PART 2: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BACKGROUND
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2.3. The survey
In the early school year, we did the survey to check students’ ability of speaking (including accuracy and fluency). The survey contained a list of 5 questions about the theme “You and me”.
1. What do you do?
2. How many students are there in your class?
3. Which class are you in?
4. How many subjects do you study?
5. What is your favorite subject? Why?

We carried out the survey for some students by chance from class 10B5. The survey was done twice. First, we made the dialogues with students. We recorded and transcripted the typical dialogue and analyzed students’ errors. Below is the table of the transcript of the dialogue and the analysis of students’ errors:
The conversation
Error analyzing

A: Teacher (Mrs Hoa)
B: Student (Lan)
A: Hello, how are you?
B: Hello, I’m fine.
A: What’s your name?
B: My name is Lan.
A: What do you do?
B: I study.
A: How many students are there in your class?
B: There are bốn mươi lăm
A: Whose class are you in?
B: Um …….. (scratch her head)
A: How many subjects do you study? Why?
B: Subjects…… Because … Um ………
A: What is your favorite subject? Why?
B: Favorite subject is English. Because … um…
A: Thank you. Goodbye. See you soon.



- /fai/: wrong pronunciation (no final sound /n/).

- /idờ/: wrong pronunciation-Vietnamese sound.

- Not a good answer.


- Vietnamese language.

- Confusing.


- Hesitation.

- Hesitation.



PART 4: DISCUSSION
4.1. Comparing students’ speaking skill before and after teaching speaking through the theme-based controlled dialogues
Before applying
After applying

A: Hello, how are you?
B: Hello, I’m fine.
A: What’s your name?
B: My name is Lan.
A: What do you do?
B: I study.
A: How many students are there in your class?
B: There are bốn mươi lăm
A: Whose class are you in?
B: Um …….. (scratch her head)
A: How many subjects do you study? Why?
B: Subjects…… Because … Um ………
A: What is your favorite subject? Why?
B: Favorite subject is English. Because … um…
A: Thank you. Goodbye. See you soon.
T: Hello, how are you?
S: Hello, I’m fine.
T: What’s your name?
S: My name is Lan.
T: What do you do?
S: I’m a student.
T: How many students are there in your class?
S: There are forty-five students.
T: Whose class are you in?
S: I’m in Miss Lam’s.
T: How many subjects do you study?
S: I study many subjects such as Maths, Literature, History, English, etc.
T: What is your favorite subject? Why?
S: I like English most. Because it is interesting and helps me to get a good job in the future.
T: Thank you for your talking. Goodbye. See you soon.
S: Goodbye.


After teaching speaking through the theme-based controlled dialogues, we have found that most of students have made much progress in speaking ability. First, their common errors in the early school year have been improved.
- Final sounds are correctly pronounced (“fine” - /fain/, “students” -/’stjud∂nt/).
- Students do not use Vietnamese sounds to pronounce (“is” - /iz/, “many” - /mæni
- They raise their tone at the beginning of Wh-questions or ending of Yes-No questions.
- Students do not use Vietnamese language to communicate (45: forty-five)
- Their response to the questions is much better and more quickly. Their dialogues are more natural. They have made few pauses in communication.
Second, most of the students are more interested in speaking lessons. They feel free and comfortable to speak out in English. When we ask them to make dialogues, they are eager to go around the class to talk to their partners. Being given a topic, they make dialogues simply. Moreover, students are self-confident to make speech in front of the crowd and communicate in English.
Truly, teaching speaking through the theme-based controlled dialogues in optional periods is more effective than other ways.