UNIVERSITY OF QUINTANA ROO

DIVISION OF POLITICAL SCIENCIES AND HUMANITIES

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND EDUCATION

RESEARCH PROPOSALThesis

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMME

Luis Octavio Dominguez Rendon

Yasser Alberto Varela Novelo

FREQUENCY AND USE OF SPEAKING STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING SUCCESSFUL LEARNING IN STUDENTS FROM THE

PUI AT THE UNIVERSITY OF QUINTANA ROO

DECEMBER 11TH 2012

Rationale

Some students of UQRoo, basically the ones who are studying English at the

Programa Universitario de Idiomas (PUI) seem that they are not developing the

speaking skill the way they need for their professional development. One of the

assumptions is that they have not given by the speaking strategies needed for

their improvement. It is common that some students are attending to English

classes just because their major curriculum asks as a subject and not because

they want to, and so, the result is the same lacking of development in oral

production.

The objective of this study is to identify which speaking strategies

are being used by the students of our University. It is known that the

use of speaking strategies help students to become more successful

in their efforts to learn and communicate in a foreign language. Our

principal motivation is to provide students strategies that would

help them to develop their own learning process and how this can

be embraced by teachers in order to help their students.

OBJECTIVE

RESEARCH QUESTIONSRQ1

RQ1. What the most frequently reported speaking strategies by the students of the PUI?

With this question we want to figure out which are the speaking strategies that are most frequently reported by the students of the PUI; of course this means students of English from all majors.

RQ2 Which benefits the students may get by the use of speaking strategies?

This question aims to find the advantages that students who are using speaking strategies are achieving in their professional development.

RQ3 To what extent the teachers are providing useful strategies for developing communicative skills for their students?

The reason why we decided to ask this question was because we think that the role of the teacher as a guide and supplier of the correct strategies is very important for the student´s professional development in classrooms.

RQ4 Is there a difference in the use of Speaking Strategies across the levels of English at the PUI?

The difference that might varies come across the student´s level of English at the PUI. The Program offers since introductory level to advance.

RQ5 Are there gender differences in the use of speaking strategies?

Some studies argue that women tend to use more speaking strategies than men whenever they are in a language course; and so, the results are better in them. The development is considerably in female compared with the male students.

RQ6 Is there a difference in the use of speaking strategies across the major?

The PUI allows students from all major to study a foreign language. With this research question we want to find out if there is any difference considering the different major that students are developing.

RQ7 Is there a relationship between student´s age and their use of Speaking Strategies?

We want to notice if the age plays as a factor in the use of speaking strategies between students. Probably, grown students would tend to use the more the speaking strategies; or the opposite. The population of the UQROO has no age limit.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Our literature review was divided in the following way.

1. Learning strategies. 2. Communicative strategies 3. Speaking strategies

). O’Malley and Chamot (1990) viewed learning strategies as ‘‘the special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information’’ Holec (1981) argued that learning strategies can foster learners’ autonomy in language learning.

Foreign language learners may encounter various communication problems when their interlanguage (IL) is limited. In order to convey their messages and remain in a conversation until their communication goal is reached, EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners need to employ communication strategies (CSs), which have been defined generally as devices employed by L2 learners to overcome perceived barriers to achieving specific communication goals (Færch & Kasper, 1983).

Second language (L2) learners must communicate through a language that is not their own. It is inevitable, then, that when they use the L2 they will sometimes not have the language they need to express themselves. In such situations, learners use a range of speaking strategies to help them get their message across. Such strategies have been the focus of much research (e.g. Cohen 1990; Rubin & Thompson 1994)

M E T H O D

PARTICIPANTS

The students that will be considered in this study have different ages. In addition there is no

restriction about gender in this study, so the participants might be both female and male. The

PUI offers certain levels which are: Introductory, Basic, Pre-intermediate, Intermediate, Post-

intermediate, Advanced 1 and Advanced 2. However, this research will work a specific division

of those levels.

Level 1 introductory and basic level

Level 2 pre- intermediate and intermediate level.

Level 3 post-intermediate, and advanced levels.

METHODQuestionnaire

Focus group interviews

Class observation.

The main objective of the use questionnaires as the first instrument is to elicit the most suitable participants of the next step of the investigation

Secondly, Focus Group work in a way the participants can share their own opinions with themselves on order to be supported by others.

The last instrument in used for the investigation will be the class observation which will allow us to mix our project and change the approach, making this into descriptive-qualitative perspective

Data AnalysisIn order to identify the frequency and use of speaking strategies by students of PUI data will be

analyzed in following way. First, the data obtained with the questioner will be entered and

process using the software Statistic Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 10.0.

Next, the focus group interviews produce large amounts of data. The best thing we can do is

first; group the answers from all interviews to each question. In order to do so, we will work with

programs of descriptive statistics. Then, what does each group of answers describe? Organize

and classify answers into categories, percent, medium and mode for example in order to

quantify frequencies. And finally, to analyze the findings and determine how they answer to our

research objectives. This will be a very analytic procedure

In order to compare the variables of level of course and major we will use on-way ANOVA. For

the age and use there is a statistic called Pearson r correlation that we will take into.

The results of the class observation will be achieved with the use of a checklist. The checklist will

have specific points for the students to cover. Their performance and results will be embodied in

the checklist.

REFERENCESDornyei, Z. (1995). On the teachability of communication strategies. TESOL. Quarterly, 29, 55-85. Nani I. Tiono&Agatha Sylvia. (2004). The Types of Communication Strategies Used by Speaking Class Students with Different Communication Apprehension Levels in English Department of Petra Christian University, Surabaya. k@ta volume 6. Number 1. (30-46). Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language Learning Strategies. What Every Teacher should know? Boston: Heinleand Heinle. Osanai, D. (2000). Differences in language learning between male and female, and also between Asian and Latino ESL students. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Tennessee. Oxford, R. (1996). Language learning strategies around the world: cross-cultural perspectives. Retrived from http://books.google.com.mx/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-5K9auTZyOYC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=rebecca+oxford+speaking+strategies&ots=ra1wYucERc&sig=HHVK1gM0QdRk5pB_tp6j9I9O8M8#v=onepage&q=rebecca%20oxford%20speaking%20strategies&f=false Chamot, A.U., & Kupper. L. (1989). Learning strategies in foreign language instruction. Foreign Language Annals, 22, 13-24.

Shumin K. (1997). Factors to consider: Developing adult EFL students’ speaking abilities. English Teaching Forum 25(3). Retrieved November, 3, 2012, from http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol35/no3/p8.htm Tarone, E. (1980). Communication strategies, foreigner talks, and repair in interlanguage. Language Learning, 30, 417-431. Rubin, J. (1975). What the "good language learner" can teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9, 41-51. Khameis M.(2006) using creative strategies to promote students’ speaking skills. P 109 – 118 retrieved from http://marifa.hct.ac.ae/files/2011/07/Using-Creative-Strategies-to-Promote-Students-Speaking-Skills.pdf. O’Malley, J. M and Chamot, A.U. (1990) Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Suleiman M. (2004).English Language Learners’ Use of Speaking Strategies, 18, 1-7. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.om/Portal/sitebuilder/sites/EPS/English/MOE/baproject/Ch18.pdf O'Malley, J.M., & Chamot, A.U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Albie F. (2012), European Global Oral Health Indicators Development Project. Retrieved December 10, 2012 from http://www.egohid.eu/Documents/Methods%20of%20collecting%20data,%20interviews%20and%20questionnaires%20in%20practice%20(Dr%20Alby).pdf Mendez M.&Alfredo M.(2007). Actividades relacionadas con la comunicacion oral [questionnaire]. In EDICIONES POMARES, Effects on Strategy Training on the Development of Language Skills. Barcelona. EDICIONES POMARES.