English-opoly: Improving EFL Student’s Speaking Skill through a Modified Monopoly Game

Many issues have arisen in teaching and learning speaking, such as students’ lack of desire, fear of speaking English or the teacher’s use media in class. Thus, the purpose of the study is to look into the impact of a modified monopoly game (Englishopoly) on university students through their viewpoints toward the implementation of this board game in speaking class. Qualitative and quantitative approach were used with 2 instruments: Likert-Scale questionaire and interview. 60 second-year students from Foreign Language Department, Vinh University participated in the project in which the teachers implemented English-opoly with Classroom Action Research technique. The finding revealed that the students' perceptions were focused on three themes: learning excitement, playing the board game, and board game benefits. Responses showed that enjoyable feeling was created among majority of students when combination of interesting features of the game such as colors variation, rewards by money, competitiveness and varied topics motivated them to express their ideas naturally. Moreover, many students admitted that playing this modified monopoly game created a sense of teamwork; they focused more on speaking properly and assisting their partners who lack profiency rather than just winning the game. The participants also reported the benefits of English-opoly, when the game psychologically inspired students to speak in a relaxing way without fear or pressure. The study suggests teachers to integrate games with the teaching process, directing learners reduce their anxiety level and build positive feelings in speaking English.