PSZ 19:16 (1/97)

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

BORANG PENGESAHAN STATUS TESIS♦

JUDUL: THE FEASIBILITY OF ‘TELL ME MORE’ ORAL ACTIVITIES

IN DEVELOPING UTM STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL.

SESI PENGAJIAN: 2007/2008

Saya ISNI MIMIYANA BT MOHAMAD BORHAN(HURUF BESAR)

mengaku membenarkan tesis (PSM/Sarjana/Doktor Falsafah)* ini disimpan di Perpustakaan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dengan syarat-syarat kegunaan seperti berikut:

1. Tesis adalah hakmilik Universiti Teknologi Malaysia2. Perpustakaan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia dibenarkan membuat salinan untuk tujuan pengajian

sahaja.3. Perpustakaan dibenarkan membuat salinan tesis ini sebagai bahan pertukaran antara institusi

pengajian tinggi4. **Sila tandakan ( )

SULIT (Mengandungi maklumat yang berdarjah keselamatan atau kepentingan Malaysia seperti yang termaktub didalam AKTA RAHSIA RASMI 1972 )

TERHAD (Mengandungi maklumat TERHAD yang telah ditentukan oleh organisasi/badan dimana penyelidikan dijalankan)

TIDAK TERHAD Disahkan oleh,

(TANDATANGAN PENULIS) (TANDATANGAN PENYELIA)

Alamat Tetap: Nama Penyelia NO.40, JLN TEMBAGA MERAH 18, DR. MASDINAH ALAUYAH BT.MD YUSOFTMN SRI SKUDAI,81300 JOHOR BAHRU, JOHOR,

Tarikh: 30 APRIL 2008 Tarikh: 30 APRIL 2008

CATATAN: * Potong yang tidak berkenaan** Jika tesis ini SULIT atau TERHAD, sila lampirkan surat daripada pihak

berkuasa/organisasi berkenaan dengan menyatakan sekali sebab dan tempoh tesis ini perlu dikelaskan sebagai SULIT dan TERHAD.

# Tesis dimaksudkan sebagai tesis bagi Ijazah Doktor Falsafah dan Sarjana secara penyelidikan atau disertai bagi pengajian secara kursus dan penyelidikan atau Laporan Projek Sarjana Muda (PSM)

THE FEASIBILITY OF ‘TELL ME MORE’ ORAL ACTIVITIES IN DEVELOPING

UTM STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL

ISNI MIMIYANA BT MOHAMAD BORHAN

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the

award of the degree of Bachelor of Science and Education (TESL)

Faculty of Education

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

APRIL 2008

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To my beloved

Father, mother,

And family members

For their concerns, supports and love

To my small and happy family,

Abang, Pearl and Emerald,

Your loves keep me going on

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thank to God Almighty, with His power and blessing, I am able to complete

this thesis although there are always obstacles and hurdles to overcome.

First of all, I would like to show my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Masdinah

Alauyah bt. Md. Yusof for her guidance, criticism and valuable advices. Without her

efforts and encouragement, this thesis could never be completed as it is now.

As for my beloved father and mother, who keep giving supports in term of

materials and inspirations, your daughter always wish that she could do more to

repay you. As for my sisters and brother; Kak Ayu, Kak Ati, Kak Ani, Ain and

Azrai, thanks for your encouragement and ideas whenever you saw me down and

unmotivated. And for my precious; Pearl and Emerald, mama will always love

you…. A special thanks also goes to my beloved hubby, Faizal Riza b Rahmat for

your understanding during this hard time.

To my friends, especially my classmate; Nabilah, Hajar and Hani, your

friendships are beyond comparison in this world. Last but not least, to all that were

involved in completing this thesis, my greatest gratitude for your cooperation and

supports. Thank You.

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ABSTRACT

English speaking skill is becoming more important among university students. Through

the Faculty of Management and Human Resource Development (FPPSM) UTM, the Self-

Access Learning is introduced into the English proficiency courses. Tell Me More is one

of the software that provides the activities for the students to improve their English

speaking skill. The use of this software inspired the researcher to find out its feasibility in

developing UTM students’ speaking skill. A total of 70 students who were involved in

the research were asked to fill up the questionnaire. As a whole, students agreed with the

use of Tell Me More in helping them to enhance their English speaking skill. The

feedbacks received provide useful information about i) students’ perception of the Tell

Me More oral activities, and ii) the problems that students faced while using the software.

Apart from that, the researcher has given a few recommendations that can be used for the

future research which related to the topic of this study.

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ABSTRAK

Kemahiran bertutur dalam Bahasa Inggeris menjadi semakin penting di kalangan pelajar-

pelajar universiti. Melalui Fakulti Pengurusan dan Pembangunan Sumber Manusia

(FPPSM) UTM, pembelajaran kendiri diperkenalkan di dalam kursus kemahiran Bahasa

Inggeris. Di antara perisian yang memberi latihan untuk pelajar memperbaiki kemahiran

bertutur Bahasa Inggeris ialah Tell Me More. Penggunaan perisian ini memberikan

inspirasi kepada penyelidik untuk mengkaji sejauh mana kesesuaian perisian ini dalam

meningkatkan kemahiran bertutur pelajar-pelajar di UTM. Seramai 70 orang pelajar telah

terlibat di dalam kajian ini. Secara keseluruhannya, pelajar-pelajar bersetuju dengan

penggunaan Tell Me More dalam membantu mereka meningkatkan kemahiran bertutur

Bahasa Inggeris. Maklumbalas yang diterima juga dapat memberikan maklumat yang

berguna mengenai i) pendapat pelajar tentang aktiviti-aktiviti lisan di dalam Tell Me

More, dan ii) masalah-masalah yang dihadapi pelajar ketika mengunakan perisian ini.

Selain dari itu, penyelidik juga telah memberikan beberapa cadangan yang boleh

digunakan untuk kajian pada masa akan datang yang berkaitan dengan topik kajian ini.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

Thesis Status Declaration

Supervisor’s Declaration

Researcher Declaration ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Abstract v

Abstrak vi

Table of Contents vii

List of Tables xi

List of Figures xii

List of Appendixes xiii

1 INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction 1

1.1 Background of Problem 2

1.2 Statement of Problem 3

1.3 Objectives of the Study 4

1.4 Research Questions 4

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1.5 Scope of the Study 5

1.6 Significance of the Research 5

1.7 Limitation of the Study

1.7.1 Students 6

1.7.2 Time constraint 6

1.8 Terms Used

1.8.1 Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) 6

1.8.2 Tell Me More oral activities (TMMOA) 7

1.8.3 Self-Access Learning (SAL) 7

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction 8

2.1 The History of CALL 8

2.2 The development of CALL; from the perspective of

teachers and students’ roles 9

2.3 CALL and Speaking skills 10

2.4 Definition Self-Access Learning (SAL) 11

2.5 CALL and self-access 12

2.6 The TELL ME MORE Education software program 13

2.7 Conclusion 16

3 METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction 17

3.1 Research Design 17

3.2 Sample 18

3.3 Research Instruments

3.3.1 Questionnaire 18

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3.4 Research Procedures

3.4.1 Pilot Study 20

3.4.2 Actual Study

3.4.2.1 Questionnaire 22

3.5 Data Analysis 22

4 ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.0 Introduction 23

4.1 Students’ views on English Speaking skill 23

4.2 How important and useful is the ‘Tell Me More’

oral activities in developing UTM students’ speaking

skill? 24

4.2.1 Do the students find the TMMOA interesting

than in the classroom teaching? 25

4.2.2 Which oral activities in TMMOA are most

favoured by the students and which activities

are least favoured by them. 27

4.2.3 Are the TMMOA easy to use (user friendly)? 29

4.2.4 Do the TMMOA meet students’ needs? 30

4.3 Students’ problems while using the TMMOA 32

4.4 Conclusion 33

5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.0 Introduction 35

5.1 Overview of The Research 35

5.2 Review of findings 36

5.3 Implications research finding 37

5.4 Recommendations for Future Research 38

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REFERENCES 39

APPENDIXES 41

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

4.1 Students’ views on English speaking skill 24

4.2 Percentage of responses in item 2.3 and item 2.11 30

4.3 Percentage of students’ responses 31

4.4 Percentage of students’ responses 32

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LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE TITLE PAGE

4.1 ‘I prefer learning speaking using TMMOA

than in the classroom’ 26

4.2 Activities most favoured by the students 27

4.3 Activity less favoured by the students 28

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LIST OF APPENDIXES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

1 Pilot Study Questionnaire 43

2 Questionnaire 51

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Speaking plays a crucial role in the language learning process. It is a productive

skill; that is, some ‘product’ is expected. Compared to the Listening and reading, which

are both receptive skills; students are passively receiving and processing information.

Speaking involves vocabulary, pronunciation as well as the structure and rules of

grammar. Levelt (1989) has put together a framework that characterizes speaking as a

multilevel process, moving from intention to articulation. It involves acoustic, linguistic,

social, pragmatic, and functional characteristics. Due to that, it is clear that speaking is an

essential combination of variety units that individual needs during their communication.

Previously, CALL was designed to enable students to listen, read and fill in the

blanks, but not to produce oral language. Speaking was also absent from testing because of

the difficulty in evaluating it objectively and the time it takes to conduct speaking tests

(Clifford, 1987). Finally, speaking has been neglected in CALL technology.

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The current situation is different. Presently, many programmers have introduced

language learning software that is speech-enabled to foster learners’ involvement in

interactive speaking activities. But the following questions remain, how feasible CALL

can be used to develop speaking skills? Various researches have been conducted to gain

the concurrence and reliable explanations for the questions above. No matter what it is,

the environment of learning speaking using CALL as students’ self-access learning has

inspired the researcher to carry out this study.

1.1 Background of Problem

Students have different learning styles and preferences when learn speaking. They

could be dependent or independent students. In case of students who are dependent, they

tend to rely on their teacher in their learning. It means the existence of teacher is very

important in order to guide them and decide the materials that suit them. With teachers

around, they feel more comfortable and state that their learning process becomes easier. In

contrast, independent students preferred learning using their own style. It is also known as

self-access learning (SAL). SAL enhances students’ autonomous language learning skills.

CALL is one of the ways where students will have the opportunity to practice their

speaking skills outside the classroom based on their abilities, interest and needs.

Apart from that, Egan (1996) claimed, “Adult learners have a hard time

distinguishing the sounds of the language, are often inhibited in speaking in front of others,

and usually do not get undivided attention from their instructors.” In this case, students

who are introverted may use CALL as their self-access learning to learn and practice their

speaking skills. They will feel more sheltered and confident because the CALL set up

consisted of one student working individually with one computer; which is not interrupted

or monitored by their friends or teacher.

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In Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, the Department of Modern Languages offers a

variety of English courses. These courses are aimed to enhance students’ proficiency level

in English such as for speaking. The research is focused on English for Academic

Communication (UHB 1412) because this course has introduced self-access learning

programme whereby the students are able to carry out speaking activities provided in the

self-access learning laboratory at their own preference.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Even though various research have been done regarding the self-access learning

programme for students speaking development, this phenomenon is still new in UTM

There are a few softwares can be used by the students as their self-access learning for

course UHB 1412. Tell Me More is one of the software that provides the oral activities.

The oral activities enable learners to listen, record and playback for accuracy and to

practice pronunciation. Besides that, it also provides real situations that encourage students

to practice using the language.

Many researchers try to reveal the effectiveness of using the CALL as students self

access learning although the findings are not consistence to assess effectiveness. Jones

(2001) recognized that students can only learn from computers with the instruction and

supervision of teachers, which means CALL, will not be effective without this essential

interaction of teachers and students. Therefore, there is a need to know the suitability of

the oral activities in the Tell Me More software in developing UTM students’ speaking

skill. Thus, instead of the feasibility, this research plans to reveal students’ perception

about the oral activities in the Tell Me More software including their problems while using

it. It is hoped that the findings of the study could help to improve the use of Tell Me More

in developing UTM students’ speaking skill.

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1.3 Objectives of the Study

1. To find out the feasibility of the ‘Tell Me More’ oral activities in developing

UTM students’ speaking skill.

2. To find out students’ perception of the ‘Tell Me More’ oral activities

programme.

3. To investigate students’ problems while using the ‘Tell Me More’ oral

activities.

1.4 Research Questions

1. How important and useful is the ‘Tell Me More’ oral activities in developing

UTM students’ speaking skill?

2. a) Do the students find the ‘Tell Me More’ oral activities interesting than in the

classroom teaching?

b) Which oral activities in Tell Me More programme are most favoured by

the students and which activities are least favoured by them?

c) Are the oral activities in ‘Tell Me More’ programme easy to use(user

friendly)?

d) Do the oral activities in ‘Tell Me More’ programme meet the students’

needs?

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3. What are the problems that students faced while using the ‘Tell Me More’

oral activities?

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study focuses on first year UTM students taking English for Academic

Communication (UHB 1412) course who are using the Tell Me More software. The

software provides the students with a few of language skills such as writing, speaking,

vocabulary and grammar. However, this study purposely aims on the speaking (oral)

activities.

1.6 Significance of the Research

The study will be conducted to find out the possibility of using the Tell Me More

oral activities (TMMOA). The results gained from the study will be valuable sources of

information for the learning development. It could provide information to lecturers,

especially language lecturers as well as instructional multimedia designers on students’

perceptions of the Tell Me More oral activities.

The study is also to distinguish the speaking learning software as self-access

learning compared in the classroom teaching that develops students’ speaking skill.

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1.7 Limitation of the Study

These are some of the limitations for the study:

1.7.1 Students

This study is conducted only for first year UTM students who are taking English

for Academic Communication (UHB 1412). The findings will be more interesting

if the respondents can be selected from every faculty in UTM.

1.7.2 Time constraint

The researcher has planned to distribute the questionnaire in a week. However,

some students who came to the lab were using other software than TMMOA.

Therefore, it makes the process of collecting data become slowly. Moreover, some

of the students did not have time to complete the questionnaire on time because

they have to attend another class.

1.8 Terms Used

These terms are used in this report:

1.8.1 Computer assisted in language learning (CALL)

Refer to Wikipedia, Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is an approach

to language teaching and learning in which computer technology is used as an aid to the

presentation, reinforcement and assessment of material to be learned, usually including a

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substantial interactive element. Typical CALL programs present a stimulus to which the

learner must respond. The stimulus may be presented in any combination of text, still

images, sound, and motion video. The learner responds by typing at the keyboard, pointing

and clicking with the mouse, or speaking into a microphone. The computer offers

feedback, indicating whether the learner’s response is right or wrong and, in the more

sophisticated CALLS programs, attempting to analyze the learner’s response and to

pinpoint errors.

1.8.2 Tell Me More oral activities (TMM Oral Activities)

Tell Me More is a self-access learning software that help the students in language

learning. It comprises a few language skills such as writing, vocabulary and speaking. The

oral activities in the software facilitate students’ speaking skill.

1.8.3 Self-Access Learning (SAL)

Students are able to learn independently outside the classroom and have the

authority to choose their own learning without teachers’ guidance. It is closely related to

a learner-centered approach, learner autonomy and self-directed learning as all focus on

student responsibility and active participation for his/her own learning. Sheerin (1991)

defines the concept of self-access as follows:

‘ Self-access’ is a way of describing learning materials that are designed and

organized in such a way that students can select and work on tasks on their

own….and obtain feedback on their own performance.