DECLARATION I declare that the graduation paper entitled “Difficulties faced by first year English majors at Thuongmai University in learning speaking skills and some suggested solutions” is the resul[.]
Trang 1DECLARATION
I declare that the graduation paper entitled “Difficulties faced by first-yearEnglish majors at Thuongmai University in learning speaking skills and somesuggested solutions” is the result of my own work and that it has not been submittedto any other university or institution wholly or partially.
Hanoi, April 22th 2018
Student
Trang 2ABSTRACT
Speaking skill is one of the most important skills when learning English.Based on the information from the teacher as well as from the reality, the studentsstill face many difficulties in speaking English, even though they study in Englishmajor In relation to that reason, the researcher conducted a study about“Difficulties faced by first-year English majors at Thuongmai University in learningspeaking skills and some suggested solutions.” This study aims to point outdifficulties of the first-year English majors at Thuongmai University in learningspeaking skills and propose some solutions to improve their speaking skill.
The study was carried out in first-year classes of English Department atThuongmai University The researcher took 50 first year students as the subject ofthe research To collect the data, the researcher used questionnaire and observationas instrument to find the data about the students’ difficulty while speaking Englishand also the students’ solution to overcome these difficulties.
Trang 3ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I am deeply grateful to my supervisor M.A Tran Thi Bich Lan forher great support in assisting me to accomplish this study She always guides mewith valuable suggestions, helpful comments and guidance during myimplementation of this study.Without her support, the study would have never beencompleted.
I also would like to express my sincere thanks to all the lecturers of EnglishDepartment at Thuongmai University for their useful lectures and valuable advicesthat helped me very much to finish my thesis.
I also want to thank the cooperation of first-year students of EnglishDepartment at Thuongmai University who have helped me to collect data for thestudy.
Last but not least, I would especially thank my family; my close friends whogave me a big encouragement to fulfill my study.
Hanoi, April 22th 2018
Student
Trang 4TABLE OF CONTENTSDECLARATION ABSTRACT iACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iiTABLE OF CONTENTS vLIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1
1.1 Rationale 1
1.2 Previous studies .2
1.2.1 Lejla Basic (2011): “Speaking anxiety: An obstacle to second languagelearning” 2
1.2.2 Lukitasari (2008): “Students’ strategies in overcoming speaking problemsin speaking class.” 3
1.3 Aims of the study .3
1.4 Research subjects 3
1.5 Scope of the study 3
1.6 Research methodology 4
1.6.1 Questions of the study 4
1.6.2 Instrumentation 4
1.7 Organization of the study .5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .7
2.1 Definition of speaking? 7
2.1.1 What is speaking? 7
2.1.2 The purpose of speaking .8
2.1.3 Aspects of speaking .9
2.1.4 The importance of speaking 10
2.2 Oral Language Learning 12
2.3 Difficulties faced by speaking English learners 12
2.3.1 Linguistic difficulties 13
Trang 52.3.3 Nothing to say 13
2.3.4 Inhibition 13
2.4 What a good English speaker should do? 14
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 16
3.1 Data analysis 16
3.1.1 Data analysis from the survey questionnaire .16
3.1.2 Observation results .26
CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS .27
4.1 Suggestions for learning vocabulary 27
4.1.1 Learning new words everyday 27
4.1.2 Ways to learn new words 27
4.2 Suggestions for learning pronunciation 28
4.2.1 Learning from native speakers 28
4.2.2 Listening to yourself 29
4.2.3 Speaking slowly 29
4.2.4 Doing more than just reading and listening 29
4.2.5 Paying attention to intonation and stress 29
4.3 Suggestions for building the confidence 30
4.3.1 Stopping worrying too much about grammar 30
4.3.2 Keeping showing up 30
4.3.3 Mastering fluency .30
4.3.4 Mimicking English TV News presenters 31
4.3.5 Speaking with both small and large groups of people .31
4.4 Frequently practicing your English 31
4.4.1 Participating in public speaking events 32
4.4.2 Going to language cafes .32
4.4.3 Taking part in English speaking clubs .32
CONCLUSION 33REFERENCES
Trang 6LIST OF ABBREVIATIONSNumbe
r
AbbreviationsMeanings
1 EFL English as a Foreign Language
Trang 7LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Chart 1: Student’s experience 16
Chart 2: Time of learning English .17
Chart 3: Students’ attitudes towards the importance of speaking skill 18
Chart 4: Students’ attitudes towards speaking skills in their job 18
Chart 5: Students’ attitudes towards speaking English 19
Chart 6: Students evaluation on their speaking skill .20
Chart 7: Students’ feeling when speaking English 21
Chart 8: Students’ attitudes when feeling nervous, afraid or unconfident 22
Chart 9: Difficulties that students encounter while speaking English 23
Chart 10: Students’ action(s) when they faced with difficulties while speakingEnglish 24
Trang 8CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY1.1 Rationale
Nowadays, English plays an integral part in the society It is a key factor thathelps us succeed It is not only the language used in English speaking countries suchas England, US, Canada,…but also in over the world The statistics reveal that morethan a quarter of the world’s population speaks English that means that about 1.6billion people understand and relate with the help of the language of Shakespeare.Not to mention that most of the films are in English, the largest film industry,Hollywood, is produced in English Although the English language doesn’t have thelargest number of native speakers in the world, it has the widest reach of anylanguage spoken today People speak English to have more job opportunities.Businesses need employees who can communicate fluently with English-speakingpartners and clients In addition, entrepreneurs can access a far wider range ofcustomers online by using English Knowing English makes it easy to travel
because English is spoken as a first or second language in so many differentcountries, we are always easy to find English speakers as well as printedinformation in English, especially at hotels and in areas frequented by tourists.
For these reasons, speaking is an important skill for everyone who learnsEnglish because we cannot communicate with each other without understandingwhat they are saying In Vietnam, learners have a long time to learn English Wehave learned English from 6 years old to the time we reach the end of high school,which means we have spent 7-10 years learning English However, most of uscannot communicate with foreigners This is also the common situation of the first-year students of the English Department at Thuongmai University Although theentry mark is very high; however, the speaking English skills of each student is notgood So, why don’t they speak English well? What are the difficulties?
Trang 91.2 Previous studies
In the past, there were many scholars who studied the difficulties faced bylearners when speaking foreign languages They gave a lot of arguments andevidences for this topic In my study, I would like to introduce the study of LejlaBasic and Lukitasari.
1.2.1 Lejla Basic (2011): “Speaking anxiety: An obstacle to second languagelearning”
Lejla Basic studied the anxiety faced by learners when speaking In his study,he said that the reason which causes fear of speaking is anxiety.
“Speaking anxiety has to do with fear, which in most cases has developedfrom bad prior experiences It is frequently suggested that children who have notbeen encouraged to speak from an early stage also create a weaker communicativebehavior pattern Becoming silent at an early stage also contributes to limitedopportunities to practice oral skills Parents’ behavior and views on outspokennesshave therefore a great impact on children’s speaking development When childrenthat are not used to speaking out are confronted with schools’ challengingrequirements in oral proficiency, their inhibition often results in silence andwithdrawnness.”
According to his study, “speaking-anxious people are self-conscious andafraid of making fools of them, being laughed at or bullied” and “speaking anxietyis often triggered by other people that the speaking anxious person does not feelcomfortable with.”
Trang 10reason for this was that they worried about being misunderstood and got stressedabout making mistakes.”
Lejla Basic’s study stressed on the anxiety of learners when speaking andanxiety is the reason why they cannot have a good speaking skill Fear of exposureand not feeling confident have a direct connection with fear of speaking.
1.2.2 Lukitasari (2008): “Students’ strategies in overcoming speakingproblems in speaking class.”
In Lukitasari’s study, she focused on the students’ strategies in overcomingspeaking problems in speaking class The scope of her study was the first semesterstudents of Muhammadiyah University of Malang in Indonesia.
The results of her study suggest that in speaking class, the students faced somespeaking problems including inhibition, lack of ideas, fear of speaking, low oruneven participation and mother tongue use The findings of the study showed thatthe students’ speaking skill was not good because they did not master the threeelements of speaking namely vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
1.3 Aims of the study
My study is aimed at:
- Identifying the difficulties facing the first-year English majors atThuongmai University in learning speaking skills.
- Finding out the reasons for these difficulties.
- Proposing some solutions to improve the speaking skill of first yearstudents of the English Department at Thuongmai University.
1.4 Research subjects
My study focuses on the difficulties when speaking English of first yearstudents of the English Department at Thuongmai University.
1.5 Scope of the study
Trang 111.6 Research methodology
In order to make the study easy and clear to understand, the researcher choosesthe qualitative research method in combination with the quantitative method Itmeans that on one hand I deeply analyze the study topic and on the other hand Iimplement the research to collect the data in reality.
- Quantitative research method: The study is implemented usingquestionnaires The collected data are processed and encoded using softwaresupport, which are later summarized and analyzed.
- Qualitative research method: This method is used to analyze and evaluate thecharacteristics of the speaking skill when expressing ideas and exchanginginformation in spoken language It is based on the theory of speaking skill.
1.6.1 Questions of the study
The study focuses on the difficulties when speaking English facing the first-year students of the English Department at Thuongmai University Through thisstudy the researcher wants to find out the answers for three questions:
- What is the reality of learning speaking of first year students of the EnglishDepartment at Thuongmai University?
- What are the difficulties they are facing when speaking English?- How to improve their speaking skill?
1.6.2 Instrumentation
The research instruments used to collect data for this study are questionnairesand class observation.
1.6.2.1 Questionnaires
Trang 12The questionnaires are designed with two parts:Part I: Demographic data
This part including general information of the participants The respondentsare required to answer questions such as gender, age.
Part II: Speaking skill and difficulties faced by first-year English majors atThuongmai University in learning speaking skills
The students answer questions about their speaking skill and the commondifficulties they have made while speaking English From the above problems andmistakes, those questions related to causes of oral communication problems areasked in this part.
1.6.2.2 Class observation
The researcher uses class observation to see how the students perform theirspeaking skill and what difficulties the students really encounter in speakinglessons The researcher randomly chooses two classes to observe Everythingobserved, heard, and experienced during each class are recorded carefully in thefollowing table:
Class Content Student’s performance
Before speakingDuring speakingAfter speakingBefore speakingDuring speakingAfter speaking
1.7 Organization of the study
The study consists of four main chapters:CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
This chapter shows the rationale, the previous studies, the aims of the study,the research subject, scope of the study and research methodology.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
Trang 13CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS
This chapter focuses on analyzing collected data from the surveyquestionnaires and observation at Thuongmai University.
CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Trang 14CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the researcher provides a review of related literature, includingthe definition of speaking, speaking skill; the importance, purpose and aspects ofspeaking The researcher also points out some difficulties faced by first-yearstudents while speaking English Details of these contents are presented in thesections that follow:
2.1 Definition of speaking?
2.1.1 What is speaking?
There are many definitions of speaking According to Brown (1994), Burn andJoyce (1997): “Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that
involves producing and receiving and processing information.” Its form and
meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participantsthemselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposesfor speaking It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving However, speech isnot always unpredictable Language functions (or patterns) that tend to recur incertain discourse situations (e.g., declining an invitation or requesting time off fromwork), can be identified and charted (Burns &Joyce, 1997) For example, when asalesperson asks "May I help you?" the expected discourse sequence includes astatement of need, response to the need, offer of appreciation, acknowledgement ofthe appreciation, and a leave-taking exchange Speaking requires that learners notonly know how to produce specific points of language such as grammar,
pronunciation, or vocabulary (linguistic competence), but also that they understandwhen, why, and in what ways to produce language (sociolinguistic competence).
Trang 15solidarity, social ranking, of professional advancement and of business It is also themedium through which much language is learnt” Eckard & Kearny (1981), Florez(1999) and Howarth (2001) define speaking as a two–way process involving a truecommunication of ideas, information or feelings This top-down view considers thespoken texts the product of cooperation between two or more interactants in sharedtime, and a shared physical context.
2.1.2 The purpose of speaking
Trang 16purposes more precisely, Kingen (2000: 218) combines both the transactional andinterpersonal purposes of speaking into an extensive list of twelve categories below:
1 Personal: expressing personal feelings, opinions, beliefs and ideas.2 Descriptive: describing someone or something, real or imagined.
3 Narrative: creating and telling stories or chronologically sequenced events.4 Instructive: giving instructions or providing directions designed to producean outcome.
5 Questioning: asking questions to obtain information.
6 Comparative: comparing two or more objects, people, ideas, or opinions tomake judgments about them.
7 Imaginative: expressing mental images of people, places, events, andobjects.
8 Predictive: predicting possible future events.
9 Interpretative: exploring meanings, creating hypothetical deductions, andconsidering inferences.
10 Persuasive: changing others’ opinions, attitudes, or points of view, orinfluencing the behavior of others in some way.
11 Explanatory: explaining, clarifying, and supporting ideas and opinions.12 Informative: sharing information with others
2.1.3 Aspects of speaking
Eventually, aspects of the speaking skill need to be closely scrutinized and putinto consideration These aspects pose some challenges and identify someguidelines for understanding this skill and hence design instructional activities toprepare learners to communicate effectively in real life situations.
2.1.3.1 Speaking is face to face
Trang 17interlocutors are present Such factors facilitate communication (El Fayoumy, 1997:10, Widdowson, 1998 & Burns, 1998).
2.1.3.2 Speaking is interactive
Whether we are speaking face-to –face or over the telephone, to one person ora small group, the wheels of conversation usually turn smoothly, with participantsoffering contributions at appropriate moments, with no undue gaps or everyonetalking over each other (Bygate, 1998: 30 and Cornbleet& Carter, 2001: 27) Turntaking, a main feature in interaction, is an unconscious part of normal conversation.Turn takings are handled and signaled differently across different cultures, thuscausing possible communication difficulties in conversation between people ofdifferent cultures and languages (Mc Donough& Mackey, 2000: 84).
2.1.3.3 Speaking happens in real time
During conversations, responses are unplanned and spontaneous and thespeakers think on their feet, producing language which reflects this (Foster et al.,2000: 368) These time constraints affect the speaker's ability to plan, to organizethe message, and to control the language being used Speakers often start to saysomething and change their mind midway; which is termed a false start Thespeaker's sentences also cannot be as long or as complex as in writing Similarly,speakers occasionally forget things they intended to say; or they may even forgetwhat they have already said, and so they repeat themselves (Miller, 2001: 27) Thisimplies that the production of speech in real time imposes pressures, but also allowsfreedoms in terms of compensating for these difficulties The use of formulaicexpressions, hesitation devices, rephrasing and repetition can help speakers becomemore fluent and cope with real time demands (Bygate, 1987: 21; Foster et al., 2000and Hughes, 2002: 76) Actually, exposing students to these spoken discoursefeatures facilitates their oral production and helps them compensate for theproblems they encounter It also helps them sound normal in their use of the foreignlanguage.
2.1.4.The importance of speaking
Trang 18communicator, but speaking is generally thought to be the most important of thefour skills The capacity to put words together in a meaningful way to reflectthoughts, opinions, and feelings provides the speaker with these importantadvantages:
• Ability to inform, persuade and direct:
Business managers, educators, military leaders, lawyers, and politicians,among others, seek to develop their speaking skills to such a level that they aretransformed into master communicators Speaking clearly and confidently can gainthe attention of an audience, providing the golden opportunity for the speaker tomake the message known Wise speaker is the speaker who gains and then holds theattention of an audience, with well-chosen words in a well-delivered presentation,forming a message that is effective, informative, and understood.
• Ability to stand out from the rest:
When one thinks of speaking skills, one tends to think of it as a common skill.Think again The ability to stand before others and speak effectively is not anordinary ability Many people are deathly afraid of public speaking; others havelittle ability to form thoughts into sentences and then deliver those words in abelievable way The bad news is that at any given moment the world has preciousfew with the speaking talents of, say, Winston Churchill or John F Kennedy Thegood news is that a speaker whose skills are honed and developed with constantapplication and hard work can stand out.
• Ability to benefit derivatively:
Well-developed verbal skills can increase one’s negotiation skills Self-confidence is improved A growing sense of comfort comes from speaking in frontof larger and larger audiences A reputation for excellence in speaking can accrueover time, thereby imparting a certain credibility to the speaker.
• Career enhancement:
Trang 19Speaking skills are important for career success, but certainly not limited toone’s professional aspirations Speaking skills can enhance one’s personal life,thereby bringing about the well-rounded growth we should all seek.
2.2 Oral Language Learning
For language learning to take place, there are four conditions that should exist,and they are the exposure, opportunities to use the language, motivation, andinstruction Learners need chances to say what they think or feel and to experimentin a supportive atmosphere using language they have heard or seen without feelingthreatened‖ (Willis,1996, p.7) A fact that is highlighted by second languageresearch is that progress does not occur when people make a conscious effort tolearn Progress occurs as a result of spontaneous, subconscious mechanisms, whichare activated when learners are involved in communication with the secondlanguage The subconscious element demands a new range of activities, wherelearners are focused not on the language itself but on the communication ofmeaning (Littlewood, 1984) Harmer (1982) also argued that in a communicativetask, the students’ attention should be focused on the content of what they aresaying, rather than the form They should use a wide variety of language Accordingto Ellis (2003), this can be done by involving learners in performing two types ofcommunicative tasks: focused communicative tasks and unfocused communicativetasks Both of these tasks seek to engage learners in using language pragmaticallyrather than displaying language They seek to develop language proficiency throughcommunication Through communication learners can integrate separate structuresinto a creative system for expressing meaning (Littlewood, 1984, p.91).
2.3 Difficulties faced by speaking English learners
Trang 202.3.1 Linguistic difficulties
Most of student struggle to find the appropriate vocabulary item when tryingto speak in English, which reflects their insufficient vocabulary repertoire Whenspeaking, they spend a lot of time to find a suitable word in mother language andthen translate it into target language In order to convey a desired meaning, learnersshould possess a knowledge of the meanings of words, the four types of sentences,the complete sentence and a firm grasp of syntax; that is, they must fullycomprehend how words are segmented into various sounds and how sentences arestressed orally and in writing in particularly effective ways.
2.3.2 Mother tongue use
It is easier for the student to use their mother tongue in their class because itlooks naturally Therefore, most of the students are not disciplined in using thetarget language in the learning process.
2.3.3.Nothing to say
Many learners complain that they cannot think of anything to say, they haveno motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should bespeaking When speaking English, they often lack of idea and that is the reasoncauses the fear of speaking.
2.3.4.Inhibition
Unlike reading, writing or listening skills, speaking requires some degree ofreal-time exposure to an audience Learners are often inhibited about trying to saything in foreign language in the classroom, they worried about mistakes, fearful ofcriticism or simply shy of the attention that their speech attract Those could blockthe process of students’ ability in oral communication.
Trang 21development of communicative skills can only take place if learners have themotivation and opportunity to express their own identity and relate with the peoplearound them (Littlewood, 1981) Teaching strategies also contribute to this problemas they are inadequate and they do not put emphasis on speaking, which results in ameagre development of this skill Besides, vocabulary items are taught in isolation,and listening materials are not used by the majority of schoolteachers because of thelarge number of teachers compared with the number of cassettes available Teacher-training programs were found to be not very successful in changing the teachers’methodology (Rababa’ah,2005).
2.4 What a good English speaker should do?
Trang 22of grammar structures to maximize listener comprehension and involvement(Brown, 1994).
Teachers should monitor learners' speech production to determine what skillsand knowledge they already have and what areas need development Bailey and
SavageÕs New Ways in Teaching Speaking (1994), and LewisÕs New Ways inTeaching Adults (1997) offer suggestions for activities that can address different
Trang 23CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS3.1 Data analysis
This chapter focuses on analyzing collected data from the surveyquestionnaires and observation at Thuongmai University.
3.1.1 Data analysis from the survey questionnaire
The questionnaires were designed in English for 50 first-year students ofEnglish Department at Thuongmai University It was supported by M.A Tran ThiBich Lan Her comments made the questionnaires more valid Then thequestionnaire was revised From March 1, 2018 to March 3, 2018, thequestionnaires were delivered to 50 first-year students of English Department atThuongmai University The researcher explained clearly the purposes ofadministering the questionnaire which were to find the students’ speaking problems,the factors affecting their performance and to find ways to improve the students’speaking skills Then the researcher instructed the students to complete it beforethey answered the questionnaire to avoid any misunderstandings Then, completedquestionnaires were collected.
3.1.1.1 Student’s learning English experience
90%10%
Did you learn English before college?
YesNo
Trang 2460%25%
14%2%
How long have you been learning English?
More than 7 years5 - 7 years2 - 5 yearsUnder 1 year
Chart 2: Time of learning English
This question aimed to know experience of first year English majors aboutstudying English As we can see from the figure 1 and figure 2, 90% of the studentsof the English Department studied English before college And only 10% of themhave not ever studied English before Specially, 60% of them studied English for along time (more than 7 years); 25% for 5 – 7 years; 13% for 2 – 5 years and only2% for under 1 year.
Trang 253.1.1.2 Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill
94%6%
Do you think speaking skill is important?
YesNo
Chart 3: Students’ attitudes towards the importance of speaking skill
81%4%
8%8%
What do you think about the necessity of speaking skills to your future job?
Very necessaryVery unnecessaryNormal
Necessary
Chart 4: Students’ attitudes towards speaking skills in their job
Trang 26normal and only 4% thought that it is not necessary Through this result, we can see that mostof the students know how important English is in their career With a good speaking skill,they could get ahead of other candidates when they were applying for a new job orgot a promotion by being proficient in English Speaking English opened up a widerange of new opportunities both in their career and in their personal life.
3.1.1.3 Student’s attitudes towards speaking English
Very much33%Rather21%Normal38%Little6%Not at all2%
How much do you like speaking English?
Chart 5: Students’ attitudes towards speaking English
Trang 278%
13%
63%10%
6%
Can you evaluate your speaking skill?
Very goodGoodNormalBadVery bad
Chart 6: Students evaluation on their speaking skill
When the students were asked to evaluate their speaking skill, more than halfof them (63%) thought that their speaking skill was very normal (neither good norbad); 13% chose good and only 8% thought their speaking skill was very good 10%of them felt their speaking skill was bad and 6% felt that it was very bad.
Trang 28Very confident8%Confident10%Normal23%Unconfident55%Anxious4%
How do you feel when speaking English?
Chart 7: Students’ feeling when speaking English
This question aimed to find out the feeling of students when speaking English From thechart, it can be seen clearly that more than a half of the students felt unconfident whenspeaking English (55%) 23% of them felt normal, 4% felt anxious and only 10% and 8% feltconfident and very confident, respectively.
Trang 2953%47%
What do you often do when you feel ner-vous, afraid or unconfident while using
Eng-lish?
Relaxing and then continuingStopping and giving up
Chart 8: Students’ attitudes when feeling nervous, afraid or unconfident
Trang 303.1.1.3 Difficulties that students encounter while speaking English.
Using incorrect grammarMispronunciationA lack of ideasBeing unconfidentSpeaking very little or not at allA lack of vocabularyUsing VietnameseOthers05101520253035404526.934.638.530.832.738.59.63.8
Which problems do you encounter while speaking English?
Chart 9: Difficulties that students encounter while speaking English
When the students were asked to choose the difficulties that they encounterwhile speaking English, among the difficulties listed, nearly half of them (38.5%)revealed they lacked vocabulary and ideas when speaking English 32,7% of thestudents spoke very little or not at all 30,8% of them felt unconfident.Mispronunciation accounted for 34,6% of the students 26,9% of them thought thatthey often use incorrect grammar 9,6% of the students said that they useVietnamese instead of English when they lacked ideas.
In summary, the results indicated that there were a variety of problems thataffect the students’ speaking skill A majority of the students agreed that theirspeaking skill was affected by vocabulary and ideas When speaking English, theydo not have enough vocabulary and ideas to express their opinion, so they spokevery little This made them confused and unconfident The second difficulty theyencountered was mispronunciation When speaking English, they often pronouncedincorrectly This made the listeners not understand what they meant The thirddifficulty was grammar Although they had a long time to study grammar, whenspeaking, they still were in trouble Finally, confidence was considered to be afactor that had influence on students’ speaking skill.
Trang 3165%35%
What do you often do when you have dif -ficulties in learning English speaking?
Asking for help from teachers orhigher proficiency-level studentsKeeping silent
Chart 10: Students’ action(s) when they faced with difficulties while speakingEnglish
The aim of this question was to find out students’ reaction when theyencountered difficulties while speaking English The results given in chart 10revealed that most of the student asked for help from teachers or higher proficiency-level friends when they encountered difficulties while speaking English (65%) 35%of them chose keeping silent.
Trang 323.1.1.5 Students’ opinion on speaking skill solutions
Focusing on grammarFocusing on vocabularyFocusing on pronunciationSpeaking English regularlyOthers01020304050607080901008580709040
What should you do to improve your speak-ing skill?
Chart 11: Students’ opinion on speaking skill solutions
The table above presented that speaking English regularly was the moststudents’ favorite solutions 90% chose speaking English regularly It meant thissolution was the best suggestion in order to improve their speaking skill It helpsstudents deal with their speaking problems as well as interest them in learning 85%of the student considered that they should focus on grammar; 80% of them chosefocusing on vocabulary and 70% of them thought that they should focus onpronunciation.
Students nowadays tended to prefer taking part in English Club to practicetheir speaking skill In these English Clubs, they had many chances to communicatewith others in English as well as make new friends That was a good environment toimprove their speaking skill.
In brief, the findings from the questionnaires delivered to the students showedthat when the students spoke, they encountered many problems The most commonspeaking problem was that the students were unconfident in themselves They hadno motivation to express themselves They spoke very little or nothing in speakingclasses They could not think of anything to say In that time, they often usedVietnamese instead of speaking English.
Trang 33Class observations were carried out to see how students really performed andwhat problems they had when they spoke English The researcher randomly chosetwo classes to observe They were K53N2 and K53N4 The following problemswere the most common ones in the classes observed:
3.1.2.1 Before speaking
The students were not given enough time to prepare for a speaking task beforethe task was performed They lacked time to think of ideas, find vocabulary ortranslate their speaking speech from Vietnamese into English The teacher gavethem 10 minutes to prepare for their task However, the researcher saw that thestudents spent too much time looking up new words in the dictionary They foundnew word or they used a dictionary to translate into English When the studentswere asked to work in groups, not all of them were eager to contribute theiropinions in English Some of them participated actively but the others spoke verylittle or not at all
3.1.2.2 During speaking
The students looked very nervous and afraid when they spoke in front of theclass Sometimes, they did not know what to say and kept silent They feltunconfident because they did not have anything to speak Some of them read whatthey had written on a piece of paper They did not remember the structures andvocabulary to speak naturally While the students were making performances, theother students in class did not listen attentively They even chatted with the peoplenext to them when their classmates were speaking.
3.1.2.3 After speaking
Trang 34CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
What has been discussed and analyzed in Chapter 3 shows that the speakingskill of the first-year English major students of the English Department atThuongmai University is not really good Thus, within the scope of the study, theresearcher would like to put forward some recommendations and suggestions toimprove the students’ speaking skill.
4.1 Suggestions for learning vocabulary
4.1.1 Learning new words everyday
Learning new words day by day is a good way to widen your vocabulary Youshould commit to a certain target with yourself: it can be five daily words or it canbe ten daily words Even if you only have time to learn one new word per day, it isstill worth trying By learning one word every day, after one year you will havelearned 365 new English words.
Write the number down to remind yourself frequently If you have a learningpartner, share it with her so that she can check on your progress.
Some good resources for words are the news, songs and TV shows, dependingon your daily habits If you love listening to music, pay attention to the lyrics andtake note of the words you do not know Songs often contain a lot of usefulvocabulary, phrases and expressions, therefore, they are great for learning English.
Moreover, you can read books, newspaper, magazines to expand yourvocabulary The more you read, the more words you'll be exposed to As you readand uncover new words, use a combination of attempting to derive meaning fromthe context of the sentence as well as from looking up the definition in a dictionary.
4.1.2 Ways to learn new words
Trang 35 Writing the words in a notebook with their translations or definitions Witheach new word, you describe it through a picture Seeing the picture and describe it,remember to use the new word as much as possible.
Writing the words and definitions on small cards Write the word you wantto learn on the front of the card On the back of the card, you write the translation ofthe word in your language, or a definition of the word, or a gap sentence If youwrite 2 or all 3 of these you will learn the word more quickly and give yourselfextra English practice Of course, you could copy the definition and examplesentence from English learning websites but writing your own is the better choice.And then you can test yourself by many different ways For example, you can lookat the word and try to remember the translation or definition; you can look at thegap sentence and try to think of the word that fits in it; you can look at the word inyour language and see if you know the English.
4.2 Suggestions for learning pronunciation
Pronunciation is an important part of learning any language The way yourspeech sounds can have a big impact on whether or not people understand what youare saying and their initial impression of you The tricky thing about pronunciationis that it is not just a question of acquiring knowledge, it’s a physical skill that youneed to practice regularly.
There are no shortcuts to perfect pronunciation; however, there are some waysyou can practice more effectively and improve your skills faster:
4.2.1 Learning from native speakers
Trang 364.2.2 Listening to yourself
If you cannot hear your pronunciation problem, it is hard to correct it.Therefore, recording your speech and comparing it to native speakers helps yourecognize your problem and change it.
4.2.3 Speaking slowly
Many English learners say that speaking too quickly reinforces their badhabits Practice a few basics each day Start with single sounds, then move on towords, and finally, string several words together.
4.2.4 Doing more than just reading and listening
A trap which many learners of English fall into, which stops theirpronunciation from improving as quickly as it should, is to spend all their studytime either reading or listening to English learning materials It’s important toactively use the language, even if you do not have a partner to speak with Read outpassages, record audio and even sing in the shower.
4.2.5 Paying attention to intonation and stress
Good pronunciation is more than just mastering individual sounds It is alsounderstanding intonation (the rise and fall of the voice) and stress (some sounds inwords and some words in sentences are louder or clearer than others).
Individual English words have a “strong” syllable, for example:
Table – stress on the first syllable
Provide – stress on the second syllable
If you get the word stress wrong, the word can sound completely different and
impossible to understand! Also, for some English words, their
meaning changes when the stress is different:
object (noun) = a thing, an item
object (verb) = to disagree, to speak up against an idea
In natural spoken English, complete sentences also have stress We do not say
each word in the sentence equally, like a robot!Consider this sentence:
Trang 37When spoken naturally, the stress is on the words Saturday, went, party,beach, and friends.
4.3 Suggestions for building the confidence
Lacking of the confidence while speaking English is the common problem ofmost first-year students of English Department at Thuongmai University Thisfeeling can cause them to get discouraged and give up So, how to build theconfidence? There are some suggestions to become a confident English speaker:
4.3.1 Stopping worrying too much about grammar
You do not need to worry too much about grammar Native and non-nativeEnglish speakers still can understand what you mean if you makesome minor grammar mistakes Indeed, the grammar of spoken English is oftenmore flexible than written English grammar Also, be positive Celebrating whatyou know and do not be frustrated about what you don’t know.
4.3.2 Keeping showing up
Woody Allen said 90% of success is showing up And Woody Allen made animportant point here If you lack confidence and you are afraid or nervous, do notstop or give up You continue attending classes and keep speaking even when youmake mistakes You also do not hide from your feelings of discomfort They shouldharness your fear and make use of it as positive energy You get laughed at manyand many times until you just do not care anymore Try to be consistent in yourEnglish learning efforts and your confidence will develop.
4.3.3 Mastering fluency
Trang 38audience Go ahead and practice with a trusted friend when you feel morecomfortable.
4.3.4 Mimicking English TV News presenters
If you are not sure how to act confidently, a great way is to study English TVNews presenters You want to be able to understand what they do that makes themso confident There is no better way to understand this than by watching people whohave to speak in front of millions of people every day – news reporters andpresenters While it may be tempting to watch the news in your native language, itis better to watch it in English First, you get to practice your listening skills.Second, you want to be able to mimic their tone so you can do the same in English.If you don’t think you can do this, just remember that even native English speakershave a hard time speaking in front of an audience Those newscasters can do itbecause they have practiced for many hours over many years You, too You alsocan be as confident as them – but you need to put in the time and effort.
4.3.5 Speaking with both small and large groups of people
Most English learners say that it is easier to understand and keep up with aconversation when they are in a one-on-one situation It is great to build yourEnglish skills by speaking with people individually but you should also try toinvolve yourself in large-group conversations if possible If you get in aconversation with 4 or 5 people, start by just trying to get the idea of what they aresaying Later you can join in if you feel more confident.
4.4 Frequently practicing your English
Trang 394.4.1 Participating in public speaking events
Big universities, learning English centers or culture societies often organizeevents like open debates, spoken word readings and improvised storytellinggatherings These are places where you can come and mingle with like-mindedpeople and practice speaking English.
4.4.2 Going to language cafes
If you have free time and you want to improve your speaking skill, you can goto language cafes Those cafes create a friendly and relaxing atmosphere for peoplewho want to practice and exchange languages In here, there are many nativespeakers as well as many people who want to find a chance to practice English.Therefore, this is a good environment for you to improve your speaking skill.
4.4.3 Taking part in English speaking clubs
Trang 40CONCLUSION
In the modern society, English become an important part in our life andspeaking seems to be the most important of all the four language skills So,everyone must try best to master English language so as to create moreopportunities for themselves Unfortunately, while some good learners; others meetmany difficulties in speaking English Trying to help them overcome the obstaclesis actually important and imperative.
This graduation paper has been conducted with the aim to investigate thecommon difficulties faced by first-year English majors at Thuongmai University.To some extent, it succeeded in answering the research questions From the resultsof the research, the researcher discovered the difficulties the students face andeffective solutions that students can apply to improve their speaking skill.