Chinese speaking skills. 1 strongly disagree 2 disagree 3 neutral 4 agree 5 strongly agree

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