Rationale
English, as an international language, has become increasingly important in the age of globalization and economic integration A good command of English helps learners substantially in finding good jobs in Vietnam; however, Vietnamese learners of English are often described as having no ability to communicate in the target language This is possibly the most important reason why a huge number of non-English-majored graduates decide to come back to school to obtain another degree majored in English For these part-time students, the ability to communicate fluently and effectively in the target language has been of great significance A large number of studies have been conducted to help full-time undergraduates improve their English ability yet only a small amount of research caters for the needs of part-time adult English learners Simultaneously, in the author’s opinion, this type of learners has some different characteristics from other subjects One of those is that these students are highly motivated and willing to devote time, energy and financial resources to their study of English, yet a considerable number do not know how to transform motivation into action; therefore, feel stuck in their study
This research is done with the great expectation to provide a closer look at English speaking teaching and learning in everyday classroom and assist teachers and learners with better teaching and learning decisions Generally, all these gaps have encouraged the researcher to conduct the research “An Investigation into the Teaching of Speaking Skills to Second-Degree Freshmen at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University Hanoi”
Objectives of the study and research questions
This study targets at addressing the following issues
To investigate the current situation of teaching speaking skills to the second-degree freshmen in the In-Service Department, ULIS, VNU
To explore the mismatches between learners’ expectations and teachers’ assumptions
To suggest measures to help teachers improve their teaching of English speaking skills
The above objectives can be realized through these research questions:
1 What is the situation of teaching speaking skills to second-degree freshmen at the In-Service Department, ULIS VNU?
2 What are the mismatches between second-degree learners’ expectations and their teachers’ assumptions?
3 What should teachers do to improve their students’ learning of English speaking skills?
Significance of the study
English is now an indispensable instrument of communication and it is being learnt by diverse types of learners Thus, the English teaching methods should vary in order to satisfy and suit each type’s needs It requires the ability to be sensitive to the educational, institutional and social contexts in which foreign language learning and teaching take place In such a circumstance, it is desirable that English language teachers at In-Service Department, ULIS VNU should put a strong emphasis on working out the way to improve their students’ English speaking ability As such, this study will serve as a reference material not only for teachers of In-Service Department, ULIS VNU but also for teachers of similar situations elsewhere who wish to improve their English speaking lessons.
Scope of the study
Concerning the scope of the study, some of the following things should be taken into consideration Firstly, this study focuses on developing learners’ fluency rather than accuracy in their English speaking Secondly, the study involves the second-degree freshmen at the In-Service Department, ULIS VNU who are highly motivated in learning English yet desperately need some instructions to go the right way.
Method of the study
This is a survey research with the use of two instruments: questionnaires and observations All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusions were based on the data analysis Survey research has proved to be the best choice for this study as the study was aimed at investigating the current situation of teaching speaking skills to freshmen within a certain context The combination of different instruments used in this research would help to gain reliable data and help the researcher have a deep insight into the circumstance
This study employed qualitative data collection instruments including questionnaires with open-ended questions and classroom observations There were survey questionnaires for both teachers and students, each one contained carefully designed questions and could provide comprehensive understanding of the situation
Class observations were used to provide triangulated data (teachers, students and the researcher) The class observations may identify gaps between what the teachers said in the questionnaires and what they actually did in their classroom.
Design of the study
The study consists of 3 parts
Part A: Introduction is a brief description of the research including the rationale, scope, subjective, research questions, method, and design of the study
Part B: Development is the main part of the study, which is divided into 3 chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature Review presents theoretical background of the study and review of the previous related studies
Chapter 2: Methodology provides background information on the participants, instruments, procedures of data collection, and method of data analysis
Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion presents the findings on the current situation of teaching speaking skills at In-service Department, ULIS, VNU After that, some recommendations are made on the basis of these findings
Part C: Conclusion gives some concluding remarks, presents the limitations and gives suggestions for further studies.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical background of speaking skills in language learning
In this part, the definition of speaking would be clarified In language teaching, we often talk about four macro language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) in terms of their direction and mode Language generated by the learners (speaking and writing) is considered productive while language directed at the learners (reading and listening) is known as receptive language (Savignon: 1991) Mode refers to the medium of language (whether it is aural/oral or written) For this classification, “speaking is the productive, oral skill” (Bailey and Savage 1994: 2)
According to Florez (1999: 1), speaking is “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information” (cited in Bailey and Savage 1994) It is “often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving”
To sum up, speaking is an oral skill which requires learners to make much effort to produce the language without too much time planning
1.1.2 Factors affecting English speaking abilities
There are many factors that influence the success or failure in learning English speaking However, the two most important factors are motivation and attitude (Gardner and Lambert: 1972)
Motivation is seen as “a key consideration in determining the preparedness of learners to communicate, (Gardner, 1985: 10) Harmer (2001) defines motivation simply as “some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something” According to Carroll (1962), motivation decides the amount of time a learner will spend on language learning She claims: “The more motivation a learner has, the more time he or she will spend on learning an aspect of a second language” (Carroll,
1962) Motivation not only plays an important role in learners’ learning but it also helps the teacher Lile (2002) confirms that “Motivation is the backbone of any classroom
When the students are motivated, the teacher can perform his/her job the best.” Teachers are often familiar with two basic types of motivation: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation Harmer (2001) states that extrinsic motivation is caused by external factors such as the need to pass an exam or the hope of possibility for future travel, etc In contrast, intrinsic motivation is caused by internal factors like the enjoyment of the learning process itself or by a desire to make them feel better It can be concluded that motivation is significant in foreign language learning because when learners set the goal of learning a foreign language; motivation helps them try tirelessly and have a positive attitude towards language learning
Attitude is the second factor which has an influence on language learning Gardner and Lambert (1972) defined attitude as the persistence that a learner has to follow an object Language learning attitude has a relationship to motivation Language learners who have more extrinsic or intrinsic motivation will have the more positive attitude than those without motivation or who consider language learning a compulsory subject
Another factor frequently mentioned is learning strategies Within second or foreign language education, a number of definitions of language learning strategies have been used by key figures in the field Tarone (1983:67) defined a language learning strategy as “an attempt to develop linguistic and sociolinguistic competence in the target language to incorporate these into one’s interlanguage competence” Rubin (1987:22), later, wrote that language learning strategies “are strategies which contribute to the development of the language system which the learner constructs and affect learning directly” In their seminal study, O’Malley and Chamot (1990:1) defined language learning strategies as “the special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information”
1.1.3 Some problems in learners’ speaking performance
According to Ur (1996), there are a number of problems in learners’ speaking performance as follows
Inhibition: Learners are often inhibited from trying to say things in foreign language because they are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism, or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts
Nothing to say: Teachers often hear learners complain they cannot think out anything to say They may have no motivation to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking
Mother-tongue use: In a foreign language class, a number of the learners share the same mother tongue; therefore, they tend to use their mother tongue instead of trying to speak in the target language for many reasons: firstly, it is easier to use Secondly, they fell unnatural to speak to one another in a foreign language Lastly, they feel less
“exposed” if they are speaking their mother tongue.
Theoretical background of speaking skills in language teaching
Nunan (1999) emphasizes that accuracy in language speaking teaching involves the correct use of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation In controlled and guided activities, accuracy is usually the focus and the teacher makes it clear from feedback that accuracy is important Ongoing correction is often appropriate during accuracy activities
Harmer (2001) noted down that fluency can be considered to be “the ability to keep the talk going when speaking spontaneously” (pp.104-109) When speaking fluently, students should be able to get the message across with whatever resources and abilities they have, regardless of grammatical and other mistakes
According to Bailey (2005), an important concept for teachers to understand is that fluency and accuracy often work against each other while students are still developing their proficiency at beginning or pre-intermediate levels Before grammar rules become automatic and while learners are still acquiring essential vocabulary items, simultaneously applying the rules and searching one’s memory for the right words can be a laborious mental process, which slow down the learners’ speech and make them seem awkward and embarrassed Likewise, language learners can sometimes speak more quickly, without much care of applying the rules they have learnt, but doing so may decrease their accuracy
In short, students should be encouraged during fluency activities In feedback afterwards, on the other hand, favorable comments are needed to increase their accuracy
Byrne (1988) distinguishes three following phases to develop learners’ oral ability: the presentation phase, the practice phase and the production phase
In presentation phase, teachers are the center of learning and teaching activities
They work as an information provider What students usually do in this phase is to observe and listen to the teacher, i.e they passively receive information Normally, they are only asked to practice a role-play, dramatize a dialogue or do other speaking activities at the end of this phase
Unlike the presentation phase, at practice phase learners have to do most of the talking as they are provided maximum amount of practice in the form of controlled and guided activities to improve vocabulary and grammar knowledge as well as fluency of speaking The learners, at this phase, answer the teacher’s guided questions, discuss with their partners to find new ideas related to the topic At the end of the practice phase, Ur
(1996) suggested what the teacher should do is to enhance the learners’ fluency of speaking First, the learners must pay their full attention to the speaking activity Second, the target language must be clearly heard or repeated Third, learners understand the meaning of new materials and finally, short-term memory of the material must be created for later use in the lesson
At the last phase of learning speaking, production phase, learners are given chances to speak English freely Learners are provided with opportunities to speak English by themselves in a real situation Uncontrolled activities are also in the form of individual work, pair work and group work However, pair work and group work are of great importance and effectiveness as all learners can have chance to participate in talks, and they seem more confident and more motivated working with their peers Moreover, this can save a great deal of time
Though “the perfect set of personal qualities and characteristics for an effective teacher has not been found” (Barry, 1993:94), it would be definitely true to say that in order to involve students in classroom’s activities; teacher firstly should be one that students respect and lay their trust on The teacher’s prestige will make students feel safe in the lesson and willing to participate in the activities To support this point, Barry
(1993) mentions a number of characteristics that a teacher should have:
- Being natural: The teacher should present himself as a real person such as the feeling of happiness, sympathy, annoyance or humor
- Being warm: The teacher regards students as his fellow people, respects their personal characteristics and is happy to have them around
- Being pleasant: The teacher’s attitude towards students expresses his relaxation, friendliness in the relationship with his students
- Being approachable: An approachable teacher is the one who makes students feel good about being with him and the one that students can come to see if they have problems
- Being tolerant: In learning a foreign language, students’ mistakes are inevitable The teacher needs to be tolerant with those mistakes instead of criticizing them tactlessly
To establish a good relationship, it is vital that teachers should be cordial, acceptant and tolerant; otherwise it can make students scared and afraid of speaking in the class Tsui (1996) found out that teachers’ intolerance of silence is one of five principal factors affecting students’ reluctance in speaking (cited in Nunan, 1999:234)
Furthermore, in his investigation, Oxford (1998) also stated that the teacher’s relationships with the students, the teacher’s attitude or the style conflicts between them are major factors demotivating students’ participation
It should be noted that not every teacher can have all the above characteristics, but it can help improve a good rapport between the teacher and students With such good interaction during the lesson, it both creates a positive environment for learning and enhances students’ participation in the activities.
Characteristics of a successful speaking lesson
Different people have defined a successful lesson in different ways Ur, P (1996) provides characteristics of a successful speaking lesson as follows:
Ur states that in a successful lesson: “as much as possible of the period of time allotted the activity is in fact occupied by learner talk” Thus, the main thing for teachers is that they must accept the purposeful, useful noise An increase in the volume of noise may indicate that the activities are being enjoyed and students are interested in these speaking activities What teachers should do is to keep student’s communicative noise at an acceptable level so that it does not disturb other classes Moreover, the teacher should give clear instructions for speaking activities in order to avoid uncommunicative negative noise as they misunderstand the instructions
In every successful speaking lesson, students always have a strong desire for participating in it It can be seen clearly in Haycraft’s point of view (1978): “Motivation is summed up briefly as the learners’ desire and need to speak – driving force that makes them work hard, pay attention and so on”
Motivation is the combination of many external factors such as the atmosphere in the classroom, topics and speaking activities Therefore, in order to create motivation for students, the teacher should apply as many kinds of activities as possible which should be interesting and familiar to them Another point to bear in mind is that the activities and the topics must be suitable to learners’ level since it creates a good condition for students to take part in communication As such, students are no longer afraid of being laughed at by their friends when they make mistakes Instead, they participate in the lesson so eagerly that their task objective is achieved
Apart from high learners’ talking time and high motivation, even participation is needed in a successful lesson It means that everyone has chances to speak, not only the minority of talkative excellent students and contributions are fairly evenly distributed It is said that a good teacher is someone asking students who do not always speak to put their hands up for speaking tasks All in all, a good speaking lesson is a place where all students have opportunities to express themselves in the language they are learning and the teacher knows the ability of each student and tries to find out suitable teaching methods and techniques to encourage every student to express their ideas
An acceptable level of language
The last characteristic of a successful language lesson that teachers should take into consideration is an acceptable level of language from students That is students express themselves in utterances that are relevant and easily comprehensible In other words, the language must be at an acceptable level of accuracy Simple language is suitable for beginners meanwhile the language should be rich in vocabulary, sentence structures and relevant linguistic means for intermediate or advanced students.
Review of previous studies related to the research area of the thesis
A relatively large number of researchers have conducted empirical studies to examine the actual situation of learning and teaching English speaking skills and then how to improve students’ speaking skills Some of these studies are as follows
Tsui A (1996) carried out a study to find out the challenges facing the teaching and learning of speaking skills The result of their research shows that learners’ low motivation is the big problem In the study, they also suggest some actions that teachers should take to improve their learners’ motivation Some very effective solutions may be cited as follows: making instructional goals explicit to learners; breaking learning down into different achievable steps; linking learning to the needs and interests of learners; allowing learners to bring their own knowledge and perspectives into the learning process
Other studies were concerned about techniques of teaching speaking, for example Hamzah & Ting (2009) conducted a qualitative and action research study on success of using group work in teaching speaking in English classroom in a school called “SMK Damai Jaya” in Malaysia The participants in this study were 33 students and 3 English teachers Questionnaires, observations and interviews were used as data collection instruments The researchers carried out a series of questionnaires in Malay language where students could provide their opinions about the group work activities to improve speech skills and their consciousness of participation in those activities The observations were analyzed to understand the participation and the behavior of students during the lessons, and the interviews were carried out with three English teachers The findings were that the participants expressed enthusiasm in group work activities and proficiency in spoken language because they were secure of expressing themselves in small groups which avoided anxiety to speak in another language
Also, Hamzah & Ting (2009) suggested that “In order to get every student participating in the group work, it is essential that the activities should be appropriate to students’ level and could interest them to participate Therefore, making the students interested in the activity was the first step to conduct a successful language learning activity
Another technique named language games was mentioned in Urrutia & Vega
(2006) research study The data suggested that speaking was the most difficult skill to develop because students usually presented lack of vocabulary, shyness and fear of being humiliated Besides, the authors explained that students showed evidence about the importance of implementing games in classroom for improving the speaking skills
In Rama, Ying, lee & Luei Luei’s (2007) study, the participants expressed that games allowed more than a half of students to improve communication in the second language
Other techniques to improve students’ English speaking skills can be seen in a great deal of research Some outstanding examples are Nugroho (2011) with animated video, Khomah (2009) with jigsaw, Hanim (2011) with U-shape seating arrangement, Awaliaturrahmawati (2012) with outdoor activities, Hartati (2012) with games, Ristyawati (2012) with telling short story, Wijayani (2012) with stimulation, Salam
(2011) with Role Play and Sulistyatini (2011) with semantic mapping
In Vietnam, a study entitled Teaching Speaking Skill(s) to non-majored MA Students at VNUH was carried out by Nguyen Thi Thu Huong (2010) with the purposes of finding out the current situations of learning and teaching of speaking skills to non-English-majored MA students at Vietnam National University Hanoi and the reasons for students’ unwillingness to speak English as well as teachers’ problems in teaching speaking skill The subjects of the study were non-English-majored MA students at School of Graduate Studies and their teachers The data collection instruments were questionnaires and interviews The findings showed that due to various reasons such as variety in students’ level of language proficiency, lack of interesting topics, prior experience in learning speaking, and fear of losing face, more than two thirds of the students remained reluctant to respond to the teacher and kept quiet until they were singled out to answer questions
From the above studies, several conclusions can be drawn out Firstly, these studies were implemented with a view to having better insight into the teaching and learning of English speaking skills Secondly, students and teachers’ difficulties were investigated and recommendations were made to improve learners’ speaking skills
Lastly, the instruments employed in these studies were mainly questionnaires, observations and interviews; therefore, the author also takes advantage of two of these instruments to obtain data
In conclusion, chapter 1 has presented some theoretical background knowledge related to the topic of the study It has discussed a definition of speaking skills, theory of speaking skills in learning and teaching and presented a review of previous studies related to the research area The following chapter will display the detailed description of the methodology, the procedures and the results of the study in the light of the above discussed theories.
METHODOLOGY
Research settings
2.1.1 Time allocation and the textbooks
The subjects of the study were second-degree freshmen at ULIS, VNU There were two options of class time for students to choose One was from 18.00 to 20.30 every weekday (five lessons a week) and the other was the combination of two evening weekday lessons (18.00 – 20.30) and two afternoon weekend lessons (13.00 – 17.30)
Whatever the class time, one semester covered 180 periods (divided into 60 or 45 lessons respectively)
The course, at the beginning level, aimed at providing students with general knowledge of English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation as well as developing students’ four language skills with equal time allocation on these skills At this stage, the two sets of textbook Interaction Access and Interaction 1 (Silver Edition) published by
Mc Graw-Hill Companies were adopted In each set there were four separate books for individual skills named: Interaction Listening and Speaking, Interaction Reading, Interaction Writing, and Interaction Grammar
The Interaction Listening and Speaking was the speaking course book for first year students It was structured with a priority towards theme-based or topic-based approach, including 10 chapters Semester 1 dealt with Interaction Access (Elementary) and semester 2 dealt with 6 chapters of Interaction 1 (Pre-Intermediate) The content of the book was designed with topics related to social life, sports, work and leisure, eating habits, education etc which were familiar with students The books’ table of contents can be seen in Appendix 8 For each topic, the related vocabulary was presented communicatively Apart from the textbooks, teachers were strongly encouraged to provide students with other relevant materials
The learning and teaching of English took place at the main building of Foreign- Language-Specialized High School which is located inside the campus of ULIS, VNU
Proper facilities are an important factor for improving learning and teaching English yet
English classes here were equipped with basic facilities such as cassette players and blackboard whereas modern equipment such as projectors and computers was not available
On the positive side, the number of students in each class was around 30, which is considered to be relatively favorable to the process of teaching and learning of English especially speaking skills The adequate number of students was advantageous for teachers to design and conduct speaking activities and these speaking activities were more personalized to the needs of students
At In-service Department ULIS VNU, there were totally 14 teachers of English aged from 24 to 43 who were responsible for teaching freshmen The oldest teacher had more than twenty years of teaching experience and the youngest just had nearly two years
Teachers could be divided into two groups: the first group was the teachers who were currently teaching English at this university; the other was the teachers who were currently teaching English at other institutions No matter what group they belonged to, all of them graduated from the Faculty of English Language Teaching Education, ULIS VNU, and roughly 70% of them had obtained or were learning to obtain the MA Degree at Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at the university These descriptions reflected the fact that some of the teachers were so young and not experienced enough, which could cause certain methodological difficulties in terms of the knowledge as well as the way to apply communicative speaking activities in their teaching process However, all the teachers were energetic and well aware of the importance of the ability to communicate in English and the teachers played a significant role in forming students’ ability of speaking
The total number of second-degree freshmen at In-service Department was approximately 120 divided into four classes This population had the following features
an individual who was above the age of 22
an individual who had already had a university degree, which was a requirement for them to enroll in the course
an individual whose language learning was not financed by his/her workplace These features reflected the fact that a large number of second-degree freshmen had learnt English for approximately 10 years (at high school as well as at university)
They came from different personal backgrounds and most of them were working people with some being unemployed They were mainly working in private companies or government organizations They worked during daytime and came to English classes in the evenings or at weekends Other newly graduates attended two courses simultaneously: one was this English degree; the other was an MA degree in their major
Although all of the students passed an entrance test, they were at different levels of English Some of them could speak English quite well but the remaining students were only good at grammar and reading; therefore, they did not feel self-confident or even a bit frightened in communicating in English
In addition, students came to study with different purposes Most of them desired to use English in their life As a result, they studied very hard and attended all the lessons
They were willing and excited to take part in speaking activities and shared their ideas or discussed in speaking lessons However, some of them wanted to study to obtain the degree just because it was compulsory for their promotion in their work at some government organizations, so they were reluctant in class and came to the class to have their attendance marked.
The study
This has been a survey research with the use of two instruments: questionnaires with open-ended questions and observations All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusions were based on the data analysis
Survey research has proved to be the best choice for this study as the study was aimed at investigating the current situation of teaching speaking skills to freshmen within a certain context The combination of different instruments used in this study would help to gain reliable data and help the researcher have a deep insight into the circumstance
The subjects in this study comprised 10 teachers and 84 students The teachers were chosen randomly In terms of the students, survey questionnaires were delivered to all the four classes (around 120 students) yet the number of respondents was 84 because of some absentees and some leaving the questionnaires blank
The target learners were first-year students (part-time) and had been learning English for such a long time that was enough for them to be aware of the language and their language learning As for freshmen participating in this study, they were still affected by the traditional teaching method, with their reading skills and grammar being better than speaking and listening skills The teachers of English were mostly females In teachers’ informal discussions at break time, most of them showed their concern about teaching English speaking especially about how to apply a variety of communicative activities to improve oral skills for their students
Information on the subjects can be found in the table below
Two types of questionnaires were used in this study (one for students and the other for teachers) The questionnaires consisted of close and open-ended questions
The questionnaire for students consisted of four main parts with 15 questions Part
I was about the students’ attitudes towards the learning of English speaking skills Part II aimed to find out their psychological as well as linguistic difficulties in learning to speak the language Part 3 asked for their feedback on their own speaking lessons and the last part was concerned about their English learning preferences
The questionnaire for teachers consisted of three main parts with 7 questions In part I, teachers’ attitudes towards their students’ learning of English speaking skills were described Part 2 was designed to find out teachers’ opinion in their teaching methodology while the last part provided teachers with opportunities to speak out loud their difficulties in teaching English speaking skills
Besides survey questionnaires, the researcher also used classroom observations to confirm the reliability and validity of the information provided by teachers and students
The researcher observed 4 English speaking lessons In each lesson, the information of teachers’ activities, teaching techniques and students’ involvement, attitudes towards the speaking activities was mentioned in the checklist
The data of the research was collected by means of questionnaires and classroom observations The procedure of data collection could be divided into 4 major phases as follows
Phase 1: The first step of the process was preparation for the collecting of the data including the questionnaire designing
Phase 2: Next, the participants were contacted and invited to take part in the research The purpose of the study was concisely explained and confidentiality of the participants was confirmed The instruction was clearly delivered and any questions arising from the participants were answered immediately to guarantee the quality of the information
Phase 3: After collecting the information from the questionnaires, the author started observing some classes to confirm the validity and reliability of the data collected
Phase 4: The data after being collected was analyzed, synthesized and interpreted
Data from the questionnaire was synthesized and analyzed by means of descriptive statistics to answer the research questions Results of the survey were put into Microsoft Office Excel software to illustrate the results by means of tables and charts
2.2.6 Data Analysis 2.2.6.1 Results of students’ survey questionnaire 2.2.6.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards the learning of English speaking skills
Questions 1 to 3 concerned students’ attitudes towards learning the speaking skills
The first two questions were about the students’ attitudes towards the importance of speaking skills and their effort in learning to speak English The result was illustrated in the following chart (Figure 1)
Most of the students said that they fully realized the importance of English speaking; therefore, they make effort to master the skills To be more specific, 71% of the surveyed students believed that English speaking was very important to them and another 28% also thought that an ability to speak the language was important This figure was totally in the expectation as the learners in this context were working adult learners and they desperately desired to communicate in the target language to climb high in their career ladder However, it was not beyond expectations to find out that English speaking was a little important or even unimportant to 6 out of 84 students Two of them even noted down in their survey paper that their job as a researcher or scientist just required them to write reports and read the materials in English Being fully aware of the edge of speaking English in their job, 51% of the students stated that they made high effort in learning to speak English, 17 out of 84 students even said that they made their best
Figure 1: Students' attitudes towards English speaking and their effort in learning
Series 1: The importance of speaking skills
Series 2: Students' effort in learning students putting quite high effort was not so small, accounting for 25% Not surprisingly, only 7% of the students admitted that they did not attempt to learn the spoken communicative skills
Question 3 was concerned with students’ frequency of speaking English in their class and Figure 2 was shown below to illustrate the result
When answering the question “Do you often speak English in class?”, 35 out of 84 students (42%) said “Yes” with the topics they were interested in Only 14% of the students answered that they were always willing and happy to speak English in class 29% of the students were still quite passive; they reported that they raised their voice only when being appointed by the teacher More surprisingly, the number of students who never spoke English and often kept silent in class was not small (15%) This also showed a big question about the reasons why students did not participate much in the activities
Therefore, part 2 was designed to ask about students’ difficulties when trying to master English speaking
2.2.6.1.2 Students’ difficulties in the learning of English speaking skills
Question 4 cared about some common psychological problems of second-degree freshmen at ULIS, VNU when they spoke in the target language A large number of students (42%) felt reluctant and unwilling to speak in the English class because the topics were unsuitable for them (either being too easy or too difficult for their level)
Figure 2: Students' participation in their English speaking lessons
A: Yes, I always volunteer to speak
B: Yes I speak when I like the topic
C: No, I only speak when the teacher oders meD: No, I never speak and often keep silent
Roughly one third (28%) answered that they were really nervous due to the fact that they were not accustomed to speaking English in front of others Only one fifth (20%) of the students were afraid of losing face when making mistakes and being laughed by their classmates This is probably because students, at their age of adulthood, were mature and brave enough to be not influenced by peer pressure 4% of the students said that they were indifferent in the English speaking class as their learning goal was not to communicate orally The results are shown in Figure 3 below
Question 5 aimed to find out students’ difficulties in terms of linguistic aspects when they tried to speak English Figure 4 presents the results
Figure 3: Psychological reasons for students' reluctance to speak English
A: Being afraid of losing face
B: Being not used to speaking English
C: Learning goal is not to communicate
D: Feeling bored because of unsuitable topics
A: Lack of vocabulary B: Not enough time to prepare C: Lack of ideas for the topic D: Poor pronunciation E: Poor grammar
Figure 4: Students' linguistic difficulties in learning to speak English
It is clearly shown in the chart that the lack of vocabulary inhibited most students from speaking English More than half of the students (57%) confessed that they found it difficult to express their ideas because of limited vocabulary The percentages for the problems of limited ideas, inaccurate grammar and poor pronunciation were pretty similar, 36%, 33% and 30% respectively The remainder (14%) reported that they did not have enough time to prepare before speaking English in the class
2.2.6.1.3 Students’ feedbacks on their speaking class
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
Findings and Discussions
During the time conducting this study, the author observed 4 speaking lessons delivered by different teachers Together with a thorough analysis of data obtained from the questionnaires, she found that there were many advantages that could help develop speaking ability of second-degree freshmen at ULIS VNU; however, some problems remained as the obstacles to students’ goals of improving communicative competence
The findings and some discussions are presented below
What is the situation of teaching speaking skills to second-degree freshmen in the In- Service Department, ULIS VNU?
The results of the survey questionnaires show that the majority of the teachers at In-Service Department, ULIS VNU have true understanding of CLT and its features
However, the application of this teaching method is still limited From the author’s classroom observations, some teachers focused much on accuracy rather than fluency In addition, they do not try their best to motivate students to get involved in speaking When students cannot speak, most of the teachers often let them sit down and call active speakers As a result, reluctant speakers cannot develop their self-confidence and ability
Students and teachers’ attitudes towards speaking skills
In general, speaking skills and communicative speaking activities are highly appreciated by both teachers and learners at In-Service Department, ULIS VNU Most of them agree that speaking skills play an important part in having a good command of foreign language Through the survey, some of the learners’ expectations and learning styles emerge Thanks to them, the decisive factors for the success of a speaking lesson are taken into consideration as the main point to focus on
Students’ level of participation in class speaking activities
By analyzing the questionnaires and classroom observations, the first thing we could conclude is that the level of participation of second-degree freshmen at ULIS VNU is still under the expectation Although most of the students are aware of the importance of speaking skills, many of them are reluctant to take part in oral communicative activities Secondly, it can be seen from the survey that students’ talking time is limited in speaking lessons (from 30% to 50%) From classroom observations, it is noted that many students just give a short or brief response with simple language when they have chance to speak English In class, many students are passive; they often keep silent and only speak when they are asked Consequently, students’ talking time is quite little and this is a factor preventing them from creative and active study Lastly, there is uneven level of participation among students Some of the students speak much more than their peers and dominate class’ talking time
Students’ difficulties in learning to speak English
Second-degree freshmen’s difficulties can be categorized into two groups: psychological reasons and linguistic reasons In terms of psychology, most of the students feel bored and demotivated because of unsuitable topics They also feel nervous when they raise their voice because they are not used to speaking English In terms of linguistics, poor vocabulary and limited ideas are the main factors that hinder students from speaking English with confidence
Teachers’ difficulties in implementing speaking activities
Teachers at the In-Service Department, ULIS VNU have encountered a lot of difficulties in teaching speaking skills The surveyed teachers say that learners’ low English proficiency and their shyness are the reasons affecting their teaching Besides, many teachers admit that they find it difficult to manage the class due to limited experience, or it takes too much time to make a lesson plan Lastly, lack of equipment such as computers or projectors causes troubles in designing communicative activities
What are the mismatches between second-degree learners’ expectations and their teachers’ assumptions?
Firstly, the second-degree freshmen at ULIS VNU are practical and goal-oriented
They want their learning to be immediately applicable to their lives, and they want to know why something needs learning This characteristic of working students is proved by 85% of the respondents reporting that they would like to practice English in real cases In addition, they often learn best when they are engaged in developing their own learning objectives
Secondly, these part-time learners need appropriate materials and activities that are suitable for their needs and interests and allow them to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities
Thirdly, students expect their teachers to encourage them by giving them comments on their speaking performance In this way, students will be better aware of their weaknesses as well as strengths and they can improve later on Also, teachers’ corrections are highly appreciated by these learners
Last but not least, the second-degree freshmen at ULIS VNU prefer to be engaged in a cooperative learning environment They desperately need an accepting, secure, and supportive environment where they can raise their voice freely and comfortably
Firstly, the teachers at In-service Department, ULIS VNU believe that one of the psychological reasons why their students do not participate in the speaking lessons is that they feel nervous because they are not familiar with speaking English Another linguistic factor belongs to limited vocabulary and ideas However, only one third of the teachers provides students with new words or elicits main ideas after they give the topic In fact, half of them let the students discuss the topics in pairs or in groups, leading to the fact that the higher level students occupy most of the talking time
Secondly, the teachers do a good job on error correction; most of them try to correct their students’ mistakes after the performance The method of error-correction done by teachers is proper in the fact that students are not interrupted during their performance, and they are reasonably motivated to continue their speaking However, at the end of the performance, instead of guiding students to find out and correct their mistakes by themselves, the teachers immediately correct students’ mistakes This technique, in the long term, accumulates students’ passiveness in learning
Thirdly, most of the teachers are satisfied with the topics in the textbook, which leads to the fact that they mainly take advantage of the textbook and hardly provide students with other sources of materials
=>Mismatches between learners’ expectations and teachers’ assumptions
From above points, some mismatches can be drawn Firstly, many students feel demotivated and bored because the topics are unsuitable for their needs or levels, yet teachers are not aware of this fact Secondly, although these adult learners have particular background knowledge, they really need to be provided with some main ideas of a specific topic as no one is expert in everything Lastly, teachers are reported to feel out of expectation in creating a cooperative speaking environment in which students feel free and comfortable to raise their voice
What should teachers do to improve their students’ learning of English speaking skills?
Because second-degree students come with specific purposes for learning, one of the best ways to keep their interest and motivation is to help them feel progress towards their goal In order to do this, teachers will have to determine somehow what those goals are One way to proceed is to conduct an informal discussion to determine their goals
Once the goals have been determined, relevant materials and activities should be selected
Relevance is probably the most important motivating factor for adult students If the students are exposed to and study life-coping skills such as showing the direction or doing an interview, their interest will never waiver For example, a student wants to learn English so that he or she can work in finance and banking, the materials that are chosen should provide vocabulary and language patterns used in the field
Recommendations
In a class, students are at different levels, some are active and always willing to speak while the others are often hesitant or anxious about speaking the target language
Teachers, therefore, should balance the students’ speaking turns
Firstly, teachers should lengthen the wait-time for students’ answers Thus, the anxious students have more time to think carefully and be confident of their responses In addition, teachers need to be more tolerant towards students’ responses
Secondly, it is necessary for teachers to improve questioning technique According to Nolasco and Athur (1988), it is vital to “keep everyone awake”, and students should be highly motivated by rapid questioning It means that teachers give questions and randomly ask any students in the class By doing this, all students are required to be ready to answer the questions
Thirdly, teachers should assign appropriate tasks for students For example, for low-level students they can take the responsibility to take notes when doing group works or give their comments on other students’ answers By this way, teachers can reduce students’ inhibition and create chances for them to participate in the activity
A cooperative classroom atmosphere in which students are encouraged to take part in oral activities can facilitate them to express their opinions without being afraid of making mistakes Teachers, therefore, should be tactful in correcting students’ mistakes; otherwise, they will demotivate students to speak English Moreover, techniques to encourage students such as giving feedbacks, comments or praises should be enhanced
Teachers should also avoid tension-causing tasks such as surprising and difficult quizzes, fiercely competitive activities or putting students in front of their peers without warning or chance for preparation
3.2.3 Establishing good rapport with students
The relationship between teachers and students is built on trust and respect Thus, if the rapport is good, it will make students feel happy, comfortable and willing to share their points in the class In order to create a good relationship, teachers can use some hints suggested by Brown (1994) as follows:
- Show interest in each student as a person
- Give feedbacks on each student’s progress
- Openly solicit the students’ ideas and feelings
- Value and respect what the students think and say
- Work with the students as a team and not against them
- Develop a genuine sense of vicarious joy when they learn something
3.2.4 Combining the textbook with other authentic relevant materials
The textbook Interaction Silver Edition in general is a good one; however, it can’t be the best to match all students’ interest and level To make the speaking lesson more creative and interesting, teachers should combine the textbook with other authentic materials such as the ones from the Internet, magazines, newspapers and so on
Moreover, teachers can encourage students to do oral presentation on prepared topics, which can help students explore information from different sources, widen their knowledge and increase their confidence In this way, students also feel a sense of usefulness in their English learning
In order to motivate students to study English speaking, first and foremost, the activities should be diversified and of students’ interest and level Oral activities should cover the spectrum of learners’ needs, raise students’ intrinsic motivation and use authentic language in meaningful contexts Teachers can apply a lot of other activities such as discussion, role play, storytelling, interview, picture description, etc
The following activities are truly communicative at the level of free communication However, students may require practice at the levels of controlled and semi-controlled communication before they are ready to perform the activity at the level of free communication For this reason, the researcher will explain how the teachers can, step by step, decrease their control over the activity
Songs can be applied at the beginning of the lesson as a warm-up activity It not only helps students practice their listening skills but also enhances their oral skills by retelling the content of the song after listening It can be carried out in speaking and listening lessons
Procedures: The teacher prepares handouts on which there is a song lyric with some gaps The students listen to the song and fill in the missing words After all the missing words are filled and checked by the teacher, the students will be asked to work in groups of 4 or 5 and retell the content of the song Then the teacher randomly chooses students from different groups to present their opinion; the others can support their friends
- Material: The song “Ain’t got no /I’ve got life” (provide vocabulary of body parts)
Communicative games for speaking skills provide learners with opportunities to talk and encourage their participation by motivating them to talk Furthermore, by playing these games, students will use their English more naturally because their concentration will be on solving the problems and not on the language they use There are many speaking games for practicing speaking; however, the researcher only introduces these games: "What is the word?" and "Spot the difference" which are considered to be the most suitable for first year students to enhance their speaking skills
Chapter 3: Friends and family Time: 12 - 15 minutes
Procedure: The teacher prepares a pair of pictures about 2 brothers These brothers have some similarities and differences in terms of hobbies and lifestyles Students work in pairs Teacher gives each student a picture Student A and B ask each other questions until they find the differences They must not see each other's pictures Finally they show each other their picture and compare them (See Appendix 5)
Time: 15 minutes Procedure: The teacher explains that Student A looks at her card and tries to explain the word in the card Student B listens and tries to guess the word After that, they change their roles (see Appendix 6 for the word card sample)
Recapitulation of main ideas
The study has dealt with the question of the current situation of teaching and learning English speaking skills and how to enhance second-degree freshmen’s speaking skills at ULIS, VNU The data of the research was collected by means of questionnaires and classroom observations The first step of the study was preparation for the collecting of the data including the questionnaire designing Next, the participants including 84 students and 10 teachers were contacted and invited to take part in the research After collecting the information from the questionnaires, the author started observing some classes to confirm the validity and reliability of the data collected The data after being collected was analyzed, synthesized and interpreted While reviewing theoretical issues such as factors and concepts relating to language teaching, the nature of spoken language, as well as the roles of teachers in class, the thesis also answers the previously mentioned research questions
In the first place, concerning the first research question about the current situation of teaching and learning English speaking skills, the findings were exposed through classroom observations and survey questionnaires In general, the second-degree freshmen at ULIS, VNU and the teachers have a good attitude towards the importance of English speaking skills in the teaching and learning of the language Nevertheless, students’ level of participation in speaking class is not high and the level of participation among students is not even Therefore, the speaking lessons cannot be considered to be successful This leads to the findings about teachers’ current teaching methods and about students’ as well as teachers’ difficulties
Secondly, concerning the second research question about the mismatches between learners’ expectations and teachers’ assumptions, a number of problems were revealed
The first thing to note is that many students feel demotivated and bored because the topics are unsuitable for their needs or their levels, yet teachers are not aware of this fact
Another point is that although these adult learners have particular background knowledge, they really need to be provided with some main ideas of a specific topic as no one is expert in everything The final point is that the teachers are reported to fall out of expectation in creating a cooperative speaking environment in which students feel free and comfortable to raise their voice
Last but not least, concerning the third question about what teachers should do to help improve their students’ speaking skills, some pedagogical implications are proposed
Among them are managing speaking turns to ensure even participation, creating a cooperative atmosphere, establishing good rapport with students and combining the textbook with authentic relevant materials In particular, some communicative activities such as role play, classroom discussion or songs are suggested based on the specific chapters in the textbook Interaction Speaking and Listening Silver Edition
In conclusion, the study is conducted with the great expectation to provide a closer look at English speaking teaching and learning in everyday classroom and assist teachers with better teaching decisions It is desirable that English language teachers at In-Service Department, ULIS VNU should put a strong emphasis on working out the measures to improve their non-English-majored students’ speaking ability In this sense, the teachers should make every endeavor to apply communicative activities in the light of CLT in their speaking lessons regardless of difficulties It is also noted that there should be strong support from the educational administrators including creating necessary conditions for the teachers to fully express their expertise, creativity and enthusiasm The results of these hard jobs should be students’ good communicative competence.
Limitations of the study
The study has the following limitations Firstly, the survey was carried out on 10 teachers and 84 students at In-Service Department, ULIS VNU This does not cover all the students at this department and may not present the panorama of the situation
Secondly, some suggested communicative activities are not enough and not very systematic; therefore, there should be more activities to enhance speaking skills for the first-year students
Thirdly, the method of the study, the survey method itself has the disadvantage of artificiality There is a risk that people's answers to questionnaire items may not reflect their true feelings or their subsequent actions Surveys can also seem superficial, when compared with field research, for example Therefore, classroom observations were intended to make up for this disadvantage However, the findings can be even more convincing if audio or video recordings were applied during classroom observations.
Suggestions for further studies
The following suggestions for further studies are made with a view to compensating for the shortcomings of my study Firstly, later research on this topic should be conducted on a larger number of subjects In addition, a supplementary qualitative data collection instrument such as interview or video recorder can be employed so that more sufficient data can be collected Furthermore, a further study can focus on communicative speaking activities to improve students’ English speaking skills
Following are some suggested topics for further research on developing speaking skills for part-time working learners
- Communicative activities to enhance students’ English speaking skills
- Strategies to maximize students’ participation in English speaking lessons
- Personalizing oral activities to increase students’ participation
- Using authentic materials to motivate students in English speaking lessons
- Understanding and meeting English learners’ needs in the speaking lessons
- Creating a classroom atmosphere conducive to English speaking learning
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APPENDIX 1 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (for students)
This survey questionnaire is designed for my study “An Investigation into the Teaching of Speaking Skills to Second-Degree Freshmen at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University Hanoi” Your assistance in filling the following items is highly appreciated You can be confident that your identity will be kept confidential and your answers will be used for the purpose of this research only
How long have you been learning English? …… years Part 1: Students’ attitudes towards the learning of English speaking skills
1 How important is English speaking to you?
2 How is your effort in learning to speak English?
3 Do you often speak English in speaking lessons?
A Yes I always volunteer to speak
B Yes I speak when I like the topics
C No I only speak when the teacher orders me
D No I never speak and often keep silent in speaking lessons
Part 2: Students’ difficulties in the learning of English speaking skills
4 Do you feel reluctant to speak in English speaking lessons? If yes, why? If no, skip this question
A Being afraid of losing face when making mistakes and being laughed at by my classmates
B Being not used to speaking English in front of other people, therefore, feel nervous
C Learning goal is not to communicate, so feel indifferent in the speaking class
D Feeling bored and demotivated because the topic is too easy or too difficult
5 What difficulties do you face when learning to speak English? (Choose no more than 2 options)
A Lack of vocabulary to express my idea
B Not enough time for preparation
C I don’t have ideas to talk about the topic
D My pronunciation is very poor
E My grammar is very poor
Part 3: Students’ feedbacks on their speaking class
6 What do you think of the textbook you are using at your English speaking class?
A Many activities are unsuitable and boring
B Many activities are interesting and suitable
C Many activities are difficult and boring
D Many activities are easy and boring
7 On average, students’ talking time accounts for ……… of a speaking lesson in your class
A Less than 30%, and your teachers talk for more than 70%
B From 30 to 50%, and your teachers talk from 50% to 70%
C From 50% to 70%, and your teachers talk from 30% to 50%
D More than 70%, and your teachers talk for less than 30%
8 What do you think about your teachers’ talking time?
A too much B much C all right D little E too little
9 After giving a topic, your teachers often (Choose no more than 2 options)
A Provide new words and structures related to the given topic
B Provide main ideas of the topic
C Let students discuss the topic in pair or group
D Immediately ask you to discuss the topic
10 What does your teacher do while you practice Speaking?
A Go around the class to monitor and help you with new words or structures when you need
B Stay at their seat and relax
C Take time to do other things
11 What do your teachers do after you finish your speaking performance?
A Give good comments although your presentation is not really good
B Point out your mistakes and encourage you to correct your mistakes by yourselves
C Point out and correct your mistakes
12 What do your teachers do when you make mistakes in speaking?
A Interrupt you and correct your mistakes immediately
B Not correct your mistakes and encourages you to continue speaking until you finish
C Wait until you finish, point out your mistakes and encourage you to correct your mistakes by yourself
D Just listen to you until you finish and no correction
13 How do you think about your class’ speaking lessons?
A All students are very active
B Many students are active, happy and willing to speak
C Many students are reluctant to speak and the class is quite boring
D All students are reluctant to speak and the class is very boring
E It depends, some students are active and others are passive
14 What would you like your teacher to do to encourage you to speak in English speaking lessons? (Choose no more than 2 options)
A Not interrupt when you make mistakes
B Give marks or comments for your speaking performance
C Give you speaking tasks suitable to your ability
D Create a co-operative English learning environment
E Combine textbook and other relevant materials
F Give more careful instructions at the beginning of the activity
15 Please read the sentences carefully, tick the ones that apply to you
In class, I like to learn by games
In class, I like to learn by pictures, films and video
I like to learn the target language in pairs and groups
I like to practice English in real situations
I like the teacher to let me find my mistakes
At home, I like to learn by watching TV in the foreign language
I like the teacher to explain everything to us
I want to write everything in my notebook
I like to study the foreign language by myself
I like the teacher to give us problem to work on
I like to make my language performance perfect before reporting to the class
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION
APPENDIX 2 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (for teachers)
This survey questionnaire is designed for my study “An Investigation into the Teaching of Speaking Skills to Second-Degree Freshmen at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University Hanoi” Your assistance in filling the following items is highly appreciated You can be confident that your identity will be kept confidential and your answers will be used for the purpose of this research only
Female How long have you been teaching English: year(s) Part 1: Teachers’ attitudes towards their students’ learning of English speaking skills
1 What do you think about the importance of English speaking to your students?
2 What do you think about your students’ speaking ability?
3 In your experience, what makes your students feel reluctant to speak English in the class?
A Being afraid of losing face when making mistakes and being laughed at by their classmates
B Being not used to speaking English in front of other people, therefore, feel nervous
C Learning goal is not to communicate, so feel indifferent in the speaking class
D Feeling bored and demotivated because the topic is too easy or too difficult
4 In your experience, what are your students’ difficulties in learning to speak English?
A Lack of vocabulary to express their idea
B Not enough time for preparation
C They don’t have ideas to talk about the topic
D Their pronunciation is very poor
E Their grammar is very poor
Part 2: Teachers’ opinion in their teaching methodology
5 As for you, Communicative Language Teaching:
A always emphasizes fluency over accuracy
C its final goal is students’ communicative competence
E is used only for teaching Speaking skills, not for other skills
F focuses on meaningful tasks rather than the language itself
G gives students opportunities to communicate with each other
6 Do you apply Communicative Language Teaching in teaching Speaking?
Part 3: Teachers’ difficulties in their English speaking lesson
7 What difficulties do you meet when carrying out the speaking activities? (Choose no more than 2 options)
7.1 In terms of students’ side
A they often keep quiet and only speak when they are asked
B learners are too shy to speak in front of the class
C they are not interested in the topic
D they have low proficiency of English
7.2 In terms of your own side
A it is difficult to organize
B it takes too much time to make a lesson plan
7.3 In terms of objective factors
A lack of equipment in the classroom (computers and projectors)
Other difficulties that you face:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION
1 Students’ level of participation in speaking activities Very low 1 2 3 4 5 Very high
2 Students’ interaction with the teacher and other partners Very bad 1 2 3 4 5 Very good
3 Students’ attitudes towards speaking activities Not interested 1 2 3 4 5 Very interested
4 Teacher’s teaching techniques & speaking activities
5 Classroom learning atmosphere Not active 1 2 3 4 5 Very active
APPENDIX 4 SAMPLE OF THE SPEAKING ACTIVITY: SONG
APPENDIX 5 SAMPLE OF THE COMMUNICATIVE GAME: SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
APPENDIX 6 SAMPLE OF THE COMMUNICATIVE GAME: WHAT IS THE WORD?
APPENDIX 7 SAMPLE OF THE SPEAKING ACTIVITY: QUESTION AND ANSWER