Rationale of the study
of communication and it is widely used in different fields of the society such as international commerce, science & technology, education, medicine and so on That is why, English teaching and learning have become a great necessity for Vietnamese people Especially, learning speaking gains a great stature as the need of communication is paid much more attention
However, in some places in Vietnam, English teaching has been strongly influenced by traditional methods Teachers as well as students pay too much attention to the grammar items Teachers mainly focus on explaining the grammatical rules and structures to students who are considered as passive recipients As a result, those students are often reluctant in speaking activities
In recent years, English teachers have changed their teaching methods and focused on teaching speaking to the students One top concern of most teachers is students’ ineffective participation in speaking lessons The reasons for that are various Tsui
(1996), after carrying a research in Hong Kong, lists five principle factors affecting the reluctance of students’ participation in classroom speaking lessons: students’ perceived low proficiency in English, student’s fear of making mistakes and derision, teachers’ intolerance of silence, uneven allocation of turns, and incomprehensible input (as cited in Nunan, 1999:234)
Having been teaching English at Haiduong Medical Technical University (HMTU) for seven years, the author of this paper has realized that most of the students do not often enjoy speaking periods, and they do not actively contribute the speaking lessons They always keep quiet, passively take note, some listen to better students speaking but do nothing while some other students even discuss in Vietnamese That is the reason why the topic “Factors affecting the participation in speaking activities for the first year non-English major students at Haiduong Medical Technical University and some possible solutions.” was chosen as an attempt to find out the reasons for the above problems, and propose some suggestions to increase students’ participation in speaking activities.
Research questions
To achieve the aims which are mentioned above, the following research questions were raised for exploration:
1 What are the factors affecting the students’ participation in speaking activities?
2 What are the possible solutions to increasing these students’ participation in speaking activities?
Scope of the study
to increase students’ participation in oral activities at HMTU All of the attempts working with other types of students, other skills at other institutions are out of the scope of the study
Methods of the study
To conduct the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used The data were collected by means of questionnaires and interviews Survey questionnaires, one for students and the other for teachers were used to gather information and evidence for the study To make the data more reliable, interviews for teachers and students were conducted All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the thesis were based on the analysis of the data collected.
Significance of the study
participation may help the teachers overcome the challenges and find ways to have successful lessons.
Structure of the study
Part A (Introduction) presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope, methods, significance and structure of the study
Part B (Development) includes three chapters:
Chapter 1 (Literature review) gives some theoretical background about speaking skill and factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities
Chapter 2 (Methodology) presents the context of the study, participants, data collection instrument, data collection procedures
Chapter 3 (Data analysis, findings, and suggestions) includes data analysis, finding, the author’s discussion, and suggestions
Part C (Conclusion) presents major findings of the study, its limitations and some
LITERATURE REVIEW
Speaking in second language learning and teaching
Of the four language skills ( listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking is considered a productive skill It is also a difficult skill for non-major English students in Vietnam in general and for the first year non-major English students at HMTU in particular According to Chaney (1998:13), speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non verbal symbols, in a variety contexts”
In addition, Brown (1994) defines speaking as a process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information In Brown and Yule’s opinions (1983), spoken language consists of short, fragmentary utterances in a range of pronunciation Usually, there is a great deal of repetition and overlap between one speaker and another Speaker usually uses non-specific references They also add that spoken language is made by using the loosely organized syntax, and non-specific words, phrases and filters such as oh, well, uhuh, and so on
From the above definitions, speaking is making use words, knowing and being able to use language; expressing in words and making speech Therefore, we can infer that speaking is the ability to make use of words or a language to express oneself in actual communication
As for Bygate (1987:12), in most speaking the person to whom we are speaking is in front of us and able to put right if we make mistakes He/She can also generally show agreement and understanding – or incomprehension and disagreement Unlike readers or writers, speakers may need patience and imagination, too While talking, speakers need to take notice of the other and allows listeners chance to speak it It means that we take turns to speak Brown (1983) and her colleagues point out that a listener gives a learner models to utilize when acting as a speaker In addition, being a hearer first helps the learner appreciate the difficulties inherent in the task It is clear that giving speakers experience in hearer’s role is more helpful than simple practice in task in which a speaker is having real difficulties in appreciating what a particular task required
Speaking has the following characteristics:
Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving
However, speech is not always unpredictable Language functions ( or patterns) that tend to recur in certain discourse situations can be identified and charted
Speaking requires that learners not only know how to produce specific points of language such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary ( “linguistic competence”), but also that they understand when, why, and in what ways to produce language (“sociolinguistic competence”)
Speech has its own skills, structures, and conventions different from written language A good speaker synthesizes this array of skills and knowledge to succeed in a given speech act
Bygate (1987) considers speaking as an undervalued skill in many ways The reason is that almost all people can speak, and so take speaking skill too much for granted He also asserts that speaking skill deserves attention every bit as much as literacy skilled
Learners often need to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions Bygate also highly appreciates speaking by stating that speaking is the medium through which much language is learnt
To sum up, it is undeniable that speaking is key to communication By considering what good speakers do, what speaking tasks can be used in class, and what specific needs learners report, teachers can help learners improve their speaking and overall oral competency
1.1.3 The roles of speaking in language teaching and learning
It can not be denied that in our daily lives, people spend more time speaking rather than writing or reading According to Larseen-Freeman (1986) “The goal of language teaching is to develop communicative competence” That means people learn a language to communicate well in that language Bygate (1987) considers speaking as an undervalued skill in many ways The reason is that almost all people can speak, and deserves attention every bit as much as literacy skilled Learners often need to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions In the study of Ur (1996:120), speaking seems intuitively the most important of all four skills Speaking is regarded as the first step to confirm who knows or does not know a language 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
From the above reasons, teaching and learning speaking skill is vital and should be paid much attention to.
Approaches to the teaching of speaking
For many decades the predominant method of language instruction was the grammar- translation method This method is rooted in the teaching of the nineteenth century and was widely used for the first half of the last century to teach modern foreign languages (Richards and Rodgers (2001) In the Grammar – translation Method, students are taught to analyze grammar and to translate (usually in writing) from one language to another The main goal of this method has been for students to read the literature of a particular culture This method does not really prepare students to speak English, therefore, it is not entirely appropriate for students to improve their speaking skills In conclusion, the Grammar – translation Method is not consistent with the goals of increasing English learners’ fluency, oral production or communicative competence
- The Direct Method and Audio – Lingualism
The Direct Method focused on “everyday vocabulary and sentences” (Richards and Rodgers (2001:9) and lessons were conducted entirely in the target language More importantly, the lesson presented new teaching points in speaking rather than in writing and it was practiced “ in a carefully graded progression organized around question and answer exchanges between teachers and students.”
In Audio-Lingualism, speaking is taught by having students repeat sentences and recite memorized dialogues from the textbook Bygate (1987:15) states that “teaching oral language was thought to require no more than engineering the repeated oral production of structures” In this method, the lesson emphasized repetition drills in order to familiarize students with the sounds and structural patterns of the language In short, memorizing patterns did not lead to fluent and effective communication in real – life situations
At the end of the 1960s, the Audio – Lingual Method met a drastic attack from both American sociolinguistics and British functional linguistics based on the study of language from a wider prospective Hymes (1972) put forward the term
“communicative competence” to refer to appropriate language performance in contrast to “ linguistic competence” At the same time, Brumfit and Johnson (1979) emphasized “the functional and communicative potential of language They saw the need to focus on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery of structures” CLT features more interaction- based activities such as role plays, information gaps, pair work and group work In summary, among some approaches of the language teaching methods, CLT is the most appropriate way for communication.
CLT and teaching speaking
According to Nunan (1989:194), “CLT views language as a system for the expression of meaning Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaning tasks and using language, which is meaningful to the learners Objectives reflect the needs of the learners including functional skills as well as linguistics objectives The learner’s role is a negotiator and integrator The teacher’s role is a facilitator of the communication progress Materials promote communicative language use; they are task-based and authentic.”
Nunan also asserts that in communication process, learners are negotiators and integrators whereas teachers are facilitators
Language is not simply a system of rules It is now generally seen “as a dynamic resource for the creation of meaning” (Nunan, 1989) This point of view really supports CLT
CLT’s goals are (a) making communicative competence the goal of language teaching and (b) developing procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication ( Le Van Canh, 2004)
Richards and Rogers (2001:161) confirms that CLT has a rich theoretical base and some of the characteristics of the communicative view of language are:
- Language is a system for the expression of meaning;
- The primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication;
- The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative use; and
- The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse
In Brumfits’s view (1984:91-93), CLT’s characteristics can be summarized as follows:
- Teaching is leaner – centered and responsive to learners’ needs and interests;
- The target language is acquired through interactive communicative use that encourages the negotiation of meaning;
- Genuinely meaningful language use is emphasized , along with unpredictability, risk-taking and choice-making;
- There is exposure to examples of authentic language from the target language community; and
- There is a whole language approach in which the four traditional language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) are integrated
In brief, CLT has served as the dominant approach to language teaching since the demise of the Audio-Lingual Method
1.3.3 Conditions of Applying CLT 1.3.3.1 Authentic materials
To overcome the typical problem that students can’t transfer what they learn in the classroom to the outside world and to expose students to natural language in a variety of situations, adherents of the Communicative Approach advise the use of authentic language materials Materials like newspaper articles, books in target language, live radio or television broadcast programs are only suitable for students of high intermediate level of proficiency For those with lower proficiency in the target language, simpler authentic materials are realistic and most desirable Besides, the lower level class can use authentic materials without containing a lot of complicated language items, but a lot of discussion could be generated
Teacher’s role is also one of the most important components in applying CLT In CLT class, teachers are not only facilitators of students’ learning but also advisors of the students’ wonderings Sometimes, they can act as a co-communicator to engage in the communicative activities along with students Teachers are the initiators of classroom activities but they do not always interact with the students They give the students chances to express their individuality by having them share their ideas and opinions
As for Littlewood (1981) this helps learners integrate the target language with their won personality and feel more emotionally secure with it
For the ones who never or rarely attend any language courses on CLT, training or retraining in CLT is always necessary because teachers’ competence decides the success or failure of applying CLT.
Student’s participation in oral activities
In Howard, Short and Clark’s opinion (1996: 8-24), participation is the student’s active engagement in the classroom to promote effective learning The student’s activities may include reciting in class, having conversations with the instructor or their classmates, doing written outputs, and sharing ideas with others It means a participative learner is one that is not passive Moreover, Sylvelyn, Judith and Paulin
(2009) define participation as students who actively engage in classroom discussions, rather than be passive learners who simply take in knowledge
In order to have a successful lesson, students’ participation must be active and even
The author, with nearly ten years of teaching experience, acknowledges that students’ participation in classroom oral activities can be affected by a variety of factors such as from students, teachers, classroom and materials
1.3.2 Factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities 1.3.2.1 Students’ factors a Students’ language proficiency level
In Vietnam, a common problem of language learners is a shortage of vocabulary, structures and expressions As a result, they are unwilling to speak In the class, many students just sit in silence and do not participate in the classroom activities
Nunan (1999:234) points out factors affecting the reluctance of students’ participation in class speaking lesson as follow:
- students’ perceived low proficiency in English
- students’ fear of mistakes and derision
- incomprehensible input Rod (1985) reports that 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
In Burns and Joyce’s view (1997), students have difficulties in pronunciation such as sounds, rhythms and stress patterns of English, lack of social and cultural knowledge, low proficiency of grammar patterns and problems in transferring from the native language into the target language All of these linguistics factors result in break – down in processing language and communication
In fact, if students’ language proficiency is rather low, they will not be confident to participate in speaking lesson Moreover, if students are of different language proficiency levels, teachers may cope difficulties choosing a suitable teaching method, and activities used in class b Students’ learning styles
It is undeniable that learning style has a great influence on students’ participation in speaking lesson Individual‘s learning style in an educational context indicates a different way he/she approaches new information Brown (2007: 120) defines learning style as “cognitive, affective and physiological traits that are relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment”
As can be seen from Willing’s classification, if the majority of students in one class belong to concrete and authority – oriented groups, the degree of participation in oral activities of this class will be low
According to Brown (1994) the contrast between reflectivity and impulsivity dimension is one factor affecting students’ participation in speaking lesson Reflective learners are slower, more careful and often weigh all the considerations before speaking out in the class, on the other hand, impulsive learners are quicker at making decision and make gambles before a solution is achieved So in speaking lesson, impulsive learners are faster but less accurate speaker than reflective ones
As claimed by Ellis (1985:120), extroverted learners are more willing to interact with others than the introverted, and therefore they are more successful in oral communication
Sharing the same view with Ellis, Lightbown and Spada list a number of personality characteristics that have a great influence on the success of second language learners: extroversion, inhibition, self – esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness and responsiveness (1999:54-55)
A study conducted by Galvan and Fukada (1998: 29-49) finds that students who are outgoing participated more than introverts The study also determines that participants who self-reported as having passive personalities are least likely to initiate a question or volunteer an answer to teacher’s question
We can conclude with certainty that if the teacher neglects these differences among students, only some of them can benefit from the classroom activities c Students’ attitudes and motivation
It is clear that students’ attitudes and motivation plays an important part in the success of language learning Harmer (1999:51) defines motivation as “some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something” Lightbown and Spada (1999) propose that “motivation in second language learning is a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learners’ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community” It can be understood that if learners have favorable attitudes and desire to speak the second language for communication, they will be motivated to acquire the language proficiency
Harmer (1999:51) divides motivation into two types intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation is possessed by people having personal interest in doing something On the contrary, extrinsic motivation is caused by such outside factors, not for their own sake, as the need to pass an exam or the hope of financial reward
If all the students just learn English in order to pass the written exams, they think that participating in speaking activities is not necessary In this case, a big question for the language teachers is how to inspire students’ personal interests in the speaking lessons?
In order to do so, we have to understand the sources of motivation as “without knowing where the roots of motivation lie, how can teachers water those roots?” (Oxford &
Shearin, 1994:15) Fisher (1990) points to three major sources of motivation in learning:
- The learners’ natural interests (intrinsic satisfaction)
- The teacher/ employment…etc (extrinsic reward)
- Success in the task (combining satisfaction and reward) Harmer (1999:51) also mentions that the sources of motivation are diversified They may derive from the society, significant others like the attitude of parents or old siblings, the teacher and the method The responsibility of the teachers is to increase and direct students’ motivation through setting clear goals, learning environment and interesting classes, which can directly influence students’ participation
Summary
This chapter also provides issues of students’ participation in speaking activities, accompanied by the relevance of the present study The research methodology employed in the present study will be presented in the next chapter.
METHODOLOGY
Context of the study
Haiduong Medical Technical University is located in the economic center of Northern Delta, which is 57 kilometers west of Hanoi capital The university belongs to the Ministry of Health with more than 50 years’ experience of training nurses and medical technicians at different levels The students graduating from the university are highly appreciated by health services in terms of professional skills The university currently has more than 4,000 students and 300 officials and lecturers
At HMTU, students have to study four English courses Each course lasts 60 periods
(50 minutes per period) The English textbooks used at HMTU are “New Headway pre-intermediate-the third edition” (John and Liz Soars 2011 ) for course 1, 2 and
“New Headway intermediate-the fourth edition” (John and Liz Soars 2012 ) for course 3, 4 Each of these books consist of 12 units including seven parts: language focus, vocabulary, everyday English, reading, listening, speaking and writing The topics in the material focus especially on friends, lifestyles, entertainment, plans and arrangements, travelling, work, world, fear etc Each week students have 4 English periods and they continuously learn in 15 weeks Besides, textbook Nursing 1( Tony Grice 2011) is also used in the combination with the textbook above This course book provides the students with the knowledge of terms and structures related to their future profession In fact, these textbooks do not require learners to have much grammar knowledge because its objective is to practice speaking and listening skills
Although the objective of English course for freshmen at HMTU is that students are able to listen, speak, read, and write in the target language, progress tests and final tests are in written form Therefore, students and even teachers spend most of their time on grammar and reading comprehension to help students pass their exams
Besides, freshmen of HMTU do not have the same level of English language proficiency Although most of the students at HMTU have been learning English since they were at grade six, their English proficiency is very low The result of the placement test for the first-year students showed that more than 50% of the students are at beginning level of proficiency At the university, they only learn grammar and do exercises to pass paper tests consisting of writing and reading skills Therefore, result, it seems that they often feel reluctant to take part in speaking activities and a lot of the students can not communicate with their friends and teachers in English class successfully
If students are the most important factor in the learning process, teachers are the most important factor in the teaching process There are 12 English teacher currently working at HMTU Most of them are young with the age ranging from 25 to 35 and have at least three years of experience in English teaching Seven of them have acquired an M.A degree and four of them are doing an M.A course at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi They are helpful, enthusiastic, and willing to make renovations in teaching methodology.
Methodology
The participants of the study were 165 first-year non-English major students and all 12 English teachers at HMTU These students were selected randomly in classes from English 1011.1 to English 1101.8 The research was conducted in the second term of the school year All the participants took part in the survey questionnaires by answering all the given questions In addition to questionnaires, 10 students and 5 teachers were interviewed in order to have in-depth data
2.2.2 Data collection instruments 2.2.2.1 Survey questionnaires
To reach the purposes of the study, survey questionnaires have been chosen as main instrument for data collection for this particular research because they help collect large amount of information without consuming too much time ( Nunan, 1992) There are two questionnaires used in this study (one is for the students and the other is for the teachers) The questionnaires consist of close, open–ended, and checklist questions
The questionnaire for students consists of two main parts Part I is about the students’ personal information including age and years of English learning Part II aims to find out the level of students’ involvement, their assessment towards their proficiency, teachers’ methods, the materials, factors affecting the participation in speaking activities and some suggestions from students
The questionnaire for teachers also consists of two main parts Part I is about the information of age and years of teaching In part II , it is about teachers’ attitude towards teaching speaking skill, their current teaching methods, factors affecting students’ involvement and some suggested strategies
Besides survey questionnaires, the researcher used semi-structured interviews for teachers as a supplementary data collection method Semi-structured interviews were employed for reasons that they could bring the interviewer great flexibility to focus more on remarkable points (Nunan, 1992) Five teachers and ten students were invited to the interview and kindly requested to answer the interview’s questions
The procedures were divided into two stages:
In the first stage, the respondents were all introduced how to complete the questionnaires carefully and also expected to complete every question Then, the researcher delivered the questionnaires to 12 teachers and 165 randomly selected students The participants were asked to complete in class in 30 minutes Each participant completed the questionnaire without discussion with the others The questionnaires are also translated into Vietnamese in order to help all the students understand and answer all the questions more easily
In the second stage, the author started interviews with five teachers and ten students to get further information In the best attempt to build a scientific methodology, the researcher hopes to achieve a reliable and valid data of the study.
Summary
In this chapter, the author presents the context of the study, the teaching and learning conditions at HMTU In addition, the background of the study, research questions, the participants, data collection instruments and data collection procedures are presented In the best attempt to build a scientific methodology, the researcher hopes to achieve a reliable and valid data of the study.
DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS
Data analysis
3.1.1 Results from students’ survey questionnaire and interview questions 3.1.1.1 Students’ assessment of their speaking ability very good 0% good 3.03% so so 9.09% bad 82.43% very bad 5.45%
Chart 1: Students’ assessment of their speaking ability
The result in chart 1 shows that there were no very good students at speaking skill The number of students with good level at English speaking skill only made up 3.03% while 9.09 % of the participants assumed that their speaking was so so More than three fourth of them admitted that they were bad ( 82.43%) or very bad (5.45%) at speaking skill In addition, during the interview 7 out of 10 students revealed that they desired to speak English but they have difficulty finding words or making correct sentences Whereas, 9 out of 10 students stated that they were not willing to speak because of their pronunciation From the results, it can be concluded that most of the students are at low English speaking level
3.1.1.2 Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill
Chart 2: Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill
From the result collected in chart 2, it can be recognized that a great number of students (70.31%) thought that speaking skill was important even a very important skill in English learning 13.34% of participants stated that it was so so The rest (16.37%) thought that speaking skill was little important or not important at all In general, most of students at HMTU are all fully aware of the important role of speaking skill Unluckily, it is contradictory to the low of level of participation in classroom activities
3.1.1.3 Students’ level of participation in speaking activities always 0% often 15.15% sometimes 30.31% rarely 55% never 4%
Chart 3: Students’ level of participation in speaking activities
It can be seen from chart 3, more than half of the students rarely participated in speaking lessons We can see that this number is not small Many students often kept quiet and were passively in speaking lessons 30.31% of participants sometimes involved in the lessons as it depended on the topics or the activities they were in favor
Only 15.15% of the students were often willing to speak English Surprisingly, none of them always took every chance to speak English From the results shown in the chart, a conclusion can be drawn that levels of students’ participation in speaking activities are very low
3.1.1.4 Students’ assessment of speaking activities in the class
Chart 4: Students’ assessment of speaking activities in the class
As can be seen from the chart, 18.79% of the students found their speaking activities were very boring and 47.28% thought they were boring, so they did not participate in speaking 27.28% of the participants answered that their speaking activities were so so
Only 6.67% said their speaking activities were interesting No one stated that speaking activities were very interesting
3.1.1.5 Students’ evaluation on learning speaking English
1 I prefer doing exercises to speaking in the classroom 61.82 38.19
2 I enjoy practicing English at home by myself 32.13 67.88
3 I usually take every opportunity to speak English 5.46 94.55
4 I only speak English when the teacher calls me 21.22 78.79
5 I hate speaking English in front of other students and the teacher in my class 55.76 44.25
6 I do not often prepare the lesson before going to the class 56.37 43.64
The data from table 1 shows students’ passive learning styles 61.82% students preferred doing exercise to speaking in the classroom and 67.88% enjoyed speaking English at home by himself/herself Most students (94.55%) never made use of chances to speak English except being called by the teacher (78.79%) More than a
E very boring his/her class It seems that they are introverted They are too shy to speak in front of the class Moreover, there were quite many students did not often prepare the lesson before going to the class, accounting for 56.37%
7 Speaking English well is important because it is useful for my career 78.79 21.22
8 I participate in speaking activities because it helps me to get good marks 62.43 37.58
9 I speak English as it helps me improve my fluency and pronunciation 70.91 29.09
10 I often participate in speaking activities in order to have good communication in the future 78.79 21.22
11 I think I can learn English well without speaking it 7.28 92.73
12 I enjoy speaking English more than anything else in the classroom 4.25 97.76
13 I would be very proud of myself if I could speak English well 73.34 26.67
14 I learn English speaking because it is a compulsory subject 90.90 9.1
Based on the data obtained through questionnaires above, students’ purposes of learning can be summarized as follow: the most important purpose was for their prospects for future job 78.79% of the students thought that speaking English well was important because it was useful for their career The same number of the students stated that they often participated in speaking activities in order to have good communication in the future They believed that if they were good at communicative skills they would get a job more easily That is also the reason why 70.91% of the students stated that they liked speaking English as it helped them improve their fluency and pronunciation As can be seen from the table, 62.43% of the students liked the interview, eight out of ten students replied that they studied English to prepare for the future job None of them thought that they learned English because they liked it or wanted to discover the culture of the native speakers In addition, many of the students ( 73.34%) thought that they would be very proud of themselves if they could speak English well, and nearly all of them (92.73%) stated that they could not learn English well without speaking it, which means that to them speaking English was very important Only 4.25% of the participants said that they enjoyed speaking English more than anything else in the classroom Meanwhile, most of the students (90.90%) said that they learn English speaking because it is a compulsory subject
15 I am afraid of making mistakes when speaking English 89.09 10.91
16 I often feel nervous when I have to speak in front of the class 95.76 4.25
17 I prefer sitting on the back row in the far corner in the classroom 22.43 77.58
18 I feel uncomfortable when the teacher asks me to speak in the classroom 88.49 11.52
Table 3 shows students’ anxiety in terms of being afraid of making mistakes (89.09%) and feeling nervous when speaking in the class (95.76%) During the interview, 9 out of 10 students agreed that they were not confident enough and always fear of negative judgement from the teacher and other classmates Only some students (22.42%) reported that they preferred sitting on the back row in the far corner 88.49% of the students who reported in the questionnaires that they often felt uncomfortable when the teacher asked them to speak English in the class
3.1.1.6 Students’ assessment of the topics in the textbook very interesting 2% interesting 15% so so 21% boring 24% very boring 40%
Chart 5: Students’ assessment of the topics in the textbook New Headway pre- intermediate-the third edition
As clearly stated from chart 5, 15% of students were satisfied with the topics in the textbook New Headway pre-intermediate-the third edition and 21% found the textbook so so On the contrary, nearly half of them (40%) thought the topics were boring and 24% thought the topics were not very interesting 4 out of 10 interviewees stated that “ I don’t like the topics in the textbook as some of them are not related to our lives” or “ I find the topics boring” In general, students have different comments on the topics
3.1.1.7 Students’ evaluation on the teachers
* Students’ opinion about teachers’ teaching and characteristics
Table 4: Students’ opinion about teachers’ method and characteristic
A My teacher behaves like a real person 67.87
C My teacher does not create encouraging learning atmosphere in class 18.78
D My teacher uses appropriate method 35.76
E My teacher talks more than students do 47.88
F My teacher speaks so quickly that I cannot understand 52.13
G My teacher does not carry out various speaking activities 64.85
The result points out the fact that 35.76% of the participants said their teachers used appropriate method while more than half of those participants (52.13%) said their teachers spoke so quickly that they could not understand Many students (64.85%) revealed that their teachers did not carry out various speaking activities and 47.88% thought that teachers talked more than students did Besides, nearly two third of the students (67.87%) claimed that their teachers behaved like a real person Whereas 21.21% of the students said that their teachers were unfriendly and 18.78% did not create an encouraging learning atmosphere in class As can be seen from the above analysis, most of students claimed that their teacher did not use appropriate method and carry out various speaking activities
* Teachers’ techniques of encouraging students
Table 5: Teachers’ techniques to encourage students
D Asking students to the topic at home in advance 68.49
From table 5, we can see that about two third of the participants (68.49%) stated teachers asked them to prepare the topic at home in advance About one third of students said that their teachers often encouraged them by giving ideas (30.91%) or by providing vocabulary (26.06%) Some students stated that their teachers used good comments (9.6%) A few students said that their teachers used high marks (7.28%) and funny games ( 3.03%) In brief, teacher’s encouragement is also the factor affecting students’ participation
Table 6: Factors affecting students’ participation
A I do not have enough vocabulary and knowledge of the topic 69.09
B I am afraid of making mistakes 69.09
D I am afraid of being laughed by other students 69.09
E Teacher uses inappropriate teaching methodology 64.85
The statistics in the table shows that the highest number of students stated that their major factors affecting their participation in speaking activities were that they were afraid of making mistakes and being laughed by other students (69.09%) and they did not have enough vocabulary and knowledge of the topic The second highest percentage of students (64.85%) thought that their teachers used inappropriate teaching methodology 44.85% accepted that the activities were boring while 36.97% stated that the topics were boring 34.55% blamed for their lack of motivation
Besides, large class sizes also accounted for students’ low participation ( 34.55%)
3.1.1.9 Students’ suggested solutions to increase their participation
Table 7: Students’ suggested solutions to increase their participation
B Creating a co – operative English learning environment 40
C Encouraging students to speak by giving evaluation (comments, feedback and marks)
D Combining the textbook with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaption
E Personalizing topics to be suitable for students’ interests and levels 53.94
F Personalizing tasks to be suitable for students’ interests and levels 53.94
From table 7, we can see that most of the students (66.67%) agreed that their teachers should use various communicative activities In the author’s interview, students most like games, information gap, picture description and so on Besides, 53.94% suggested textbooks with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaption were also appreciated by 44.85% of the students and 40% suggested their teacher to create a co- operative English learning environment (pair work, group work…)
3.1.2 Results from teachers’ questionnaire and interview 3.1.2.1 Teachers’ attitude towards speaking skill
The first two questions were designed to find out the teachers’ attitudes towards teaching English speaking skill for students
Table 8: Teachers’ attitude towards speaking skill
The importance of speaking skill to the students
The teachers’ interest in teaching speaking skill
It can be shown that all respondents were aware of the importance of teaching skill to their students 50% supposed teaching speaking was important and 41.67% considered it very important 8.34% said that it was little important None of them answer that teaching speaking skill was not very important or not important 33.34% of the respondents felt very interested and 41.67% felt interested in speaking skills in class Whereas, 16.67% answered that they found it normal and 8.34% did not like it very much
3.1.2.2 Teachers’ assessment about students’ speaking ability
Table 9: Teachers’ assessment of students’ speaking ability
Findings and discussion
3.2.1 Students’ level of participation in class speaking activities
After analyzing the data from the questionnaires, we could conclude that the level of participation of the first-year-students at HMTU was low Although most of the students were aware of the importance of speaking skill, they were reluctant to take part in oral communicative activities This is one of the biggest challenges that all teachers are facing, thus to find out factors affecting students’ low participation is a necessary task
The findings showed that students’ low level of language proficiency in English is one of the major factors preventing them from speaking The result from the placement test showed that more than 50% of the students are at beginning level Therefore, it is difficult for the students to talk about topics in a pre-intermediate textbook Most students said that their low level of English in terms of limited vocabulary, inability of expressing ideas accounted for their reluctance Although most of the students in the survey have learnt English for at least 7 years, their English language proficiency was very poor Moreover, from the questionnaire most students thought that they studied English because it is a compulsory subject and for the requirement of their future jobs, not for their personal interests Therefore, they do not spend much time on it In other words, students lacked intrinsic motivation which played an important role in students’ language learning Therefore, in speaking lessons, instead of participating in oral activities actively, they often keep quiet, passively take note, and only talk when they were asked to More importantly, from the questionnaires, students tended to feel shy, nervous or anxious while speaking in front of the class Also, they were not confident enough and always fear of negative judgment from the teacher and other classmates
Finally, students’ passive learning styles prevented students from gaining success in speaking lessons In conclusion, teachers should understand students’ problems and find out better strategies to help the learners overcome the above constraints
The collected data indicated that the teachers face lots of difficulties in teaching speaking skill, those difficulties came from students’ low level, students’ passive learning styles, low motivation, shyness, and large class size Teachers themselves play an important role in getting students’ involvement in studying The first thing needs to be considered is teaching method At HMTU, the teachers did not always apply CLT in teaching because of large class sizes, mixed levels and students’ passive learning styles Teachers’ boring teaching techniques and activities could not inspire students’ motivation to study Secondly, teachers’ characteristics were also very important Through the results from questionnaire, 20% of the students thought that if their teachers were enthusiastic, friendly and helpful, they would feel more comfortable So, they could better participate in speaking activities In short, teachers’ characteristics will make a pleasant and interesting classroom atmosphere and teachers’ method and knowledge will make effective teaching and learning
Another factor affecting students’ involvement in oral activities is classroom atmosphere and environment Many students agreed that classroom atmosphere and environment have strong impact on their interests in the subjects Most students preferred a cooperative learning environment to a competitive and stressful one In addition to classroom atmosphere and environment , a large size studying place is also considered a highly anxiety-provoking environment for students They complained “in a large class I do not have a lot of opportunities to practice speaking with the teacher or raising my voice, even receiving the teacher’s attention during the lesson” or “I really feel nervous when I speak English in front of many classmates They stare at me and expect my performance” Moreover, large classes are not suitable for a speaking class because it is hard for the teachers to carry out any kinds of speaking activities effectively with those students Therefore, it is impossible for the teachers to help all the students in the class to develop their language skills within 50 minutes
These perceptions can be an obvious indication that the teachers should recognize that classroom setting could become an obstacle for students when acquiring target language The students asserted that the more friendly and informal the language
Materials in language learning should be taken into consideration Students often feel interested to speak English in classroom if the topics are interesting, and the tasks are neither too difficult nor too easy Although the course book “New Headway pre- intermediate” was not designed for teaching speaking only, speaking skill is a focus of this book However, at HMTU many students found the topics in the book rather difficult or not interesting This may result from the fact that although students at HMTU are at different levels and most of them are at low language proficiency, the course book is for pre-intermediate level students Furthermore, there is no supplementary material for students during the course Therefore, students often feel reluctant to speak in class.
Suggestions
Firstly, to be successful in learning English, students should take positive attitudes and motivation towards English as well as English speaking They should consider English as important as other subjects in the syllabus and speaking is their goal in learning English By having positive attitude and motivation, students will have desire to study
Therefore, they will actively participate in class activities Secondly, as we know that some passive students are often reluctant to speak in the class for fear of making mistakes or being laughed at by others However, according to Brown (1994), risk– taking is one of the essential characteristics of a successful second language learner
Students, therefore, should make use of opportunities to practice speaking English and make sure that making mistakes is inevitable in language learning process Thirdly, students should cooperate and have good relationship with other students They can work together to prepare for the topics, exchange the ideas, do peer correction and give comments on others’ performance during the presentation Next, they can also listen to radio or watch television, read newspapers and magazines in English to enrich their vocabulary and knowledge Nuttall (1996:168) asserts “the best way to improve your knowledge of a foreign language is to go and live among its speakers”, so it is a perfect way to improve students’ speaking competence if they can find some foreigners around the quarter streets, parks or some other famous places and practice English with them By doing so, students are not only fluent in speaking but also enrich their vocabulary, structures, slang as well as understand their ways of life, behaviors and thoughts and social aspects of English speaking people Besides, students should set up English speaking habits Having good habits in speaking English is one of the ways to help students improve their speaking In class activities, students should try to talk to teachers and friends in English instead of Vietnamese
Finally, students should work well with the teacher in joining discussion, answering questions or giving comments More importantly, students can take advantage of the teacher’s help in case of meeting new words, pronunciation problems in order to carry out the tasks effectively
Firstly, in order to motivate students to study speaking English, 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 In multi-level and large classes as at HMTU using pair work and group work is very helpful Every student has opportunities to take part in the activities, shares ideas and helps each other The anxious students can get support from the better one, so they feel more secured in non– threatening environment Besides, teachers should use various speaking activities to motivate students to study Teachers can apply many other activities such as game, discussion, role-play, information gap, interview, picture description, brainstorming, and so on in stages of a speaking lesson These kinds of activities will avoid students’ boredom and stimulate their interest in learning Secondly, teachers may personalize the topics and tasks, combine the course book with other materials to be suitable with students’ level and interest Thirdly, teachers should create a pleasant, supportive and co-operative classroom atmosphere It is better for teacher to give students more encouragement than criticism to help students overcome the feeling of anxiety, shyness or nervousness Most of the students say that they will feel more secure if they work in a safe environment It means that when they are in co-operative learning groups or among friends, their anxiety will be allayed and the fear of making mistakes will be decreased Besides, teachers should play the role of an advisor, or recourse provider to give help when necessary Then, teachers should establish good relationship 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 relation teacher can use some hints suggested by Brown (1994) as follows:
- Show interest in each students as a person
- Give feedback on each student’s progress
- Openly solicit the students’ ideas and feelings
- Laugh with the students and not at them
- 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 Next, teachers can make English speaking more fun A funny scene in a picture, a surprising story, an interesting video clip, and a humorous situation can all stimulate the students who are naturally expecting to learn to discover new things even the weak ones In a speaking class, the teacher should warm up by saying some words about the speaking topic before asking his/her students to begin discussing and thereby arouse passion for speaking To do this, the teacher needs to prepare some materials to make his/her speaking lessons fun Providing familiar and easy speaking lessons is the first device to make them interesting Students, in the first place, should be handed simple tasks for even difficult speaking sections the level challenges will then reasonably be escalated Making English speaking interesting is not only necessary at pre-speaking but also at both while-speaking and post-speaking sections Some games can warm the class up, and therefore win the love for speaking from the students Gradually, students with tactful assistance from their teachers, arouse their own interest in every speaking lesson Last but not least, teachers should carry out regular tests or examination on speaking skill In fact, the tests and examinations do not include speaking component
Therefore, many students ignore this skill Most of them are interested in learning grammar rules, vocabulary, reading comprehension with the hope to pass the written exam Hence, the teachers should test the students’ speaking ability more often so that the students have to take responsibility and put more effort on learning this skill
The textbook New Headway pre-intermediate third edition consists of 12 different topics, however, many students dislike talking about the topics in the book as some of them are boring and far from what they know Therefore, to ensure the success in activating students and improving their English speaking skills, attention should be paid to selecting speaking materials Materials should be chosen with care and guarantee the students’ interest Choosing materials must base on the criteria such as the level of difficulty, the relevance of the subject matter Topics chosen must be relevant to the students’ knowledge, to their needs, their interests or to the English speaking teaching and learning objectives
Because the current teaching materials are rather difficult and boring, teachers should continuously pay attention to the layout and content of the book and the feedback from the students Adaptations and adjustment should be considered to have more appealing teaching materials Teachers should also choose supplementary materials like visual aid, stories, songs, video clips, movies, and so on basing on students’ level and interest Besides, the researcher suggests that teachers should be very flexible in working with materials and try to add more “flavor” to the extra materials That means the reference materials should not be confined to the international and authentic materials When selecting extra materials, teachers can reduce the level of difficulty of the speaking task by changing the task requirements and adjusting other speaking activities so as to make the materials more suitable for the students’ level and to build up a sense of self-confidence when speaking Gradually, students will be able to explore materials independently without the teachers’ guidance
3.3.4 The classroom Firstly, the Department of Training should divide large-size classes into smaller ones so that teachers can easily carry out various activities and take care of every student and every student can have opportunity to speak in class Number of students for a non-English major class should be 25 Secondly, basing on the result of the placement test, the department should also divide students into three different levels: A class ( Elementary level of proficiency), B class ( Pre-intermediate level of proficiency), and
C class ( Intermediate level of proficiency) The students whose placement test result is at beginning level of proficiency have to enroll in supporting classes Hence, depending on the results of a test students will be arranged in a proper class basing on their English competence So, teachers can easily choose suitable topics basing on students’ level and suitable teaching method and activities to interest students Thirdly, it should be better if the tables are movable The students would feel more comfortable and free to contact with each other It is also very convenient for pair works or group works Last but not least, the assessment method of the first semester should be redesigned to evaluate the students’ competence more precisely
Summary of the study
1 The factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of the first year non-English major students at HMTU are:
- For the students, the factors consisted of their learning styles, language levels, attitude and motivation and anxiety Low level of English proficiency was the most important factor Students’ anxiety such as fear of making mistakes or negative judgments prevented students from participating in oral activities Although students had good attitude towards speaking skill, they were unwilling to involve in the lesson due to lack of intrinsic motivation Passive learning style also added to students’ inhibition to speak English
- For the teachers, the factors included teacher’s role, characteristics and methodology The low level of participation resulted from boring topics and activities organized in the class by the teachers They totally depended on the textbook, which prevented students from thinking creatively Pair work and group work were conducted in some classes, however, they were not effective Moreover, the teachers overused talking time violated students’ opportunities to practise speaking English
The teachers had general understandings of CLT, however, the application of CLT in language teaching was still limited due to large classes
- For the material, the students have positive attitudes towards speaking topics but they admit that the books are still difficult and boring These attitudes towards the present materials will increase students’ motivations and interest in learning to speak English
- For the classroom, the cooperation among members in groups discouraged the students from working with each other In multi – level and large classes, uneven participation between the better and the lower students was also a distracter preventing them from participating in oral classroom activities
2 Based on the findings of this study, a number of suggestions to increase students’ participation in oral activities were given Those suggestions were the answer to the second question ”What arte the possible solutions to increasing students’ participation in speaking activities?” by using various communicative activities, creating a co-operative English learning environment, combining books with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaptation, designing appropriate speaking tasks to the learners’ abilities and conducting tests or exams on speaking, teachers can help students actively participate in oral activities.
Limitations of the study
Secondly, the limitation lies on the academic year of students They are just the first year students, while affective factors is a common phenomenon among all students regardless of levels Thirdly, the study only focused on speaking skill, other skills are also needed studying.
Suggestions for further research
- Factors affecting the second year-students’ participation in speaking activities at HMTU
- Factors affecting the first year-students’ participation in reading activities at HMTU
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APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS
This survey questionnaire is designed for the study of factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of the first-years non-English major students at HMTU Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is of great use and solely for the study purpose
- How long have you been studying English?
1 How do you evaluate your English speaking ability?
A Very good B Good C So so D Bad E Very bad
2 What do you think about the importance of speaking skill?
3 How often do you participate in speaking activities in the class?
A Always B Often C Sometimes D Rarely E Never
4 How do you find speaking activities in the class?
5 Tick your appropriate choice (Learning style, Motivation, Anxiety, Language level)
1 I prefer doing exercises to speaking in the classroom
2 I enjoy practicing English at home by myself
3 I always take every opportunity to speak English
4 I only speak English when the teacher calls me
5 I hate speaking English in front of other students and the teacher in my class
6 I do not often prepare the lesson before going to the class
7 Speaking English well is important because it is useful for my career
8 I participate in speaking activities because it helps me to get good marks
9 I speak English as it helps me improve my fluency and pronunciation
10 I often participate in speaking activities in order to have good communication in the future
11 I think I can learn English well without speaking it
12 I enjoy speaking English more than anything else in the classroom
13 I would be very proud of myself if I could speak English well
14 I learn English speaking because it is a compulsory subject
15 I am afraid of making mistakes when speaking English
16 I often feel nervous when I have to speak in front of the class
17 I prefer sitting on the back row in the far corner in the classroom
18 I feel uncomfortable when the teacher asks me to speak in the classroom
7 How do you find the speaking topics in the textbook New Headway pre- intermediate-the third edition?
8 What do you think about your teacher’s teaching?
( You can choose more than one option)
A My teacher behaves like a real person
B My teacher is not friendly
C My teacher does not create encouraging learning atmosphere in class
D My teacher uses appropriate method
E My teacher talks more than I do
F My teacher speaks so quickly that I cannot understand
G My teacher does not carry out various speaking activities
9 How does your teacher encourage you to speak?
( You can choose more than one option)
D Asking students to prepare the topic at home in advance
F Giving high marks G: Others (please specify)………
10 Which factors affecting your participation in speaking activities?
( You can choose more than one option)
A I do not have enough vocabulary and knowledge of the topic
B I am afraid of making mistakes
D I am afraid of being laughed at by other students
E Teacher uses inappropriate teaching methodology
11 What should teachers do to increase students’ participation in speaking lessons?(You can choose more than one option)
A Using various communicative activities ( game, information gap, brainstorming )
B Creating a co-operative English learning environment (pair work, group work )
C Encouraging students to speak by giving evaluation (comments, feedback, marks)
D Combining the textbook with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaption
E Personalizing topics to be suitable for students’ interests
F Personalizing tasks to be suitable for students’ interests
This survey questionnaire is designed for the study of factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of the first-years non-English major students at HMTU Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is of great use and solely for the study purpose
- How long have you been teaching English?
1 How important do you think speaking skill is to your students?
2 How much do you feel interested in teaching speaking skills to students?
3 How do you evaluate your students’ speaking ability?
A Very good B Good C So so D Bad E Very bad
4 What teaching methods are currently being applied in your speaking lesson?
5 What kinds of communicative activities do you usually use?
(You can choose more than one option)
6 How often do you use pair work and group work?
A Very often B Often C Sometimes D Rarely E Never
7 What are the factors affecting your students’ participation in speaking activities?
( You can choose more than one option)
G Large class sizes H: Others ( please specify)………
8 What should teachers do to increase students’ participation in oral lessons?
(You can choose more than one option)
A Using various communicative activities (game, information gap, brainstorming…)
B Creating a co – operative English learning environment ( pair work, group work…)
C Combining textbooks with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaption
D Encouraging students to speak by giving evaluation (comments, feedback and marks)
E Personalizing topics to be suitable for students’ interests
F Personalizing tasks to be suitable for students’ interests and levels
1 In your opinion, what are the factors for the difficulties your students face in speaking activities?
2 Which speaking activities do you focus more on when encouraging students to speak in class?
3 What should we do to increase students’ participation when teaching speaking?