An investigation into problems faced by non english major students in large classes in learning speaking skills at vietnam national university of agriculture

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO PROBLEMS FACED BY NON – ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN LARGE CLASSES IN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILLS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE TÌM HIỂU NHỮNG KHĨ KHĂN MÀ SINH VIÊN KHƠNG CHUN TIẾNG ANH TRONG LỚP ĐƠNG GẶP PHẢI KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NĨI TẠI HỌC VIỆN NÔNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM Student: NGUYEN PHUONG THAO Student code: 621275 Major: ENGLISH Supervisor: NGUYEN THI NGOC THU, M.A Hanoi - 2021 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO PROBLEMS FACED BY NON – ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN LARGE CLASSES IN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILLS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE TÌM HIỂU NHỮNG KHĨ KHĂN MÀ SINH VIÊN KHƠNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRONG LỚP ĐÔNG GẶP PHẢI KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NĨI TẠI HỌC VIỆN NƠNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM Student: NGUYEN PHUONG THAO Student code: 621275 Major: ENGLISH Supervisor: NGUYEN THI NGOC THU, M.A Hanoi - 2021 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled “An investigation into problems faced by non english major students in large classes in learning speaking skills at Vietnam National University of Agriculture” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor in English Language Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis Hanoi, 2021 Nguyen Phuong Thao Approved by SUPERVISOR Date:…………………… i ABSTRACT English is regarded as a worldwide language, with millions of people speaking it throughout the globe It is widely utilized as a means of communication in a variety of disciplines, including science, technology, aviation, international sport, and diplomacy, among others Even though they are from different nations and speak different languages, English allows them to interact with one another Therefore, speaking English is a very necessary skill in modern life Nowadays, English is getting more dominant and it is the most popularly used language by almost every country in the world In Vietnam, the Ministry of Education and Training has put the foreign language into schools' curriculums as a key subject with an orientation of communicative English Among the four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking, the last one is being paid the most attention When you learn any language, what you aim to is how to communicate naturally fluently with indigenous people Maybe you have good writing skills because you have a strong grasp of grammar and vocabulary, but your reflection is poor Some common causes for Vietnamese people who have difficulty in speaking English are fear of communication, lack of training environment, lack of vocabulary, poor grammar, etc For the above reasons, a study of the problems that non-English major students encounter in the large classes at Vietnam National University of Agriculture is implemented This study aims to find some difficulties and solutions to overcome to improve speaking skills for students, to help students confidently communicate in class as well as in daily life and further work ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of completing this thesis, I have received a lot of help from my supervisor, teachers of the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages at Vietnam National University of Agriculture First of all, I owe my deepest gratitude to M.A Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thu - my supervisor who always promptly directed and commented, giving valuable advice to me in a timely manner to correct and complete my own shortcomings to complete this graduation thesis Secondly, I would like to thank the teachers of the Foreign Languages department who helped me to complete my studies in class so that I can conduct this thesis At the same time, I also thank the 240 students of K62, K63, K63 of non - English major classes and English teachers who are teaching general English 0,1,2 at Vietnam National University of Agriculture for helping me in surveying to find out the problems which they faced in learning English speaking skills Last but not least, I would like to sincerely thank my family for always supporting and strengthening my strength and efforts and love for me to follow Thank you, friends, who always stand side by side, support and support me in my study and life iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES vii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY RESEARCH QUESTIONS SCOPE OF THE STUDY SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY DESIGN OF THE STUDY PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME & ABROAD) 1.1.1 Related research 1.1.2 Related research 1.1.3 Related research 1.2 REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.2.1 Statement of theoretical framework chosen 1.2.1.1 Speaking 1.2.1.2 Speaking skills 10 1.2.1.3 Large classes 13 1.2.1.4 Difficulties in learning speaking skills 14 iv 1.2.1.5 Factors affecting speaking skills 14 1.3 SUMMARY 21 Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY 22 2.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 22 2.1.1 Research setting/context 22 2.2 DATA COLLECTION 23 2.2.1 Data collecting instruments 23 2.2.1.1 Questionnaires 23 2.2.2 Data collecting procedures 23 2.3 DATA ANALYSIS 24 2.4 SUMMARY 25 Chapter 3: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 26 3.1 PROBLEMS OF NON – ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILLS 26 3.2 SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS 33 3.3 SUMMARY 34 PART III: CONCLUSION 36 RECAPITULATION 36 CONCLUDING REMARKS 36 2.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 36 The first reason is because of students’ passive learning styles Students at 36 2.2 SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENTS 37 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 38 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 38 REFERENCES 39 APPENDIX 43 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VNUA Vietnam National University of Agriculture SLA Second Language Acquisition LSC Language Speaking Class ELT English Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language L2 Second Language vi LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Teachers’ and students’ opinion about students’ favor of learning English speaking skills 29 Table 2.2: Teachers’ and students’ judgment about speaking skills for students 29 Table 2.3: Teachers’ and students’ judgment about students’ speaking competence 30 Table 2.4: Students’ common difficulties in learning English speaking skill 31 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Students’ background 26 Figure 2.2 shows students’Figure 2.2: Students’ years of learning English speaking skills 27 Figure 2.3: Students' score of general English at the second term at school year 2020 – 2021 28 vii PART I: INTRODUCTION RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Nowadays, in the trend of globalization, English has become an international language and has been widely used in many parts of the world With the development of modern science and technology along with the integration policy, no one can deny the universality of English Outside Englishspeaking countries, English has become a compulsory component of education in many countries This trend is also applied in Vietnam At many schools and universities, English is chosen as a compulsory subject for students because English is considered to be a useful tool to access the world's knowledge Learning English language is, therefore, interesting to many young people, especially students at universities for plenty of reasons such as getting a job in foreign companies, studying abroad and so on Most learners of English agree that the ability to express themselves freely in communication is of great importance for their future career, especially in modern societies where contacting with foreigners often occurs On the other hand, many people equate the English ability as being able to speak in English Many students regard English speaking ability as the measure of knowing that language They define fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability to read, write, or comprehend oral language They consider speaking as the most important skill they can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their accomplishments in spoken communication However, there still exist many difficulties in learning English in general and speaking skills in particular Due to limited budgets, lack of human resources, space and learning facilities, etc , learning speaking skills in large classes are currently popular at Vietnam National University of Agriculture ( up to 60 non – English major students per class) This makes it difficult for the teachers’ requirements and advices (This is what many students specify in the questionnaires) The second reason is students’ low motivation Many students just learn English speaking skills because it is a compulsory subject at university They not recognize the importance of English for them in the future, therefor, they learn it with very low motivation, or no motivation at all They just learn it to pass the exams The next problem is students’ low English level They not have enough structures and vocabulary to make up sentences to express their ideas to other people to understand them Besides, students’ pronunciation, stress and intonation are poor, these make them feel unnatural and shy in speaking They cannot make others understand them because of their wrong pronunciation This makes them misunderstood and reluctant in speaking as well Last but not least, learning in a large and multi-level class is also a big difficulty for students It does not only cause difficulties for students in learning but also for teachers in organizing activities engaging and suitable for the whole class to take part in 2.2 SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENTS Students should try to find out ways to learn English effectively for themselves They also need to find out the motivations for learning English They need to train themselves to be more hard-working in learning English To speak English well, students must try to learn new words, pronounce the words correctly by learning English on apps like Duolingo, Memrise, Elsa Speaking, study new structures and apply them in their speaking by taking extra classes or Prestigious English Center, joining some English clubs, try to make friends with foreigners if possible to use English in real conversation 37 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Due to the limitation of time and ability, shortcomings of this study are unwanted Firstly, the author just uses questionnaires for teachers and students There should have been an interview with the students and teachers to clarify the problems and suggest some solutions more clearly But because of the covid 19 epidemic, VNUA has allowed students to study online, therefore it is not possible to conduct interviews Secondly, the result of this study may not be generalized for all non-English major students from other faculties and universities in Vietnam, in fact, it only serves as reference information for the universities with the students and teachers with similar characteristics as those in this study Last but not least, this study is done in survey research methods, therefore, the results of this study is just preliminary in finding out the awareness of the students and teachers at VNUA about non- English-major students' problems in learning English speaking skills In the future, there should be an in-depth study in this field SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY It is hoped that the people who are interested in this topic will widen the study with more participants, in other schools, colleges or universities In addition to speaking skills, in-depth researches can be done in the fields of listening, reading and writing skills Despite some limitations, it is still hopeful that this thesis can be a basic knowledge and reference materials for other studies 38 REFERENCES Nguyễn Đức Hưng (2009) A study on increasing students’ participation in communicative activities in large classes by using group work and questioning techniques at Marie Curie High School, Hai Phong Hai Phong: Marie Curie High School Penny Ur (1966) A course in language teaching: Practice of theor Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Lawtie, Fiona (2004) Teaching Speaking Skills - Overcome classroom problems British Council Caracas Bygate, M (1997) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Baker and Westrup (2000) How to teach large classes London: Bloomsbury Academic Byrne, B.M (1986) Self-Concept/Academic Achievement Relations: An Investigation of Dimensionality, Stability, and Causality Canada: Canadian Psychological Association Florez, M.A.C (1999) Improving Adult English Language Learners' Speaking Skills Washington, DC : National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education Gillian Brown (1983) Teaching the spoken language Cambrigde: Cambridge University express Nation, I.S.P (1989) Examples of second language learning task Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 10 Nunan, D (1998) Second Language Teaching & Learning Boston: Heinle 11 Chaney, A (1988) Teaching Oral Communication in Grades K-8 USA: A Viacom Company 12 Widdowson, H.G (1984) Explorations in Applied Linguistics 2, Oxford, Oxford University Press 13 Efrizal, D (2012) Improving Students’ Speaking through Communicative Language Teaching Method at Mts Jaalhaq, Sentot Ali Basa Islamic Boarding 39 School of Bengkulu, Indonesia Bengkulu, Indonesia 14 Pourhosein Gilakjani, A (2016) What Factors Influence the English Pronunciation of EFL Learners? Iran: Islamic Azad University Conrad & Dunek (2012) Cultivating Inquiry-Driven Learners: A College Education for the Twenty-First Century Johns Hopkins University Press 15 Baker and Westrup (2000) How to Teach Large Classes with Few Resources (Vso) London: Bloomsbury Academic 16 Balliro, L (2006) Multiple levels, multiple responsibilities National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy 17 Hymes, D.H (1974) Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press 18 C.R.Kothari (1985) Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques Wiley Eastern Limited, New Delhi 19 Diane Larsen-Freeman (1986) Techniques and Principles in language teaching 20 Peter Trudgill (1983) Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society London: Penguin Books 21 Edward Sapir (1921) Language: An introduction to the study of speech New York: Harcourt, Brace 22 Sheldon, L.E (1988) Evaluating ELT Textbooks and Material Oxford University Press 23 Jack C Richards (2005) Communicative Language Teaching Toda New York: Cambridge University press 24 Allwright, R.L (1982) Classroom research and the management of language learning in: Berger, R and Haidar, U (eds.) 25 Sid Gilbert (2005) Compassion Focused Therap New York : The Guilford Press 26 W J McKeachie (1980) Class Size, Large Classes, and Multiple 40 Sections Washingtion, D.C: American Association of University Professors 27 Cathy C Shank (1995) Teaching Multilevel Adult ESL Classes VA: Arlington Education and Employment Program 28 Susan Ainslie (1994) Mixed Ability Teaching: Meeting Learners' Needs London: Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research 29 Tomlinson, C (1999) The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development 30 Berry, E & Williams, M (2000) Teaching Strategies for Multilevel ESL classes Oregon: Clackamas Community College 31 Lightbown, P M., and Spada, N (2001) English language teaching in its social context Newcaslte: Newcastle University 32 Keefe, J W (1979) Learning style: An overview eston, VA National Association of Secondary School Principles 33 Willing, K (1987) Learning Style in Adult Migrant Education Adelaide : National Curriculum Resource Centre for the Adult Migrant Education Program 34 Scarcella, R & Oxford, R (1992) The Tapestry of Language Learning: The Individual in the Communicative Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 35 Cunningsworth, A (1995) Choosing Your Coursebook Oxford : Heinemann 36 Hess, N (2001) Teaching Large Multilevel Classes Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 37 Burns, R B (1979) The self-concept: Theory, measurement, developmen and behavior London and New York: Longman 38 Cahn, D P (1985) Communication in Interpersonal Relationships New York: SUNY Press 39 Coopersmith, S (1967) The antecedents of self-esteem San Francisco: 41 W.H Freeman 40 Ellis, R (1994) The Study of Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press 41 Horwitz, E K (1986) Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety New Jersey: Wiley-BlackWell 42 Johnstone, K (1999) Language Learning London: Routledge 43 Kruger, E G (1994) An Educational Perspective Oxford: Heinemann 44 Gardner, R & Lambert, W.(1972) Attitudes and Motivation in Second language Learning Rowley, MA: Newbury House Publishers 45 Luu (2000) Course for teaching English as a foreign language 46 Mahripah, S (2014) Efl learners’ attitudes towards the improvement of their english speaking performance English Education Department, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 47 McKeachie, W J (1980) Class Size, Large Classes, and Multiple Sections Washington, D.C American Association of University Professors 48 Mustafa, E E (2015) Psychological Factors Affecting Sudanese EFL LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing 49 Pintrich, P R & Schunk D H (1996) Motivation in Education: Theory Research, and Applications Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall 50 Wells, C & (1994) 100 Ways to Enhance Self-Concept in the Classroom London: Pearson Education 51 Donald P Cushman & Dudley D Cahn (1985) Communication in Interpersonal Relationship New York: SUNY Press 42 APPENDIX Appendix 1: Survey questionnaires for students This survey questionnaire is designed for the study “An investigation into problems faced by non english major students in large classes in learning speaking skills at Vietnam National University of Agriculture” Your assistance in responding to the following questions is highly appreciated Your confidentiality is assured In completing these following questions, please choose the answer by tick (√) to your choice Thank you very much for your cooperation! Class:……………… Major:………………………… Survey questionnaires Where are you from?  City  Countryside How long have you been learning English speaking skills?  Never  Less than year  More than year  More than years How often did you learn speaking skills when you were in High School?  Regularly  Occasionally  Sometimes  Rarely  Never What is your score at the end of the first term of the 2020-2021 school year in the general English 2? A C 43 B+  D+ B D C+ F How much you like speaking English?  Very much  Quite much  Normal  Not much  Not at all What you think about English speaking skills?  Very difficult  Difficult  Normal  Not very difficult  Not difficult What you think about your speaking skills?  Very good  Good  Normal  Bad  Very bad Which of the following difficulties you encounter when speaking English? (can choose more than answer) Factors causing difficulties in learning speaking English Tick (√) From a Students’ learning style (passive, intrinsic) students b Students’ low motivation c Students’ anxiety d Students’ lack of background knowledge, ideas 44 Lack of vocabulary Lack of grammar structure Poor pronunciation, stress and intonation Vietnamese affection Objective Large classes factors Multilevel classes Uninteresting textbooks Others (Please specify) Thank you very much for your cooperation! 45 Appendix 2: Phiếu khảo sát dành cho sinh viên (bản Tiếng Việt) Bảng câu hỏi khảo sát thiết kế cho nghiên cứu “Điều tra vấn đề mà sinh viên không chuyên tiếng Anh gặp phải lớp học lớn việc học kỹ nói Học viện Nông nghiệp Việt Nam” Sự hỗ trợ bạn việc trả lời câu hỏi sau đánh giá cao Thông tin bạn đảm bảo bí mật tuyệt đối Để hồn thành câu hỏi đây, vui lòng chọn câu trả lời cách tích (√) vào đáp án bạn lựa chọn, viết ý kiến bạn vào chỗ trống Cảm ơn bạn nhiều hợp tác bạn! Lớp:……………… Chuyên ngành:………………………… Câu hỏi khảo sát Bạn đến từ đâu?  Thành phố  Nông thôn Bạn học kỹ nói Tiếng Anh bao lâu?  Chưa  Dưới năm  Hơn năm  Hơn năm Bạn có thường học nói Tiếng Anh cịn học THPT khơng?  Thường xun  Thỉnh thoảng  Đơi  Rất  Không Số điểm kết thúc học kỳ năm học 2020-2021 học phần đại cương Tiếng Anh bạn? A C B+  D+ 46 B D C+ F Mức độ yêu thích bạn học phần nói tiếng anh nào?  Rất thích  Thích  Bình thường  Khơng thích  Khơng thích Với bạn, kỹ nói có khó khơng?  Rất khó  Khó  Bình thường  Khơng khó  Khơng khó Bạn tự xét thấy kh nói Tiếng Anh m nh hi n n m nào?  Rất tốt  Tốt  Bình thường  Hơi yếu mức độ  Kém Bạn gặp khó khăn nói Tiếng Anh? (có thể chọn nhiều đáp án) Các yếu tố gây khó khăn cho bạn việc học kĩ nói Khó Đánh dấu (√) Phong cách học thụ động khăn từ Động lực học tập thấp phía học sinh Sự lo lắng, căng thẳng học nói 47 Sự thiếu hiểu biết, thiếu ý tưởng Thiếu từ vựng Thiếu cấu trúc ngữ pháp Phát âm, trọng âm ngữ điệu Bị ảnh hưởng Tiếng Việt Khó Lớp học q đơng khăn từ Trình độ sinh viên lớp không đồng yếu tố khách Giáo trình khơng thú vị quan Ý kiến khác (Xin làm rõ) Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! 48 Appendix 3: Survey questionnaires for teachers This survey questionnaire is designed for the study “An investigation into problems faced by non english major students in large classes in learning speaking skills at Vietnam National University of Agriculture” Your assistance in responding to the following questions is highly appreciated Your confidentiality is assured In completing these following questions, please choose the answer by tick (√) to your choice Thank you very much in advance! Survey questionnaires What you think about English speaking skills for students?  Very difficult  Difficult  Normal  Not much difficlut  Not difficult What you think about your students’ speaking skills?  Very good  Good  Normal  Bad  Very bad How much your students like speaking English?  Very much  Quite much  Normal  Not much 49  Not at all In your experience, what are your students’ difficulties in learning speaking skills (can choose more than answer) Factors causing difficulties in learning speaking English Tick (√) From a Students’ learning style (passive, intrinsic) students b Students’ low motivation c Students’ anxiety d Students’ lack of background knowledge, ideas Lack of vocabulary Lack of grammar structure Poor pronunciation, stress and intonation Vietnamese affection Objective Large classes factors Multilevel classes Uninteresting textbooks Others (Please specify) 50 What are suggested solutions for non – English major students to overcome the problems? …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your cooperation! 51