Exploring the efficacy of the concentric circle activity in boosting English majors’ speaking skills at Lac Hong university

This research investigates the effectiveness of concentric circle activity in enhancing the oral competence of second-year English majors at Lac Hong University. Focusing on a cohort of forty intermediate-level students from the Faculty of English Language, the study utilized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to explore students’ views on this activity and its influence on their speaking competence. The findings reveal a predominantly favourable perception of the concentric circle activity, with participants acknowledging its contribution to a supportive and friendly learning environment conducive to improving confidence level, fluency, and accuracy in speaking English. However, the research also highlighted several challenges students encountered during their engagement in the activity, especially a lack of vocabulary and grammar, which hindered some students’ ability to express themselves clearly and effectively. This observation emphasizes the significance of providing more explicit instructions to elevate students’ comprehension and pre-teaching relevant vocabulary and structures to ensure smoother implementation of the activity.