Aims of the study
The study is conducted to (1) investigate how students at Finance and Accounting Department, Hoa Binh University are interested in learning speaking skill, (2) identify the factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills
It is hoped that the result of the study will somehow be used as reference to help students to feel interested in learning speaking skill in the next semesters
Furthermore, the result of this study is also strongly believed to help me and my colleagues at Hoa Binh University to better our own teaching methods, as well as those who are in charge of teaching English speaking skill to non-
English major students at other universities and colleges in Viet Nam with the same situation as at HBU
4 Scope of the study The study will cover the possible factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills including students’ language proficiency level, attitude and motivation and personality, teachers’ teaching methods, classroom size, facilities in classroom and materials The subjects of the study are only students at Finance and Accounting Department, Hoa Binh University and teachers teaching the students
Research method of the study
in the study will be based on the data analysis
6 Organization of the study Part A, Introduction, presents the rationale, aims of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, research methods and organization of the study
Part B, Development, consists of three following chapters
1 Chapter 1: Literature Review presents the concepts relevant to the study
2 Chapter 2: The Study includes the background of the study, research questions, the participants, data collection instruments, and data collection procedures
3 Chapter 3 The results and discussions presents data analysis of the study, findings and discussions
4 Chapter 4: Implications and recommendations gives some suggestions to increase students’ interest in speaking lessons
Part C Conclusion summarizes all the main issues of the study and the limitations as well as the suggestions for the further study.
Literature review
Interest
a positive response to stimulate based on existing cognitive structure in such a way that learner’s curiosity is aroused and sustained In other words, interest shows learners’ desire to learn the target language It can be seen that students who are given opportunities for communication will be interested in the lesson
Ellis (1985) also points out that “interest is engendered if learners become self-centered” This means they are able to determine their learning objectives, choose their own way of achieving these, and evaluate their own progress
I share the same ideal with Ellis that to have interest in learning a language is very important.
Theory of speaking
Bygate ( 1987) states that speaking is a skill which is very important and requires as much attention as other skills, in both first and second languages
In order to carry out most of their basic interactions and transactions, he needs to be able to speak and express their ideas to other people He also said that
“interaction is the use of language for maintaining communication between participants” and “interaction skills are skills of deciding what to say, when to say it and how to say it clearly ( Bygate, 1987, p.115) Besides, he says that speaking is the choice of the right sounds in the patterns of rhythm and intonation and the choice of words and inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning Therefore, in learning speaking skill, learners should know not only how to produce specific points of languages such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary, but also the situations language is produced
As stated by Burn and Joyce (1997), speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning concerning three periods: producing, receiving and processing information ( Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997)
Chaney and Burk ( 1998) states that speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verb symbols, in many different contexts
In the study of Brown and Yule (1983), spoken language consists of short, fragmentary utterances in a range of pronunciation Besides, speaking is shown to have two main types of conversation namely dialogue and monologue In monologue, you give uninterrupted oral presentation while in dialogue you interact with one or more other speakers for transactional and international purposes
According to Florez (1999), speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing`, receiving and processing information It is often spontaneous, open-ended and evolving
To summarize, there are many different points of view of speaking Each of them has their own strong points However, in this study the author follows
Bygate’s concept of speaking, which said that speaking not only involves grammatical competence but also sociolinguistic competence
1.1.2The role of speaking in teaching and learning According to Ur (1996), speaking is the most important of all four skills: speaking, writing, listening and reading Besides, it is also considered as the first step to confirm who knows or does not know a language Hymes &
Rogers (1986) said that, “ the goal of language teaching is to develop communicative competence” This means the main purpose of learning a language is to speak the language well Pattison (1992) shared the same opinion that when people mention knowing or learning a language, they actually mean that they are able to speak the language Especially, Bygate
(1987) mentions that “ speaking is a skill which deserves attention every bit as much as literacy skills, in both first and second languages”
As the researchers, I totally agree with Ur that speaking is the most important of four skills For that reason, speaking skill plays an important role in foreign language teaching because effective speaking ability helps learners not only to acquire the language better but also to communicate successfully In the language classroom, speaking skill should be paid great attention to and frequently judged Moreover, our learners should try their best to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions
1.1.3.Teaching speaking skills in CLT approach Many years ago, traditional approaches in teaching English speaking such as Grammar-Translation Method, Direct Method, Audio-Lingual were mostly used but in recent years, CLT (Communicative Language Teaching Approach) interests many English teachers The approach appearing between the 1960s and 1970s marks the beginning of major innovation within language teaching and it has been widely accepted nowadays because of its superior principles Mitchell (1994) said that CLT covers the four skills of the language including listening, reading, speaking and writing, which can lack in other methods
Furthermore, According to Savignon (2000:126-128), CLT helps English learners to develop their communicative competence He also said that CLT is focused on promoting the development of functional language ability through learner participation in communicative events
CLT focuses on learners, so the role of teachers and learners in CLT isn’t similar to that in traditional teaching methods While in traditional methods teachers talk much more than students and control them, in CLT methods teachers is as a supporter for students Nunan (1992) believes that teachers should give students opportunities to talk by using group work and pair work
Besides, Larsen- Freeman (1986) thinks that teachers in communicative classroom talk less and listen more
They should only set up the tasks, give instruction and check the answers or give a feedback while students do most the speaking Thanks to that, students will gain more confidence in speaking and sharing their ideas
Richards (1994) also affirm that CLT is associated with its learner-center and experienced-based tasks view of second language teaching In CLT context, learners are seen as active participants in the construction of knowledge, rather than passive recipients of information provided by the teacher of the textbook In contrast, language teachers are no longer viewed as the authority of the knowledge, playing a dominant role Rather, they share different roles such as communication facilitator, counselor, and group process manager to create more fascinating experiences for the learners
To summarize, CLT is the most appropriate way to teach speaking skills
Therefore, the researcher considers it as one of the bases of the study.
Factors affecting students’ interest in speaking
1.3.1 Students’ factors 1.3.1.1 Students’ language proficiency level
It is undeniable that student’s language proficiency is one important factor affecting students’ participation in speaking According to Rod (1985), it is undeniable that student’s language proficiency is one important factor affecting students’ participation in speaking According to Rod (1985), proficiency consists of the learners’ knowledge of target language; it can be synonymous with “competence” Proficiency can be viewed as linguistic competence or communicative competence Second language proficiency is usually measured in relation to native speaker proficiency
It is obvious that personality has a great influence on students’ participation in speaking lesson Participation usually means students speaking in class: answer and ask questions, make comments, and join in discussions, etc
Students who do not participate in those ways mentioned above are often considered to be passive and are generally penalized when participation is graded Brown (2000) argues that personality is one of the affective factors that are equally important for explaining differential success among second language learners Personality may be divided into extroversion and introversion
To sum up, in a class, students with different personality characteristics may result in different level of participation in lessons and different of level of success as well
1.3.2 Teachers’ factors 1.3.2.1 Teachers’ teaching methods Teacher’s teaching methods are very important because it can demotivate or motivate students to get involved in speaking activities
Activities According to Le (2000) Vietnamese students’ passiveness in learning is the product of traditional teaching Therefore, teachers should use a variety of teaching and learning methods in a single period so as to provide a great variability of activities in the teaching and learning process to increase students’ involvement Moreover, Harmer
( 1991:12) says that in the class, teachers use a variety of activities, students will be more interested in lesson than the class in which teachers use the same activities An activity can not appropriate all students, so teachers should use different activities and methods interchangeably
Unlike the roles of teachers in Grammar- Translation Method, Audio-Lingual Approach or other traditional methods, the roles of teachers in CLT have been changed significantly
In CLT method, teachers should limit their speaking time so that students have chance to speak in the class According to Chaudron (1988), teachers tend to make up over 70 % of the total talk in the classroom When they talk too much, students will have less opportunity to further practice the language and therefore, they cannot enhance their speaking skills
In CLT method, students are the centre in speaking activities and teachers play a role as a controller, an organizer, and an assessor Byrner (1986) points out the roles of teachers according to three stages of teaching speaking: the presentation stage, the practice stage and the production stage At the first stage, teachers play a role as an informant to prepare materials and present the language to the students At the second stage, teachers act as a conductor to give all students as much time as possible to practice the presented language
At the final stage, teachers play a role as a manager and a guide Teachers should encourage students try their best to speaking in spite of making mistakes After that, teachers should correct student’s mistakes or make comments on their speaking
1.3.2.2 Teachers’ knowledge and characteristics Teachers’ knowledge and characteristics are the important factors affecting students’ participation and interest in lesson According to Barry (1993), teachers should be natural, warm, pleasant and approachable in order to create close relationship with students, which encourage them to participate in speaking activities
Especially, when teachers correct students’ mistakes, they should make nice, gentle and tactful correction Ur (2000) mentions that students may lose their confidence and feel disappointed if teachers correct their errors in an insensitive way In short, teachers should be sensitive and tactful in correction in order not to make students be shy and embarrassed
In Hayes’ definition (1997), any classes with over 40 students can be considered a large class Teaching large classes is difficult for both teachers and students in many reasons First, teaching large classes requires more work for the teacher as there are more learners to assist Then, it is not easy for teachers to motivate all students, make all of them concentrated, to have them involved, and to get them promptly responded
Barry (1993) shares the same idea that in large class, students have different learning styles, preferences and levels of English proficiency Therefore, teachers cannot pay equal attention to all students in a large class and it is also very difficult for teachers to organized suitable activities for all students in the class
Mathews (2006) said that multilevel classes can cause a lot of difficulties to teachers in organizing the activities in speaking classes Dalle (2003) also had the same idea about this issue
In short, to create good language learning environment, students should be studied in small size classes with the equivalent students’ English level
1.3.3.2 Facilities in classroom According to Unnderwood (1987), facilities in classroom include desks, chairs, radios, lights, air-conditioners, projectors, and things in classroom to support for studying Facilities in classroom have great effect on students’ learning as well as their attitude towards the subject matter
1.3.3.3 Reading materials and their roles Materials play an important role in exposing learners to the language, especially in teaching and learning speaking skill Therefore, selecting speaking materials is very important Selecting materials involves making choices and decisions To make good choices, we need to have good criteria on which to base the decisions These criteria such as factors about the learners, the role of materials, the topics, the language, the presentation have been put forwards for the analysis of materials and each of them has validity
A good ESP material must contain interesting texts and enjoyable activities which make students think, give them opportunities to use their existing knowledge, skills and content that they and their teachers can cope with; truly reflect what you think and feel about learning process; provide clear and coherent unit structure to guide the students through various activities to maximize the chances of learning; create a balance outlook which both reflect the complexity of the task, yet make it appear manageable; introduce teachers to new techniques and provide models of correct and appropriate language use.
Methodology 2 1 Background of the study
The teachers
of them are temporary female teachers They are all young with the age from
25 to 37 and have at least 3 years of English teaching experience Five of them have acquired an M.A degree and two of them are following an M.A course at Hanoi University of Foreign Languages and International Studies and Hanoi University
2.1.3 The students at Finance and Accounting Department The number of students at Finance and Accounting Department is more than
1400 They are from different places in Vietnam Most of them have studied English before but they are not good at English and they are not interested in
English, especially speaking At the university, they only study grammar and vocabulary to pass written exams but do not pay much attention in speaking
2.1.4 The materials and syllabus Market Leader Elementary is used for the second year-students at Finance and Accounting Department Each week, students have 6 English periods
The twelve units in the book cover the whole academic year comprising of two -18 week semesters, so in each semester, the students study 6 units In class, teachers and students not only deal with students’ books but also other components of the set like Practice File ( listening and pronunciation practice) and Text Bank ( reading materials) In each unit of the material, the language contents include starting up, vocabulary, listening, language focus, reading, skills, and case study The topics of the units are business-related topics ranging from basic topics like introduction, work and leisure, travel to more business-focused topics like sales, markets, companies, the Web
Market Leader has been developed in association with the Financial Times, one of the leading sources of business information in the world and it is made by David Falvey, Simon Kent and David Cotton who have many years’ teaching experience in business Book objectives: Market leader elementary is an elementary level business English course for businesspeople and students of Business English This book is designed to greatly improve the ability to communicate in English in a wide range of business situation It is good for students of business to develop the communication skills They need to succeed in business and enlarge their knowledge of the business world Besides, it helps students become more fluent and confident in using the language of business; therefore, students increase their career prospects
Starting up: students are offered activities in which they discuss the topic of the unit and exchange ideas about it
Vocabulary: Students learn important new words and phrases that they can use when they carry out the tasks in the unit A good dictionary, such as the Longman Basic English Dictionary, will also help students to increase their vocabulary
Discussion: Students can build up their confidence in using English and improve their fluency through discussion activities
Reading: Students read adapted articles on topics from the Financial Times and other newspaper They can develop their reading skills and learn essential business vocabulary They can also be able to discuss the ideas and issues in the articles
Listening: Students listen to the interviews with businesspeople They will develop listening skills such as listening for information and note taking Language review: this section focuses on common problem areas at elementary level Students will be more accurate in their use of language
Each unit contains two Language review boxes which provide a review of key grammar items
Skills: Students develop essential business communication skills such as making presentations, taking part in meetings, negotiating, telephoning and using English in social situations Each skills section contains a “useful language box” which provides students with the language they need to carry out the realistic business tasks in the book
Case study: the case Study is linked to the business topics of each unit They are based on realistic business problems or situations and allow students to use the language and communication skills they have developed while working through the unit
Therefore, students have opportunities to practice speaking skills in realistic business situations Each Case Study ends with a writing task Models of writing text types are given in the Writing File at the end of the Course book
A full writing syllabus is provided in the Market Leader Practice File Revision unit: four revision units are based on material covered in the preceding three course book units
As it has been stated, this study was carried out to find out Factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills at Finance and Accounting Department, Hoa Binh University Thus, the study was designed in an attempt to seek answers to the following questions:
1 To what extent are students interested in learning speaking skills
2 What are the factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills 2.3 Participants
The participants of the study were 150 students at Finance and Accounting Department and seven teachers teaching the students The students are chosen randomly from students at Finance and Accounting Department The students include 73 girls and 77 boys The teachers have more than 2 years of teaching experience The study was implemented in the second term of the school year
In the study, the researcher uses questionnaires for both students and lecturers The researcher chooses questionnaires because they can provide accurate information in short time Besides, this method allows the researcher to collect the data needed in ‘quantitative form’ Also, a strong point of this method is that it is quite easy to summarize, analyze and report the collected data as all informants submit the answer to the same question
The questionnaires for teachers and students consist of open-ended and closed-end questions Thus, the informants can express their opinions on teaching and learning the speaking skill in a free way as their personal information is not included in the questionnaires
The questionnaire for students includes 8 questions to find out their feeling toward English speaking lessons, their problems in speaking, how interested they in speaking lessons, the teaching methods their teachers use in speaking periods and their expectation to speaking lessons
The questionnaire for teachers comprises 7 questions, which is to find out their teaching methods used in speaking, their opinions about factors affecting students’ interest in learning speaking skills, especially their suggestions to enhance students’ interest in speaking English
2.5 Conclusion This chapter has presented the methodology of the study including the background of the study, the research questions, participants, instruments and data procedure.
The materials and syllabus
The twelve units in the book cover the whole academic year comprising of two -18 week semesters, so in each semester, the students study 6 units In class, teachers and students not only deal with students’ books but also other components of the set like Practice File ( listening and pronunciation practice) and Text Bank ( reading materials) In each unit of the material, the language contents include starting up, vocabulary, listening, language focus, reading, skills, and case study The topics of the units are business-related topics ranging from basic topics like introduction, work and leisure, travel to more business-focused topics like sales, markets, companies, the Web
Market Leader has been developed in association with the Financial Times, one of the leading sources of business information in the world and it is made by David Falvey, Simon Kent and David Cotton who have many years’ teaching experience in business Book objectives: Market leader elementary is an elementary level business English course for businesspeople and students of Business English This book is designed to greatly improve the ability to communicate in English in a wide range of business situation It is good for students of business to develop the communication skills They need to succeed in business and enlarge their knowledge of the business world Besides, it helps students become more fluent and confident in using the language of business; therefore, students increase their career prospects
Starting up: students are offered activities in which they discuss the topic of the unit and exchange ideas about it
Vocabulary: Students learn important new words and phrases that they can use when they carry out the tasks in the unit A good dictionary, such as the Longman Basic English Dictionary, will also help students to increase their vocabulary
Discussion: Students can build up their confidence in using English and improve their fluency through discussion activities
Reading: Students read adapted articles on topics from the Financial Times and other newspaper They can develop their reading skills and learn essential business vocabulary They can also be able to discuss the ideas and issues in the articles
Listening: Students listen to the interviews with businesspeople They will develop listening skills such as listening for information and note taking Language review: this section focuses on common problem areas at elementary level Students will be more accurate in their use of language
Each unit contains two Language review boxes which provide a review of key grammar items
Skills: Students develop essential business communication skills such as making presentations, taking part in meetings, negotiating, telephoning and using English in social situations Each skills section contains a “useful language box” which provides students with the language they need to carry out the realistic business tasks in the book
Case study: the case Study is linked to the business topics of each unit They are based on realistic business problems or situations and allow students to use the language and communication skills they have developed while working through the unit
Therefore, students have opportunities to practice speaking skills in realistic business situations Each Case Study ends with a writing task Models of writing text types are given in the Writing File at the end of the Course book
A full writing syllabus is provided in the Market Leader Practice File Revision unit: four revision units are based on material covered in the preceding three course book units
Research questions
As it has been stated, this study was carried out to find out Factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills at Finance and Accounting Department, Hoa Binh University Thus, the study was designed in an attempt to seek answers to the following questions:
1 To what extent are students interested in learning speaking skills
Participants
The participants of the study were 150 students at Finance and Accounting Department and seven teachers teaching the students The students are chosen randomly from students at Finance and Accounting Department The students include 73 girls and 77 boys The teachers have more than 2 years of teaching experience The study was implemented in the second term of the school year.
Data collection instruments
In the study, the researcher uses questionnaires for both students and lecturers The researcher chooses questionnaires because they can provide accurate information in short time Besides, this method allows the researcher to collect the data needed in ‘quantitative form’ Also, a strong point of this method is that it is quite easy to summarize, analyze and report the collected data as all informants submit the answer to the same question
The questionnaires for teachers and students consist of open-ended and closed-end questions Thus, the informants can express their opinions on teaching and learning the speaking skill in a free way as their personal information is not included in the questionnaires
The questionnaire for students includes 8 questions to find out their feeling toward English speaking lessons, their problems in speaking, how interested they in speaking lessons, the teaching methods their teachers use in speaking periods and their expectation to speaking lessons
The questionnaire for teachers comprises 7 questions, which is to find out their teaching methods used in speaking, their opinions about factors affecting students’ interest in learning speaking skills, especially their suggestions to enhance students’ interest in speaking English.
Results and discussions
Data analysis
Student’s years of learning English
Table 1: Students’ years of learning English
According to table 1, most of the students at Finance and Accounting Department, Hoa Binh University have learnt English for a long time 75,3 % of the students have studied English for more than 6 years since they were at secondary school Besides, 23,4 % students said that they have studied English from 3 to 6 years However, few students studied English from 1 to 3 years and no one has studied English less than 1 year
3.1.1.2 Students’ opinions about the importance of English speaking skill Students’ opinions about the importance of English speaking skill
Table 2: Students’ opinions about the importance of English speaking skill
From table 2, we can see that most of the students ( 73,4 %) consider that English speaking skill is important while 20,6 % think it is very important skill Only few students think that it is little important or not important with 4,7 % and 1,3 %, respectively From this result, we can see that students at Finance and Accounting Department are fully aware of the important role of speaking skill
3.1.1.3 Students’ reasons for learning speaking skill Students’ reasons for learning speaking skill
( you can choose more than one option)
A Because it is a skill of a compulsory subject 78,6
C Because it is useful for the future job 43,1
D Because it is helpful for you to communicate with foreigners
Table 3 Students’ reasons for learning speaking skill
When being asked about the reasons for studying English, 78, 6 % of the students said that they learn English because it is an important skill of a compulsory subject at university 43,1 % study English to prepare for their future job Only 13,3 % study English because they want to communicate with foreigners Especially, none of students study English for personal interest Some students give other answers such as studying English for going abroad after graduating, reading books, watching TV in English These reasons accounts only 6 %
3.1.1.4 Students’ assessment about their own abilities in speaking skill
Students’ assessment about their own abilities in speaking skill
Table 4 Students’ assessment about their own abilities in speaking skill The figure from the table shows that no students believe their speaking skill is excellent while only 5,3 % of them think that they are good at speaking 26,6 % of the students assume that their speaking skill is acceptable Nearly half of them state that they are bad at speaking and 22
% of the students think that their speaking is very bad From the result, we can see that most of the students believe they are not good at speaking
3.1.1.5 Students’ interest in speaking activities How much do you feel interested in learning speaking skill?
Table 5 Students’ interest in speaking activities
The table shows that none of the students like speaking 68 % of them are little interested in speaking and 32 % of them state that they are not interested in speaking
3.1.1.6 Students’ factors make them not interested in speaking English
What are your factors making you not interested in speaking English ( you can choose more than one option)
A Being anxious about making mistakes and being laughed by other students
B Being shy and nervous when speaking in front of other people
C Lack of vocabulary and knowledge of the topic
E Poor pronunciation, stress and intonation 38
Table 6: Students’ factors make them not interested in speaking English
According to the table, the main reason making students not confident in speaking English belongs to psychological difficulties such as shyness and nervousness (60%) and anxiety making mistakes and being laughed by other students (50) The third highest reason is because of their poor pronunciation, stress and intonation Only 26,6 % think that they have poor grammar structures while 9,3 % believe that they don’t have enough time to prepare for the topic and they don’t have much chance to speak because good speaking students always talk first, right after teachers making questions
3.1.1.7 Students’ opinions about your teacher’s method and characteristics
7a Are you satisfied with teachers’ method and characteristic?
7b What are you unsatisfied with your teacher in aspect of method and characteristic ( You can choose more than one option)
A Teachers focus much on grammar 68,9
B Teachers talk more than students 62,01
D Teachers don’t carry out various speaking activities 38,7
E Teachers are unfriendly and unenthusiastic 14,7
G Teachers don’t create pleasant and encouraging learning atmosphere in class
According to table 7a and 7b, 86 % of the students are not happy with their teacher’s methods and characteristic In 86 % of the students, nearly two thirds of them said that the teachers focus much on grammar and they speak more than students so they don’t have chance to speak About one third of them claim that their teachers speak so quickly that they cannot catch their ideas, and they don’t carry various activities in speaking Smaller number of the students said that their teachers are not so friendly and enthusiastic (14,7 %) and don’t create pleasant and encouraging learning atmosphere in class 11,6 % of the students give their opinion such as the way the teachers correct their mistakes is inappropriate, which makes them lose face in front of other students
3.1.1.8 Students’ opinion about classroom’s size, facilities, and materials for speaking
What do you think about your classroom’s size, facilities, and materials for speaking? ( Tick on the items that apply you)
Materials used in speaking lesson
Table 8: Students’ opinion about classroom’s size, facilities, and materials for speaking
According to the table, we can see that nearly half of the students are not satisfied with classroom’s size They think it is too large for them to learn speaking 30,7 % think that it is acceptable and only 21,3 % think it is good enough for them to study speaking In the aspect of facilities in classroom, more than half of the students are pleased with it 26 % think that it is acceptable and 21,7 % believe that it is bad Besides, 58 % of the students find the materials used in speaking lessons acceptable and 23,3 % report it is good However, 18,7 % are not satisfied with the materials
3.1.2 Results from survey questionnaires for teachers The questionnaire is delivered to seven teachers The data collected is analyzed as follows:
3.1.2.1 Teachers’ attitude towards speaking skill The researcher designed two questions to find out the teachers’ attitudes towards teaching English speaking skill for students
How is teaching speaking skill important to you? Result
How much do you feel interested in teaching speaking skill?
As we can see from table 9, most of the teachers appreciate the importance of teaching speaking 57,1 % of the teachers find teaching speaking important to their students while 28,6 % think it is very important Only 14,3 % of them state that it is little important to teach speaking and none of them agree that teaching speaking is not important
Moreover, the teachers are really fond of teaching speaking skill 85,8% of them are interested in teaching speaking Only 14,2 % of them pay little attention to speaking skill
3.1.2.2 Teachers’ assessment about students’ speaking ability
How do you evaluate your students’ speaking ability?
Table 10 Teachers’ assessment about students’ speaking ability
According to table 10, most of the teachers (57,4 %) said that their students’ speaking ability is acceptable Only one teacher (14,2 %) reports that the students’ speaking ability is good The number is true to the ideal that their students are bad, even very bad at speaking Besides, none of the teachers agree that their students are excellent at speaking
3.1.2.3 Teachers’ method and activities What methods are you teaching in your speaking lesson?
C Communicative language teaching approach (CLT)
The table shows that more than half of the lecturers are using Grammar- Translation method in teaching speaking while 28,4 % of them apply communicative approach in their speaking lesson Only 14,2 % say that they combine different methods to teach speaking However, none of them use Audio-Lingual method and other methods
What kinds of communicative activities do you usually use (you can choose more than one option)
According to table 11b, discussion is preferred by all of the teachers in teaching speaking Besides, questions and answers ranks the second in the list that accounts for 85,% Around half of the teachers like using Games or role-play while only 28,5 % apply Interview in teaching
3.1.2.4 Teachers’ opinion of students’ factors making them not interested in speaking English
What are students’ factors making them not interested in speaking English?
( you can choose more than one option)
A Being anxious about making mistakes and being laughed by other students
B Being shy and nervous when speaking in front of other people
C Lack of vocabulary and knowledge of the topic
E Poor pronunciation, stress and intonation 38
Table 12 Teachers’ opinion of students’ factors making them not interested in speaking English
The table shows that teachers’ opinion of students’ factors making them not interested in speaking English is similar to the students’ opinion As we can see from the table, most of the teachers (71,4 %) think that their students are not interested in speaking because they are shy and nervous when speaking in front of other people More than half of the teachers agree that being anxious about making mistakes and being laughed by other students are important reasons which make their students dislike speaking Lack of vocabulary and knowledge of the topic; poor pronunciation, stress and intonation are also the reasons why the students teachers, respectively One teacher reports that the student don’t want to speak because they have low motivation
3.1.2.5 Teachers’ suggestions to enhance students’ interest in speaking activities
What should teachers do to enhance students’ interest in speaking activities? ( you can choose more than one option)
A Create a co-operative learning environment ( group work, pair work) 71,4
B Use various communicative activities (games, role- play, interview…) 100
C Use other relevant sources of materials together with textbooks 85,7
Table 13: Teachers’ suggestions to enhance students’ interest in speaking activities
All of the teachers suggested using various communicative activities such as role-play, games or interview to make their students more interested in speaking while 85,7 % assumed that it is useful to use other relevant sources of materials together with textbooks 71,4 % of them said that teachers should create co-operative learning environment like pair work or group work Besides, some teachers suggested designing speaking tasks to students’ ability or carrying out exams or tests on speaking, etc.
Findings and discussion
students to enhance students’ interest in speaking English The findings are briefly stated as follows
3.2.1 Students’ little interest in speaking English
We could see from the questionnaires and the interview that the students are not so interested in speaking English although most of them know the importance of speaking skill to their jobs in the future They study English because it is a compulsory subject Therefore, finding out the factors affect students’ interest in speaking is an important task
3.2.2 Students’ factors The results reveal that although most of the students study English more than
6 years and they know that English is very important for them, they are little or not interested in speaking English Most of them assess their English speaking ability bad or very bad The main reason making them not fond of speaking is feeling shy, nervous while speaking in front of the class
Especially, they fear that they will be laughed by other students when they make mistakes Moreover, the students’ lack of grammar structures as well as vocabulary and knowledge of the topic is also one of the reasons which lessen their interest and confidence in speaking Besides, it can be seen from the questionnaire that students are lack of motivation They study speaking because it is a skill of a compulsory subject They have to study to pass the exam No one thinks that it is an interesting skill In summary, all the problems mentioned above are the factors making students not interested in speaking English Therefore, teachers have to find the effective methods to help students overcome these problems
3.2.3 Teachers’ factors Teachers play an important role in making students involved in speaking activities so they have to find suitable methods However, from the above data, we can see that a lot of students do not interested in their teachers’ methods because the teachers focus much on grammar and they talk too much so they do not have much chance to speak Moreover, in the questionnaire for teachers, it is seen that not many teachers use CLT but a lot of them use traditional method “Grammar-Translation method”, which is considered as
“teachers-centered” Furthermore, using this method, teachers focus much on grammar and vocabulary to help the students pass the exams In addition, teachers speak so quickly that students cannot understand their idea and they do not use a variety of speaking activities to encourage the students to speak
As a result, the students are not interested in speaking
3.2.4 Classroom factors Classroom environment is also a main factors affecting students’ interest in speaking activities If it is good enough, it will help them to focus on speaking activities and it is easier for students to work in pairs or in groups However, according to above data, a lot of students think that their classroom’s size is so big that they cannot listen to the teachers or their friends clearly and they cannot focus much on speaking activities In short, classroom should be paid great attention to get students’ involvement
3.2.5 Material factors Materials are also important factors affecting students’ interest in speaking If the topic is interesting and practical, not so easy, not so difficult, students will be fond of speaking and vice versa Though the textbook “Market Leader” does not focus on speaking, students also have a lot of opportunities to speak in class According to the study, the students are so happy with the textbook in aspect of speaking Only a few students think that the materials are bad Therefore, materials mostly do not discourage the students to speak
3.2.6 Conclusion According to the findings, there are some factors affecting students’ interest in speaking activities such as students, teachers, and classroom size The students’ factors lie on their shyness, nervousness, fear of making mistakes, lack of motivation, being poor in pronunciation, stress and intonation; grammar structures and vocabulary Besides, one aspect discourages students to speak is the inappropriate method of the teachers They focus much on grammar and vocabulary and do not make opportunity for their students to speak Finally, classroom size is too large for the students to speak, which makes them not able to concentrate on speaking.
Implications and recommendations
The students
According to the above findings, the researcher would like to give some suggestions to enhance the students' interest in learning speaking skills
Firstly, most students do not join speaking lesson much because they are shy and nervous when speaking in front of other people and anxious about making mistakes and being laughed by other students To solve the problem, they should try to practice speaking at home alone or with a friend If they practice at home, no one can laugh at them and they can speak more fluently As a result, they will feel more confident to speak out in class
Secondly, to have motivation for speaking English, the students should not consider English as a difficult and compulsory subject They should think that it is a useful tool for them to discover the knowledge and the key for their job in the future From the thought, they will not be stressful in learning it
Finally, to enhance the pronunciation, stress and intonation; grammar structures and vocabulary, the students should set up the habit of self-study
They can watch their favorite films, read news on Internet, newspapers and magazines with their favorite topics in English After watching and reading, they should try to tell the content of the films or news in their words By doing it every day, they will gradually get used to speaking English and feel more confident to express their ideas in English.
The teachers
Especially, the teachers should make supportive comments on the student’s mistakes instead of criticism comments so that the students do not feel ashamed of making mistakes
Moreover, to avoid the students’ boredom and enhance their interest as well as motivation, teachers should apply a lot of activities in speaking such as games, role-play, discussion or interview, etc
In addition, teachers should not focus much on grammar, and structures when teaching speaking They should create maximum opportunity for the students to speak out so that the students will speak more fluently and confidently without worrying much about grammar and structure mistakes Particularly, teachers should not speak much but they should play a role as an instructor and an advisor They should only give instruction and make comments on the students’ speaking
Finally, if the class is too large and there are a lot of the students in class, teachers should organize the students to speak in a small group so that the students can have more chance to speak and make use of speaking time instead of waiting for their speaking turn
The classroom
be focused, which affects the quality of the speaking activities Therefore, English class should be organized in a small classroom or with a small number of students in order to get the highest quality in learning I think the dean of Finance and Accounting Department should consider the problem carefully and immediately
PART C: CONCLUSION This chapter will present the summary of the study and discuss its limitations and suggestions for further study.
Summary of the study
In the study, the researcher uses two questionnaires as research instruments for both teachers and students From their responses, the three research questions have been answered
For the first question “How are students interested in learning speaking skills?”, all of the students said that they are not interested in speaking skills even though they think that speaking English is very important to them They just study speaking because it is a skill of a compulsory subject and it is useful for their future job
For the second question “What are the factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills?”, the answer is found out clearly The factors lie on students, teachers and classroom size The students are shy and nervous when speaking in front of other people and anxious about making mistakes and being laughed by other students Moreover, the teachers’ method is not appropriate They do not make maximum opportunity for students to speak and they spend a lot of time on grammar and vocabulary Furthermore, the class room size is too big for the students to be concentrated on speaking
For the third question “What should be done to enhance students’ interest in speaking English?”, the researcher gives some suggestions for students, teachers Firstly, the students should increase self- study time so that they can feel confident when speaking in front of others They should watch their favorite films, read news on Internet, newspapers and magazines with their favorite topics in English to learn the way native speakers speak in order to apply it in their speaking Besides, they shouldn’t put a lot of stress on speaking skill or English For teachers, they should create a friendly classroom environment, make supportive comments and use various speaking activities; create chance for students to speak Especially, for classroom, it is better for students to learn in a small classroom in speaking periods so that they can focus much more As a result, they will become fonder of speaking.
Limitation and suggestions for further study
Though the study is carried out carefully, there are some shortcomings because of lack of time, resources and the researcher’s ability In the first point, the study is implemented with 150 students at Finance and Accounting Department and 7 teachers Therefore, the result may not generalize for all students at Finance and Accounting Department and for all teachers
Moreover, the researcher only uses survey questionnaires as the research instrument
In spite of the above unavoidable limitations, the researcher hopes that the study will help students and teachers at not only Finance and Accounting Department, HBU but also those at all university and other universities in their English learning and teaching
2.2 Suggestions for further study The study only covers the possible factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills The subjects of the study are only students at Finance and Accounting Department, Hoa Binh University and teachers teaching the students As we can see that the study mentions a very small part of teaching and learning English Therefore, the researcher would like to give some suggestions for further study:
- Factors affecting students' interest in learning listening skills at Hoa Binh University
- Factors affecting students' interest in learning reading skills at Hoa Binh University
- Factors affecting students' interest in learning writing skills at Hoa Binh University
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Brown, G and Yule, G (1983) Teaching the spoken language, Cambridge University
Burn, A., & Joyce, H (1997).Focus on speaking Sydney: NC ELTR Bygate, M.(1987) Speaking Oxford, OUP
Byrne, D (1986).Teaching Oral English Harlow, Essex, Longman Chaney, A.L.B., &Burk, T.L (1988) Teaching Oral Communication Boston:
Chaudron, C (1988) Second Language Classrooms: Research on Teaching and Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Dalle T & Thrush E 2003 Practising oral skills in large classes Teacher’s Edition 245 (13): 4-8
Ellis, R (1985).Understanding Second Language Acquisition Oxford:
Oxford University Press Ellis , R (1994) The Study of Second Language Acquisition Oxford:
Oxford University Press Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching London:
Longman Hayes, (1997) Helping Teachers to Cope with Large Classes, Retrieved 1 June from ELT Journal Volume 51/2 Oxford University Press
Hymes, D.H (1992) In Richards, J.C.,& Rogers, T C (1986) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Larsen- Freeman, D (1986) Techniques and principles in language teaching, Oxford, OUP
Le Van Canh, (2000) Language and Vietnamese pedagogical contexts In J.Shaw, D.Lubelska, & M Noullet (Eds.), Partnership and interaction:
Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Language and Development Bangkok: Asian Institute of Technolog
Mathews-Aydinly, J., (2006) Promoting the success of multilevel ESL classes: What teachers and administrators can do Washington, DC: Center for Adult English Language Acquisition
Mitchell, R (1994) The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching in Aswarbrick (ed)
Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge : CUP
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Oxford University Press Savignon, S.J (2000) Communicative language Teaching and Learning
London: Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning
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APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: Survey questionnaire for students The questionnaire is to collect the data for the study “Factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills at Finance and Accounting Department, Hoa Binh University” and it will be used for the purposes of data analysis Your assistance in truthfully responding the following questions is highly appreciated Your confidentiality is assured
In completing these following questions, please choose the answer by circling the letter next to your choice, ticking items or expressing your ideas in the blanks
Thank you very much for your cooperation!
1 How long have you studied English?
A Less than 1 year C More than 3-6 years
2 How is English speaking skill important to you?
3 Why do you study English speaking? (you can choose more than one option)
A Because it is a skill of a compulsory subject
C Because it is useful for the future job
D Because it is helpful for you to communicate with foreigners
4 What do you think about your English speaking skill?
5 How much do you feel interested in learning speaking skill?
6 What are your factors making you not interested in speaking English? ( you can choose more than one option)
A Being anxious about making mistakes and being laughed by other students
B Being shy and nervous when speaking in front of other people
C Lack of vocabulary and knowledge of the topic
E Poor pronunciation, stress and intonation
7a Are you satisfied with teachers’ method and characteristic?
In question 7a, If you choose B, go to question 7b, if you choose A , skip question 7b and continue with question 8
7b What are you unsatisfied with your teacher in aspect of method and characteristic? ( you can choose more than one option)
A Teachers focus much on grammar
B Teachers talk more than students
D Teachers don’t carry out various speaking activities
E Teachers are unfriendly and unenthusiastic
F Teachers don’t create pleasant and encouraging learning atmosphere in class
8 What do you think about your classroom’s size, facilities, and materials for speaking? (Tick on the items that apply you)
Facilities in classroom Materials used in speaking lesson
Thank you for taking time to complete this questionnaire!
PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA NGHIÊN CỨU DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN Phiếu điều tra này được thực hiện để thu thập dữ liệu cho nghiên cứu “Những yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến sự hứng thú trong việc học kỹ năng nói của sinh viên khoa Tài Chính Kế Toán trường Đại học Hòa Bình” và kết quả của phiếu điều tra chỉ được sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu phân tích số liệu Sự giúp đỡ của các bạn trong việc trả lời các câu hỏi được đánh giá rất cao Thông tin của các bạn được bảo mật tuyệt đối Để hoàn thành các câu hỏi dưới đây, vui lòng chọn câu trả lời bằng cách khoanh tròn vào đáp án lựa chọn, tích vào mục phù hợp với câu trả lời của các bạn, hoặc viết ý kiến của các bạn vào chỗ trống
Xin chân thành cảm ơn sự hợp tác của các bạn!
1.Bạn đã học Tiếng Anh bao lâu?
A Dưới 1 năm C Nhiều hơn 3 năm đến 6 năm
B Từ 1 đến 3 năm D Nhiều hơn 6 năm
2 Bạn nghĩ kĩ năng nói Tiếng Anh quan trọng với bạn như nào?
A Rất quan trọng C Không quan trọng lắm
B Quan trọng D Không quan trọng chút nào
3 Tại sao bạn học kĩ năng nói Tiếng Anh ( Bạn có thể chọn nhiều đáp án)
A Bởi vì nó là môn học bắt buộc
B Bởi vì nó thú vị
C Bởi vì nó hữu ích cho công việc trong tương lai
D Bởi vì nó giúp bạn có thể giao tiếp được với người nước ngoài
E Ý kiến khác ( vui lòng nói rõ)
4 Bạn nghĩ gì về kĩ năng nói Tiếng Anh của bạn
5 Mức độ bạn thích học kĩ năng nói như nào?
6 Những yếu tố nào từ bạn làm cho bạn không thích học kĩ năng nói ( bạn có thể chọn nhiều đáp án)
A Bạn lo lắng việc mắc lỗi khi nói và sẽ bị các bạn khác cười
B Bạn ngại và lo lắng khi đứng trước những bạn sinh viên khác
C Bạn thiếu từ vựng và kiến thức về chủ đề nói
D Bạn còn thiếu các cấu trúc ngữ pháp
E Kĩ năng phát âm, trọng âm, ngữ điệu của bạn còn yếu
F Ý kiến khác ( vui lòng nói rõ)
7a Bạn có hài lòng với phương pháp dạy và tính cách của giáo viên không?
Nếu bạn chọn B, bạn tiếp tục trả lời câu hỏi 7b, nếu bạn chọn A, bạn bỏ qua câu 7b và tiếp tục trả lời câu 8
7b Bạn không hài lòng điều gì về phương pháp và tính cách của giáo viên?
A Giáo viên tập trung quá nhiều vào ngữ pháp khi nói
B Giáo viên nói nhiều hơn sinh viên
C Giáo viên nói quá nhanh
D Giáo viên không tổ chức nhiều hoạt động nói trong lớp
E Giáo viên không thân thiện và không nhiệt tình
F Giáo viên không tạo ra không khí thoải mái trong lớp học
G Ý kiến khác ( vui lòng nói rõ)
8 Bạn nghĩ gì về kích thước phòng học, cơ sở vật chất của phòng học và tài liệu sử dụng khi học nói? ( Tích và đáp án thích hợp)
Tốt Tạm được Không tốt
Cơ sở vật chất Tài liệu
Cảm ơn các bạn đã dành thời gian trả lời câu hỏi !
SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS This questionnaire is designed for English teachers at Hoa Binh University to collect data for the study “Factors affecting students' interest in learning speaking skills at Finance and Accounting Department, Hoa Binh University
It would be helpful if you truthfully provide the information asked and do not leave any items unanswered The data is used for the study purpose only
1 How is teaching speaking skill important to you?
2 How much do you feel interested in teaching speaking skill?
3 How do you evaluate your students’ speaking ability?
4 What methods are you teaching in your speaking lesson?
C Communicative language teaching approach (CLT)