APPROPRIATE ONLINE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES FOR ENHANCING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS AMONG NINTH GRADE STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY AT HONG SON SECONDARY SCHOOL

Tóm tắt

Creating a friendly and effective English learning environment is essential for language acquisition, and online extracurricular activities enhance English learning by providing students with interactive opportunities to communicate, practice speaking, and build confidence in real-life situations. This study explored suitable activities to improve students' speaking abilities in a dynamic and engaging environment. The research was conducted with a group of 62 learners, who were divided into two groups: an experimental group and a control group. Both groups followed the same curriculum and teaching methods, but their extracurricular activities differed. The experimental group engaged in online activities like virtual debate clubs, interactive language games, interactive speaking competitions, online forums and discussion groups while the control group used traditional tasks. The study identified the difficulties of students when participating in speaking English. Students had difficulties in linguistics, psychology, lack of background knowledge or the influence of mother tongue. The findings of the study also highlighted the positive impact of online extracurricular activities such as virtual debate clubs, interactive speaking competitions, online forums and discussion groups, interactive language games on students’ speaking skills. The experimental group demonstrated significant improvements in fluency, pronunciation, and confidence when speaking in English. Additionally, students in the experimental group expressed greater motivation and enthusiasm for learning English, as the interactive nature of online activities made the process more enjoyable and engaging.