Sutisa Gunha. The Use of search and talk model to improve students' communicative competence. Master's Degree(English). Mahasarakham University. Academic Resource Center. : Mahasarakham University, 2003.
The Use of search and talk model to improve students' communicative competence
Abstract:
One of the problems in language teaching involves using suitable techniques to improve students' poor communicative skills. Various teaching methods have been proposed to help accomplish teaching objectives. The study was aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a designed model entitled Search and Talk Model in improving English learners' communicative competence. The study focused on seeking justifiable answers to two research questions: whether or not the designed model would be of assistance in improving students' communicative competence, and whether or not the model would motivate students' interaction with their peers in the classroom. The subjects comprised 12 Matayomsuksa 5 students, selected by means of purposive random sampling method. The experiment was conducted in four weeks, during which the subjects were assigned to participate in communicative activities incorporated in the model, which allowed the subjects to search for information from the Internet on the basis of their own interests, to be used as the topic for their class discussion. The students' language performance and behaviors were observed and recorded with the use of video-tape recording and subsequently analyzed through the use of simple statistics. The results of the study revealed that the designed model was effective in improving the students' overall communicative competence. The students tended to improve their speaking skills in all aspects, including their grammatical, socio-linguistic, discourse, and strategic competence. It was also found that the model was of assistance in motivating more interaction among the students in the classroom.