Difficulties facing vnuas first year advanced programmes students in speaking lessons

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS DIFFICULTIES FACING VNUA’S FIRST-YEAR ADVANCED PROGRAMMES STUDENTS IN SPEAKING LESSONS (NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT CHƯƠNG TRÌNH TIÊN TIẾN TRONG CÁC GIỜ HỌC NÓI ) Student: NGUYEN THI THUONG THUONG Student code: 621277 Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS Supervisor: NGUYEN THI LAN ANH, M.A Hanoi – 2021 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS DIFFICULTIES FACING VNUA’S FIRST-YEAR ADVANCED PROGRAMMES STUDENTS IN SPEAKING LESSONS (NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM NHẤT CHƯƠNG TRÌNH TIÊN TIẾN TRONG CÁC GIỜ HỌC NÓI) Student: NGUYEN THI THUONG THUONG Student code: 621277 Major: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS Supervisor: NGUYEN THI LAN ANH, M.A Hanoi – 2021 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled DIFFICULTIES FACING VNUA‟S FIRST-YEAR ADVANCED PROGRAMMES STUDENTS IN SPEAKING LESSONS 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 Thi Thuong Thuong Approved by SUPERVISOR Date: …………………… i ABSTRACT The focal point this thesis is to find out the difficulties facing the first year advanced programmes students‟ English speaking performance, with the objectives focusing on some suggestions to improve their English skills in general and English speaking skill in particular 80 students of VNUA‟s firstyear advanced programmes participated in completing the questionnaires and eight out of eighty students were interviewed to get to know more about their problems in speaking English class, the causes and efforts they have made to improve their English speaking performance The initial results revealed that the main cause of the students facing difficulties were two kinds of problems namely linguistic problems and nonlinguistic problems Based on the finding, the hypothesis of the study was formed: Practice make perfect, encouraging the students to speak English, giving them a great deal of chances to speak, using English in class, asking them to make English speaking environment and applying solutions studied The evaluation of the action plan revealed that the student motivation significantly improved after the action plan implementation Based on this finding, further recommendation and deeper implications are provided ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the process of doing this graduation paper, I have received many necessary assistances, precious ideas and timely encouragements from my teachers, family and friends This paper could not have been completed without the help, encouragement and support from a number of people who all deserve my sincerest gratitude and appreciation First of all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor – Mrs Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, the English teacher of English Department, who has always been willing to give me valuable advices and suggestions in order that I can complete successfully this study I would also like to express my great gratitude to all the teachers at Vietnam national university of agriculture (VNUA) for their devoted teaching and for giving me new knowledge and studying methods Their teaching not only helps me gain valuable knowledge during the four years at this university but also lays the foundation for me in the future Last but not least, I wish to extend my special thanks to my family and my friends for their assistance and encouragement in the making of this report Hanoi, July, 2021 Nguyen Thi Thuong Thuong iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATION vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY RESEARCH QUESTIONS SCOPE OF THE STUDY SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY DESIGN OF THE STUDY PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME & ABROAD) 1.2 REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.2.1 Definition of speaking 1.2.2 Types of speaking 1.2.3 General outline of a speaking lesson 1.2.4 The importance of English speaking skill 10 1.2.5 Factors affecting the English speaking 13 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 16 2.1 RESEARCH GOVERNING ORIENTATION 16 2.2 RESEARCH METHODS 18 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS 21 iv 3.1 THE SURVEY RESULTS FROM QUESTIONNAIRE 21 3.2 RESULTS FROM THE INTERVIEW 26 3.2.1 The students‟ s assessment of learning speaking skill 26 3.2.2 Kinds of Student‟s Difficulties in Speaking 27 3.2.3 Kinds of Student‟s Efforts in Speaking 34 3.2.4 Suggestions on improving the students‟ English speaking performance 37 3.3 Summary 40 Part 3: CONCLUSION 42 RECAPITULATION 42 CONCLUDING REMARKS 43 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 43 RECOMMENDATIONS/ SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 44 REFERENCES 45 APPENDIXES 48 v LIST OF ABBREVIATION VNUA: Vietnam National university of agriculture EFL : English as a Foreign Language vi LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 2.1 Difficulties facing the VNUA‟s first-year advanced programmes students in learning English speaking from their own perspective 21 Table 2.2: The students‟ assessment of difficulty inlearning speaking skill 27 Chart 2.1: The chart shows the percentage of the students‟ s assessment in learning speaking skill 26 Chart 2.2: The chart shows the number of students facing difficulties related to linguistic problems in speaking skill 28 Chart 2.3: The chart shows the number of students facing difficulties related to non-linguistic problems 29 vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY Speaking English is considered as an important language skill and fundamental to human communication Many people around the world use English to communicate each other Being able to speak English, people can interact with others without obstacles In addition, people speak English to upgrade themselves to survive in the globalization era As a researcher, I would like to present the thesis title “A study on difficulties facing VNUA‟s first-year advanced programmes students in speaking lessons” for several reasons First of all, speaking is the most important skill in communication in the real life They are closely interdependent We are able to talk sensibly when we understand what is said to us If we fail to understand spoken language, we may miss important information and respond in a funny way Moreover, in learning a language, speaking is a useful means of providing students with comprehensible input, which is an essential component of the whole language learning process And teaching speaking skill in classroom helps students make transition from classroom English to real-life English more easily and effectively Therefore, I would like to this research to help the students and teachers pay more attention to speaking skill Secondly, Vietnamese student, especially the 1st year advanced programmes students have a lot of difficulties in learning and practicing English speaking skill They often fall into confusion when speaking English because lack of professional knowledge, confidence, and the good learning method as well Besides, the learning passive environment from high school with the same and boring lessons without the interesting extra-activities prevent them from practicing and improving English That is the main reason they don‟t get the effective result in learning speaking in university After The results appear that drills are required to any work to succeed; students" answers about overcome ways were focusing on daily drills on speaking skill at home Students mentioned that they have behaviors to overcome the problems An example of that is as follows: Participant number two said, "I expect work drills a home, it helps us to overcome this weakness' + Focusing on pronunciation Correct pronunciation of words or structure was some of student responses to facilitate making a conversation in a good way; the results presented Students mentioned that he/she has many ways to overcome the problems An example of that is as follows: Participant number three said, "We must focus on right ways to pronounce words" + Speaking English inside the classroom The results confirmed that English Department lecturers must teach in English language without Arabic to give the chance for students to develop themselves in speaking skills through the university period An example of that is as follows: Participant number two said, "We must use English only in all lessons inside the classroom" + Development of grammar The results showed that students must have ability to correct language mistakes to overcome the problems through the speaking skills, as students' responses An example of that is as follows: One participant said Students should develop grammatical rules Based on the interview results, many students reported that their efforts did not meet their maximum expectations In addition, students also not have many strategies and creativity to solve their problems This may have caused their unsuccessful attempts 36 From the results of the interviews, the lecturers talked about the difficulties that students had when speaking, showing that the difficulties that students face when speaking are 'difficulty speaking', 'lack of vocabulary', 'lack of grammar knowledge', ' The four difficulties found were 'fear of making mistakes', 'losing confidence in speaking', 'feeling uncomfortable when making mistakes' and 'not knowing what to say From this study, the researcher also determined that there is a reciprocal relationship between problems and causes In this case, the problem could be the cause and the cause could be the problem 3.2.4 Suggestions on improving the students’ English speaking performance The researcher identified the types of methods that students used to deal with their challenges when it came to their efforts related to difficulties in learning to speak In this regard, the instructors in the Speaking class have endeavored to tackle the students' concerns by encouraging them to speak English and providing them with several opportunities to so, using English in class, asking them to make English speaking environment, using English with the lecturers such as when the students want to meet him/her, and they are forced to use English with the lecturers at all the times After all the solutions that the students applied, the researcher asked the students if the solutions they used were successful and the students said that some of the solutions were successful to increase the likelihood of success speak and overcome their difficulties, but there are also solutions that fail to deal with their problems Several important proposals are laid out first They are sent to the following people Firstly, for teachers of language skills, speaking skills not stand alone but are supported by mastery of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation; therefore, teachers of these subjects need to improve their students' proficiency The input students for the English Department may not 37 have had high and sufficient English ability when they entered VNUA The lecturers should pay attention to the weak students such as those in this study Remedial measures have to be done if necessary so that the weak students are not left behind other students who, according to these students, had better speaking performance Regarding the lack of vocabulary, according to the respondents' perception, it is possible to consider Brown's (2001) suggestion that teachers allocate specific class time for vocabulary learning, helping students learn contextual vocabulary, play the role of a bilingual dictionary, which encourages the development of strategies for determining word meanings and engaging in “unplanned activities” Second, instructors say language problems can be solved by instructors of language components (vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation) Instructors say attention should be paid to non-verbal issues The most common nonverbal problem most students face is “fear” Instructors should make them brave to speak up Speaking instructors should not criticize any mistakes students make in Speaking Problems such as vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation, but give more praise for student progress Mistakes can be discussed separately In speaking activities, it is necessary to focus on expressing ideas/content well, not on form Instructors should provide students with the necessary expressions for speaking (such as dialogues and ideas) before students practice speaking, and create speaking classes that are enjoyable and comfortable for students so that they are interested in learning to speak Furthermore, professors who teach speaking should provide communicative and enjoyable activities as well as relevant teaching subjects to encourage students to speak because speaking is one of the most challenging language skills for students to master Students should be treated with respect by professors They should be eager to assist kids who have difficulty 38 communicating The lecturers should give more exercises for speaking while they are teaching speaking so that the students can present, produce and practice the language more Speaking lecturers should also give more opportunities to the students to speak in class through small group discussions so that the students are accustomed and not shy and afraid to speak It is preferable that speaking instructors provide time to deal with issues such as how to teach speaking well, materials and interesting topics to talk about including classroom communication activities, as well as The book is used in speaking practice From the entire things, the most pivotal thing is how the lecturers can stimulate their students in speaking so that they are eager to speak (Ur, Penny 2012) The lecturers also try to persuade the students not to be worried or afraid if they make mistakes in speaking As proposed by Brown (1994), lecturers of Speaking should provide affective supports, such as: (a) showing a supportive attitude to the students, (b) selecting challenging topics and activities, (c) considering students‟ language ego states, (d) showing patience and understanding to the students An important factor leading to the success of learning to speak is the student himself Ask students to speak up bravely, without fear of making mistakes They should be creative to find their own ways to develop their speaking ability Students should take advantage of every opportunity to practice English in and out of the classroom They can commit to their classmates using English as much as possible in their daily communication To increase vocabulary, students can several things including refer to dictionary if it is difficult, watch TV, listen to radio or music, etc Students should also provide specific time for reading a lot every day because reading can add and increase their vocabulary Another strategy is to get students to try to memorize a number of vocabulary items every day and use them in sentences so that the words that have been memorized are not easily forgotten This 39 research focused on students‟ perceptions of their problems in speaking class, and the causes of their problems were that they were afraid It may be interesting for other researchers to study the lecturers‟ behaviors which can facilitate or hinder the students‟ learning From the students who become respondent in this study, all of them said that they had problems in speaking, so it will be interesting for other researchers to conduct another research involving more respondents because the researcher believes that not only these respondents who have difficulties but also other students may face problems in speaking It is also intriguing for other researchers to probe deeply what makes the students not speak due to “fear” as the cause of difficulty most students felt or faced in speaking There are some phrases that the students stated to describe their fear in speaking such as „being afraid of speaking‟, „being afraid of making errors, and „being afraid of being mocked by friends‟ It needs to be explored furthermore because these deal with non-linguistic problems Other researchers ought to think of the factors that cause the students to be afraid in speaking in order to find the best solutions to cope with the problems (Nunan, D 1991) (17) 3.3 Summary In conclusion, the researcher collected and analyzed the results from 80 VNUA‟s first-year advanced programmes students l after investigating their opinions on the difficulties in learning English speaking Questionnaire and interview are two research methods used to survey and collect necessary information about this activity According to the research results, teachers' teaching as a useful method to help them actively participate in speaking lessons, showing that they are eager to practice their English speaking skills Therefore, what can be done to improve students' speaking practice is to encourage and carefully guide them so that they can become more confident when participating in speaking practice in class 40 On the other hand, other suggestions such as providing students with familiar topics, reviewing grammar and vocabulary, creating more opportunities for them to practice listening skills with more comfortable performance conditions, creating an environment language with real-life situations and contexts for inspiration They actively participate in English speaking activities both inside and outside the classroom It should be concluded that in order to improve students' English speaking skills, it is essential that they improve their English knowledge and use various means of practice Once students' English knowledge is enhanced and there is a chance to practice speaking English in class, students can gain confidence and get rid of the fear of making mistakes, enabling students to develop skills in English 41 Part 3: CONCLUSION RECAPITULATION The purpose of this study is to find out the difficulties facing the first year advanced programmes students‟ English speaking performance, with the objectives focusing on some suggestions to improve their English skills in general and English speaking skill in particular Questionnaires and Interview questions were interviewed to collect the essential information for the investigation In fact, research suggests that students face with a variety of problems , difficuties.Based on the discussion, some suggestions have been proposed The most important one, speaking skills not stand alone but they are supported by the mastery of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation; accordingly, the lecturers of these subjects need to increase student‟s mastery Students need a friendly and cooperative environment that can help them overcome difficulties in speaking Based on a literature review of research, teachers should understand students' interests and feelings, improve student confidence, and choose the best teaching methods to keep their learners engaged speaking activity Teachers should praise students for speaking English They should build a friendly relationship with their students, making them feel very happy in the classroom and have a feeling of great enthusiasm and desire to learn English in general and speak English in particular The literature review of this study suggests that teachers should give learners enough time to practice speaking skills, help them overcome shyness through friendly behaviors so that they feel comfortable speaking, prompting learners don't worry about making mistakes and guide them right and 42 instructions enough Teachers should give learners more opportunities to speak English through the use of some speaking tasks that help them speak and urge them to participate in speaking activities In addition, teachers should know when and how to correct learners so that they are not afraid of making mistakes CONCLUDING REMARKS To reach what the author aims at this study; the study is divided into five parts with their own purpose The first part introduces an overview of the research The second part briefly covers the theories related to the study The third one presents the overview on situation of learning English research methodology and author's findings of the approach to speaking at speaking skill at VNUA The four part presents the through the questionnaires and interview This chapter also helps the author find the answers for three research questions that stated in the introduction The last chapter is some recommendations and suggestions to improve English speaking skill at VNUA In conclusion, Study has given readers an analysis of the study results and a critical discussion which were fully employed in the study to interpret and assess the collected data The findings as shown explicitly throughout the chapter indicate that the study has been done in a valid manner and has enabled the researcher to answer the research question Last, the recommendations on teaching listening have been made from the study findings LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Although the researcher has made a considerable effort to complete the study, there are still some unavoidable limitations beyond expectation Due to time deficiency, sources restriction, and the researcher‟s limited experience, the 43 study still has some shortcomings Firstly, the researcher initially tends to combine questionnaires with interviews or observation so that the findings are more various and convincing However, due to the lack of time and some incidents when contacting and making appointments with the intended classes, the survey is carried out in a hurry, which has reduced its preciseness Secondly, the time allowed to implement this research topic is limited, so the study cannot cover all aspects of the field and only focus on the most typical ones Besides, the researcher could not cover all the aspects, the techniques suggested in this research are selected from different reliable but limited sources In spite of the mentioned limitations, I hope that this exploratory research will contribute to the better situation of teaching and learning English speaking skill at VNUA In short, the researcher hopes that future studies in the same field will take those limitations into consideration to become more complete and highappreciated All the constructive comments and contributions for this study will be positively welcomed RECOMMENDATIONS/ SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY It is hoped that there will be more research studies done to solve the students‟ problems in learning and practicing English speaking For example, an investigation into factors relating to English learning, particularly speaking skills will be updated in the future because the demand of oral communication is increasing and the world‟s communicating forms is continuously changing Further studies can also be carried out in other universities or with non-major students since the different objects can give different results Moreover, future researchers can consider studying more on effective methods for learning spoken English In particular, technology application is now a prominent trend, which can be put into research 44 REFERENCES Do, T H T (2010) A study on group works-a technique used in teaching speaking skill for the 2nd-year English major students at HPU (Doctoral dissertation, Đại học Dân lập Hải Phòng) Suryani, L (2015) The effectiveness of role play in teaching speaking ELTIN JOURNAL, Journal of English Language Teaching in Indonesia, 3(2) Pathan, M., Aldersi, Z., & Alsout, E (2014) Speaking in their language: An overview of major difficulties faced by the Libyan EFL learners in speaking skill International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies, 2(3), 96-105 Le, T T H (2010) How to promote speaking skills for 7th graders at Bach Dang secondary school in Hai Phong (Doctoral dissertation, Đại học Dân lập Hải Phòng) Krebt, D M (2017) The effectiveness of role play techniques in teaching speaking for EFL college students Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 8(5), 863-870 Dincer, A., & Yesilyurt, S (2013) Pre-Service English Teachers' Beliefs on Speaking Skill Based on Motivational Orientations English Language Teaching, 6(7), 88-95 Pham, T H H (2012) A study on technique to improve speaking skill for secondary student in Quang Ninh (Doctoral dissertation,Dai Hoc Dan Lap Hai Phong ) Neufeldt, V (2002) Webster's new world dictionary Simon and Schuster 45 Sangaji, S (2019) A Study on the University Students‟ Speaking Difficulties Langua–Journal of Hopkins, D (2014) A teacher's guide to classroom research McGraw-Hill Education (UK) McCarthy, M., & Carter, R (1995) Spoken grammar: what is it and how can we teach it? ELT journal, 49(3), 207-218 Efrizal, D (2012) Improving Students' Speaking through Communicative Language Teaching Method at Mts Jaalhaq, Sentot Ali Basa Islamic Boarding School of Bengkulu, Indonesia International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(20), 127-134 Leong, L M., & Ahmadi, S M (2017) AN ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING LEARNERS‟ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL Krashen, S D (1981) Second language acquisition and second language learning University of Southern California Florez, M C (1999) Improving Adult English Language Learners' Speaking Skills ERIC Digest Westrup, H., & Baker, J (2003) Essential speaking skills New York: Continuum Nguyễn,T.T.T ( 2019) , A study on difficulties facing HUBT’s second year english majored students in speaking lessons, causes and suggestions on htpps: //LuanVan.net.vn.com Rubin J, Thompson L, (1982) How to be a more successful speaker on https://wwwscrirp.orp./reference/papersaspx Ur, P (2012) A course in English language teaching Cambridge University Press 46 Brown H.D, (1994) Skill and speaking definitions (Skill development) on karlaflores08.blogspot.com/2015/04/skill-and-speaking definition.html Nunan, D (1991) Language teaching methodology (Vol 192) New York: prentice hall Boonkit, K (2010) Enhancing the development of speaking skills for nonnative speakers of English Procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 2(2), 13051309 47 APPENDIXES This survey questionnaire is designed for my graduation paper namely: " A study on difficulties facing VNUA‟s first-year advanced programmes students in speaking lessons " in completing these questions Please, put a tick for your answer All your personal information as well as your answers will be kept confidential and not be used for the other purposes Thanks for your help! Full name: Class: In your opinion, what are the difficulties facing VNUA‟s first-year advanced programmes students in learning English speaking? Strongly The difficulties… disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree Lack of vocabulary Pronunciation Grammar mistakes Being nervous and afraid of speaking Lack of confidence and motivation Confused how to use 48 appropriate words Being difficult to express words/sentences Less Opportunity to interact with native speaker Questionnaire was taken from study of Thanh Tam Nguyen,2019 and adapted suitably Original questionnaire table: The difficulties… Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree Pronunciation Poor vocabulary Not being good at grammar Being afraid of speaking Lack confidence of and motivation Shyness 49 The interview aims to find out the difficulties facing VNUA‟s first-year advanced programmes students in learning to speak English and the causes of those difficulties Hello, my name is Nguyen Thi Thuong Thuonng, a senior-year English-majored student Currently, I am doing BA thesis, so Could I ask you for a few minutes to complete my BA thesis ? All of your information will be kept confidential Here are the interview questions: (1) What you think of difficulty of English speaking skill? (2) What were you facing the difficulties in speaking lessons? (3) What were the causes of difficulties and problems? (4) What efforts have you made to overcome the difficulties and problems you have had? Thank you very much for your precious time with me Wish you all have a good study! 50