Using the Jigsaw Technique to Improve English Speaking Skills for Freshmen

Although speaking English fluently is a necessary skill for students, many English majors and non-majors at universities in Vietnam struggle with it. Jigsaw is an active form of cooperative learning that emphasizes learning in groups with a clear objective and has been shown to raise student achievement levels. Therefore, the main aim of the current study is to improve English speaking skills for non-English majors through the use of the Jigsaw technique. To conduct the study, a mixed-method research design. The participants of this study consisted of 20 female and 10 male freshmen who were studying Mathematics Education in their first year at Thai Nguyen University of Education. These students all volunteered to participate in the speaking pre-test and post-test as well as the feedback questionnaire regarding their perceptions of the Jigsaw technique. The main tasks of the research include investigating the current state of speaking performance among non-English majors at Thai Nguyen University of Education, organizing activities for students to use the Jigsaw technique and speak based on this technique, and then evaluating the impacts of Jigsaw-based speaking activities on the speaking performance of non-English majors. The findings demonstrate that applying the Jigsaw technique significantly enhances and improves non-English majors' English-speaking performance. In addition, student feedback on the use of Jigsaw activities in speaking classes is very positive. The results of this research showed that the students’ speaking performance regarding all aspects of vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and fluency was effectively improved. Finally, the research suggests ways to improve the potential of Jigsaw activities and make them more engaging, significant, and useful while minimizing their drawbacks. Keywords: speaking, speaking skill speaking performance, the Jigsaw technique.