Developing Speaking Skills Using Three Communicative Activities (Discussion, Problem-Solving, andRole-Playing)

The purposes of this research were: 1) to study and compare speaking skills of Grade 11 students using three communicative activities, and 2) to study the students' attitude towards teaching English speaking skills using the three communicative activities. The sample group consisted of 49 students at a secondary school in Udon Thani, Thailand, classified by high, medium, and low according to their abilities of English speaking proficiency level. The design of the research were mixed method design. The quantitative data came from the speaking test and the students' attitude towards teaching English speaking. The qualitative data were drawn from a Learning Log, a semi-structured interview and a Teacher Journal. A one group pretest-posttest design was also employed. The research instruments were 8 lesson plans, an English speaking ability test, and an attitude questionnaire. Percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test for dependent samples were employed to analyze data quantitatively. The research findings were as follows: 1. The students' English speaking abilities after using the three communicative activities were significantly higher than before their use. (Pretest = 60.80; Posttest = 85.63). 2. The students' attitude towards teaching English speaking skills using the three communicative activities were rated as good ( X =4.50)