MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES HUE UNIVERSITY
AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE ON FACTORS INFLUENCING ORAL FLUENCY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UNIVERSITY
IN VIETNAM
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
Trang 2MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES HUE UNIVERSITY
AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVE ON FACTORS INFLUENCING ORAL FLUENCY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE UNIVERSITY
IN VIETNAM
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
CODE: 9140111 SUPERVISOR:
Trang 3BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN VỀ CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN VIỆC NĨI TIẾNG ANH
LƯU LỐT Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TẠI VIỆT NAM
LUẬN ÁN TIẾN SĨ
LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH
Trang 4BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ
NGHIÊN CỨU NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ SINH VIÊN VỀ CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN VIỆC NÓI TIẾNG ANH
LƯU LOÁT Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TẠI VIỆT NAM
LUẬN ÁN TIẾN SĨ
LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 9140111
Trang 5ABSTRACT
Trang 6TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS i
LIST OF TABLES v
LIST OF FIGURES vii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background of the study 1
1.2 Statement of the problem 2
1.3 Purpose of the study 2
1.4 Research questions 3
1.6 Significance of the study 5
1.7 Definitions of key terms 7
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 11
2.1 Overview of teaching speaking and speaking in Vietnam 11
2.2 Theoretical background 152.2.2 Accuracy 172.2.3.1 Fluency as proficiency 222.2.3.2 Utterance fluency 242.2.3.3 Cognitive fluency 242.2.3.4 L2 perceived fluency 25
2.2.4 Segalowitz’s framework for L2 fluency 26
2.2.5 L2 Oral fluency factors 27
2.2.5.1 Motivation 29
2.2.5.2 Behavior and attitude 29
2.2.5.3 Tasks 30
2.2.5.4 Instructions 31
2.2.5.5 Exposure to English 33
Trang 72.2.7 Communicative competence 35
2.2.8 Fluency development 39
2.2.9 Summary of Theoretical Framework 41
2.3 Previous studies 42
2.4 The Gaps in the Literature 59
2.5 Summary 60
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 62
3.1 Research Paradigm 62
3.2 Research design 64
3.3 Participants 67
3.4 Data collection instruments 70
3.4.1 Questionnaires for teachers and students 72
3.4.2 Semi-structured interviews for teachers and students 74
3.5 Data collection procedure 78
3.5.1 Piloting the questionnaires 78
3.5.2 Piloting the semi-structured interview 79
3.5.3 Administering questionnaires 80
3.5.4 Administering the semi-structured interview 82
3.6 Data analysis procedures 83
3.7 Reliability and Validity 85
3.8 Ethical Considerations 86
3.9 Summary 87
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 88
4.1 Findings 88
4.1.1 The quantitative analysis of teachers’ and students’ perspectives on LOF 88
4.1.1.1 The descriptive analysis of teachers’ perspectives on LOF 89
4.1.1.2 The descriptive analysis of students’ perspectives on LOF 90
4.1.2 The qualitative analysis of teachers’ and students’ perspectives on LOF 91
Trang 84.1.3.1 The overal analysis of teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF 96
4.1.3.2 The overal analysis of students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF 97
4.1.4 The quantitative analysis of teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF 984.1.4.1 Behavior and attitude factors 99
4.1.4.3 Tasks Factors 101
4.1.4.4 Instructional Factors 102
4.1.4.5 Exposure Factors 103
4.1.6 The descriptive analysis of students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF 105
4.1.6.1 Behavior and attitude factors 106
4.1.6.2 Motivational Factors 107
4.1.6.3 Tasks Factors 108
4.1.6.4 Instructional Factors 109
4.1.6.5 Exposure Factors 110
4.1.7 The qualitative analysis of students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF 1114.2 Discussions 112
4.2.1 LOF from EFL students’ and teachers’ perspectives 112
4.2.2 Teachers’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF 113
4.2.3 Students’ perspectives on factors influencing LOF 114
4.2.4 Teachers' and students' perspectives on factors influencing LOF 115
4.3 The summary 120
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 122
5.1 Summary of the Study 122
5.2 Summary of the Findings 122
5.3 Limitations of the study 124
5.4 Implications and contributions of the study 124
5.5 Recommendations for Future Research 126
5.6 Conclusion 127
LISTS OF AUTHOR’S WORK PAPERS 128
Trang 9education in Vietnam 1282 The impacts of technology on the development of L2 oral fluency in higher education in Vietnam 128
Trang 10LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1 Summary of the student participants’ personal information 69
Table 3.2 Summary of the teacher participants’ personal information 69
Table 3.3 How data were collected for this study 71
Table 3.4 Summary of the Questionnaire Instrument with closed-ended items for quantitative data 73
Table 3.5 Interview questions for teachers and students 76
Table 3.6 Coding for interviewing teacher participants 77
Table 3.7 Coding for interviewing student participants 77
Table 3.8 The reliability of teachers’ pilot questionnaire 79
Table 3.9 The reliability of students’ pilot questionnaire 79
Table 3.10 The reliability of the official questionnaire- Teachers 80
Table 3.11 The reliability of the official questionnaire- Students 80
Table 3.12 The reliability of the theme - Teachers 81
Table 3.13 The reliability of the theme - Students 82
Table 4.1 EFL students’ and teachers’ perspectives towards LOF 88
Table 4.2 EFL teachers’ perspectives towards the importance of LOF 89
Table 4.3 EFL students’ perspectives towards the importance of LOF 90
Table 4.4 Summary of the Themes for Interview Question One - Teachers 91
Table 4.5 The summary of emergent themes from students’ responses 92
Table 4.6 Summary of the Themes for Interview Question One - Teachers 93
Table 4.7 Summary of the Themes for Interview Question One - students 94
Table 4.8 EFL teachers’ and students’ perspectives towards factors influencing LOF 95
Table 4.9 EFL teachers’ perspectives towards factors influencing LOF 96
Table 4.10 EFL students’ attitudes towards factors influencing LOF 97
Table 4.11 EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Student Behavior and Attitude factors 99
Table 4.12 EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Motivational factors 100
Trang 11Table 4.15 EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Instructional factors 102
Table 4.17 EFL teachers’ attitudes towards Exposure factors 103
Table 4.19 EFL students’ attitudes towards Behavior and Attitude Factors 106
Table 4.20 EFL students’ attitudes towards Motivational Factors 107
Table 4.21 EFL students’ attitudes towards Tasks factors 108
Table 4.22 EFL students’ attitudes towards Instructional factors 109
Table 4.23 EFL Students’ attitudes towards Exposure factors 110
Trang 12LIST OF FIGURES
Trang 13LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CLT EMI ELT
Communicative Language Teaching English Medium Instruction
English Language Teaching
IELTS International English Language Testing System
L2 Foreign Language or Second Language
LOF L2 oral fluency
MOET MALS
Ministry of Education and Training
Mobile Application for Listening and Speaking
PhD Doctor of Philosophy
TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language
TBLT TL
Task-Based Language Teaching Target Language
SD Standard Deviation
SLA Second Language Acquisition
Trang 14CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Internationalization has emerged as a prevalent trend in the globalizing world of higher education in an effort to recruit a more diverse student population and facilitate global, regional, and domestic institutional competition for students (Wallitsch, 2014) English is often recognized as the major language of communication for people in many regions of the world as it continues to grow in importance as the most extensively used international language (Chen, 2009) Additionally, many individuals today use English in many social contexts and for a variety of communication styles throughout the world (e.g., academic settings and workplace environments) The need to reconceptualize traditional notions in language teaching and learning such as ‘fluency’ is therefore more necessary than finding the most efficient teaching pedagogical technique that can be applicable to all teaching and learning contexts (Jacobs & Renandya, 2016, p 4) Therefore, rather than emphasizing propositional knowledge (knowledge of what or language norms and conventions), EFL instructors should focus on establishing procedural knowledge in their classes (Canagarajah, 2014, p.767) This procedural knowledge is foundational to fluency in language use
Oral proficiency is important to most of English language learners who are expected to learn English in order to communicate in their after-school life ’(Morreale et al., 2000) Accordingly, Emanuel (2011) found that oral communication activities, such as speaking and listening, accounted for more than three-quarters of college students’ daily time spent communicating intellectually Reading and writing, however, only made up around 25% Because it demonstrates the need for teachers to support and encourage their students to adopt more effective oral communication techniques, this is a crucial feature
Trang 15to develop their oral fluency has not been sufficiently researched in Vietnam Given the importance of teachers’ beliefs in shaping the way they teach, research on this issue is much needed In addition, research has shown that there are a variety of different contributing factors to students’ oral fluency This study is an attempt to fill this gap in
the literature, particularly in the Vietnamese contexts
1.2 Statement of the problem
It is commonly reported that the oral fluency demonstrated by Vietnamese students is so poor despite many years of learning English (Huyen & Ha, 2013; Tran, 2013; Tuan & Mai, 2015; Thi & Diep, 2017) More significantly, these issues can be seen as a dearth of literature about the factors that influence speaking fluency and the teaching strategies for this component, with only a small number of empirical studies on students’ and teachers’ perspectives on the higher education system in Vietnam circumstance It is vital to promote awareness of the issues at hand in addition to the possible factors that influence how students speak English fluently before it is possible to build oral fluency and communicative competence
Similarly, Stern (1983) found that language learners were able to communicate in an L2 to some extent even after receiving years of instruction based on such curricula As the goal of English language teaching is to develop students communicative competence of which oral fluency is an important component, the problem of students’ poor oral fluency needs to be resolved, and this research is a modest effort towards this goal
1.3 Purpose of the study
Trang 16perspectives on the given topic, this research can aid in identifying probable elements that may have an impact on English major students' oral fluency in a university setting More than that, the thesis can make some advances in English language instruction and acquisition at Vietnamese universities
1.4 Research questions
The term fluency may appear nebulous, and it is challenging to define it precisely (Brumfit, 1984) EFL students face limitations when exchanging knowledge, ideas, and even thoughts and feelings with others In addition to delivering a message, speaking requires engaging in lengthy debates with others In order to investigate the factors that influence speaking among EFL Learners at Vietnamese universities, the study aims to obtain answers to the following questions:
1 What factors do teachers think affect student’s oral fluency in English? 2 What factors do students think affect their oral fluency in English?
3 In what ways do teachers and students differ in their conceptualizing oral fluency and their opinions of factors affecting oral fluency in English?
It will be clear that these research questions do not lend themselves to rigorous, positivist research that is meant to be "scientific," with the generation of quantitative data and the ensuing statistical analysis By all means, terms like views, attitudes, practices, and beliefs about research issues suggest that what is being looked at are the perspectives of both teachers and students that are based on their real practices and attitudes This research utilizes an exploratory and meaning-centered methodology in order to get an understanding of the perspectives shared by both educators and students Also, it is a context-embedded qualitative interpretative investigation with a component of quantitative data, or "quasi-statistics" (Becker, 1970; referenced in Maxwell, 2010, p.476), collected via questionnaire responses, as will be seen in the next section
1.5 Scope of the study
Trang 17students of English as a foreign language in Vietnam to speak English correctly and fluently One of these is the presence of beneficial elements associated to the learning of the students To put it another way, the breadth of the present study is concentrated on the affective components, specifically motivation, and attitude It is widely held that emotional elements play an important influence in both the acquisition of a language and the motivation to engage in fluency activities (Yang, 2014) This research also considers additional factors that may have an impact on students speaking fluency by looking from the teachers' and students' perspectives among Vietnamese students Oral fluency can be affected by a variety of factors, including instruction, exposure to English, and tasks
More specifically, and particularly pertinent to the focus of the present study, it investigates the factors reflecting a dynamical system in which cognitive, motivational, social, sociolinguistic, pragmatic, and psycholinguistic considerations interact with one another in a variety of complex ways in order to contribute to the speaking fluency of EFL students (Segalowitz, 2016) The results of the study are from the teachers’ and students’ perspectives on speaking abilities exclusively During the process of data gathering, it does not require any additional skills from the participant It is not possible to use it on any skills that are superior to these restrictions On the other hand, this word refers to oral fluency not just in the framework of the language classroom, but also in a considerably larger range of circumstances including social communication and interaction This indicates that speaking fluency is linked to both formal and informal language acquisition contexts It comprises formal contexts, which refer to any circumstance where teaching is provided, for example in a language classroom, and informal contexts, which refer to any situation where the language may be used or experienced, such as watching movies, reading books, or listening to the radio
Trang 18and pedagogical implications for EFL teachers and the learning process for EFL students There may be some differences in the results and implications if the implementation process is perceived from the perspectives of administrators Therefore, the present study's scope is limited to language learning for both teachers and students and language use and production for students
Third, the study focuses on English-major university students who have different goals and linguistic skills than non-English-major university students Furthermore, the students spend the majority of their learning time in an L2 environment and nearly exclusively use the L2 Aside from that, the schedule, texts, assessments, and even teaching activities are all unique As a result, the findings cannot be generalized to students at the same university who do not major in English The other focus of the study is on the perspectives of university teachers who appear as active agents and producers of educational knowledge In other words, research has been conducted in the arena of teacher effectiveness
Finally, the study takes place at universities in Central Vietnam, where students must have earned from an entrance exam in order to be admissible As a result, while the study's findings may be applicable to other universities with similar backgrounds, no generalizations should be drawn for universities outside Vietnam
1.6 Significance of the study
To the best of my knowledge, no previous research on second language fluency has looked at the perspectives of teachers and students on fluency in speaking The academic study and the knowledge of certain qualities or elements impacting Vietnamese L2 learners' speaking fluency have been nearly completely lacking Although fluency is often recognized as one of the core qualities that most L2 learners fully anticipate gaining, the perspectives of EFL teaching staff members and learners have mostly been ignored in a concrete empirical study As a result, the importance of this research is confidently predicted to make excellent contributions to both the theoretical and practical elements of the area of language studies
Trang 19education, which may represent the nature and components of the learners' speaking proficiency This is partly due to the learners' background, and characteristics of learning EFL identified through the data collection, which may reveal possible triggers regarding oral fluency outcomes The results may thus raise the heightened awareness of the main components affecting fluency in students’ communication in Vietnam
It is a given that the ultimate stage of formal learning in one's life will most likely be attained at the higher education level, in particular in the EFL courses where subjects related to the English language are formally mastered The findings of this study attempt to emphasize the specific aspects that influence LOF that L2 learners may experience when they are in the learning stage In addition to this, it can help students understand the factors that contribute to their level of fluency in speech, allowing them to better prepare themselves In addition, the findings may provide an empirical indication of the extent to which students' abilities to acquire spoken English have been influenced by a variety of potential influences The importance of this research could help students enhance their English speaking fluency in the teaching and learning process
The outcomes of this study will shed light on the pedagogical effectiveness of speaking fluency in foreign language communication among Vietnamese EFL learners in higher education This research was carried out in order to investigate this topic Because of this, the focus of the study is on the description of variables that are directly connected to the process of learning English as a foreign language (EFL), which ultimately leads to the diagnosis of the relevant elements that impact the fluency of spoken English in Vietnam Because of this, the focus of the study is on the description of variables that are directly connected to the process of learning English as a foreign language (EFL), which ultimately leads to the diagnosis of the
relevant elements that impact the fluency of spoken English in
Trang 20proficiency Following this, it is anticipated that the findings of this study will help to the endeavor to figure out and grow the teaching approaches in teaching speaking skills, which will eventually decrease the barriers to fluency improvement and eagerly accept changes Finally, in order to solve this obstacle teacher development programs should be taken into consideration, supporting participants to have ongoing and regular opportunities to keep up-to-date on new research on language learning, new learning resources, and more
1.7 Definitions of key terms Oral fluency
On a theoretical level, there are several interpretations of fluency in general Fluency is commonly understood to be the capacity to comprehend language with ease and precision Similarly, the Oxford English Dictionary defines fluency as "the ability to speak or write a particular foreign language easily and accurately." From the perspective of research communities, the concept of language competency can only be understood when it is analyzed as a construct embedded inside various societal literacies and the link between those literacies and power in our society (Montero-Sieburth, 2014) By the same token, the Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) pointed out that "language proficiency is the ability to communicate information, ideas, and concepts in the different content areas" (Montero-Sieburth, 2014) Overall, throughout communities of practice and research language fluency is nearly recognized to refer to the contextualized aspect of language usage, as opposed to considering language competency as the presentation of grammar and pronunciation expertise However, it is often employed without a definition or with a meaning that lacks a theoretical basis
Trang 21perspective that include cognitive, utterance, and perceived fluency Also, in this research, the terms "oral fluency" and "speaking fluency" are used interchangeably to refer to different aspects of language
Teachers’ and students’ perspectives
Perspectives are the unique ways in which individuals evaluate a situation, influenced by their own experiences or concerns (Nkwe & Marungudzi, 2015) To put it another way, having a point of view involves viewing the world through a filter that is formed by one's own experiences, the information that one chooses to focus on, and one's own appraisal of that information As Pajares (1992) demonstrated in his study of 35 educational investigations, "all teachers hold beliefs, however defined and labeled, about their work, their students, their subject matter, and their roles and responsibilities” They are also expected to promote their "beliefs," which are far more influential than knowledge in shaping how individuals organize and define tasks and problems and are more accurate predictors of behavior (p 311) Teachers' and students' perspectives are connected to their attitudes, values, and beliefs, which enable them to justify and describe their classroom strategies and techniques (Rokeach, 1968, cited in Nkwe & Marungudzi, 2015) As a result, teachers' beliefs influence their knowledge, attitudes, and teaching and learning approaches, which are affected by their experiences and evolve through time (Richards, 1998) In other words, instructors' perceptions of the goal and practices of second language speaking might influence how instruction is viewed and interpreted
Trang 22Therefore, it is advisable to suggest that a study on the individual perspectives of higher education in Vietnam is more likely to offer light on how Vietnamese instructors and students see the effect of LOF variables and how they approach them as a language of teaching and learning As a result, the significance of language instructors' and learners' perspectives (beliefs, knowledge, and practices) on variables impacting LOF is emphasized, giving vital resources and practical recommendations for education stakeholders seeking a solution to oral fluency in higher education Similarly, the current study of teachers' and students' perspectives and attitudes towards LOF is crucial not only for the successful adaptation of the educational paradigm, but also for the academic staff's cooperation in developing and implementing effective resources for teaching speaking skills The qualitative data that were gathered for this study allowed for a full understanding of the intricate web of perspectives and attitudes with regard to LOF These perspectives and attitudes may have an effect on the teaching and learning practices of the participants who were EFL teachers and students In conclusion, this research takes into account both the viewpoints of the learners and the instructors in order to acquire a more complete image of the in-role and extra-role boundaries and to make significant contributions to the improvement of the teaching and learning process
1.8 Organization of the thesis
There are five chapters in this thesis The background of the study is introduced in the first chapter, which is then followed by the research problems, the purposes of the study, and research questions It also discusses the scope for choosing the research field, the significance of the study, and how the thesis' structure is organized
Trang 23the research findings concerning factors that influence LOF by research participants in their academic and social practices
The third chapter outlines the research methodology, including the research paradigm and design, followed by participants, Data collection procedure, and instruments This chapter also covers data analysis procedures, reliability and validity, and ethical considerations The chapter concludes with a summary
The fourth chapter presents the results from both the quantitative and qualitative data analysis The findings of factors influencing oral fluency and students' and teachers' perspectives of oral fluency influencing factors are discussed in two sections
The fifth chapter provides a summary of the research topic It begins with a review of the key scientific contributions made by the study, followed by a summary of the study's findings and limitations The chapter also examines the
study's ramifications and contributions, as well as future research
Trang 24CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter provides a literature review on the topic and investigates the elements that contribute to English-speaking fluency in EFL students In particular, it conducts an in-depth analysis of the research that has been done on the factors that influence speaking fluency, how these factors should be recognized and managed in order to achieve effective speaking fluency, and how the teaching of speaking skills as well as speaking fluency is progressing in Vietnam at the present time The chapter begins by providing definitions of key terms, then moves on to a discussion of the teaching of English speaking, particularly speaking fluency in Vietnam universities, followed by a discussion of the purpose, content limitations, and suggestions for better application of the language, followed by a discussion of the distribution of the use of the language in language learning In addition to this, the chapter identifies many aspects that play significant roles in the process of learning English and places an emphasis on the part that these factors play in developing fluency while speaking English At the end of the chapter, a review of relevant studies from around the world and Vietnam is presented in order to define the scope of the current investigation and develop the research questions
2.1 Overview of teaching speaking and speaking in Vietnam
This study was carried out at universities in Vietnam The specific research context is comparable to other learning circumstances across the world, particularly in Asian nations where spoken English is taught and practiced as a mandatory topic from the first to the twelfth grade On the other hand, there exist distinctions, and one cannot apply to the other what has been successful in one environment What this implies is that the context should identify parallels and contrasts with other instances As a consequence of this, it is recommended that the participants of the study be concentrated mostly on English-major students studying at Vietnamese universities
Trang 25become a fundamental and compulsory subject in the school curriculum, from primary to higher education Later on, despite the new emerging foreign languages such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc., the English language is often regarded as the most significant foreign language in K-12 education, colleges, and tertiary education (Nguyen, 2002) In response to the galloping trend of English, MOET in Vietnam has issued frameworks for the pilot program of the EFL primary curriculum in which the English language is taught as a compulsory subject from Grade 3
As for the study of factors affecting speaking fluency, Vietnam presents a rich cultural milieu with socio-economic, historical, and political factors shaping the higher education system and the attitudes and students' motivation toward English learning (Truong, 2016) English is introduced both as a discipline and a subject in universities if the students study English to have a BA, an MA, or a doctoral degree in English
On the other side, studying English is required throughout the entirety of Vietnam's higher education system Tertiary students are more motivated to learn English than those in the secondary a higher level of motivation to learn English than those in secondary schools and high schools (Hoang, 2010) Students who have a strong command of the English language have a better chance of securing a high-paying position in their native country or of moving to another nation to pursue educational and professional opportunities Besides, a computer-based learning environment is more comprehensive than ever because of Vietnam's growing social, economic, and political ties with other nations and the rapid advancement of communication technology (Dang, 2011a) As a result of these hints, Vietnamese students have been inspired to learn English in order to improve their English language competency skills This has led to more effective and advanced interactions with people from other countries, as well as an effort to meet the various requirements that people from those countries may have
Trang 26From the standpoint of second language acquisition, the learning environment should be considered while learning a language after learning the mother tongue Because Vietnamese students are studying English as a foreign language or as a second language in a classroom or a formal instructional setting, it is essential to consider the social context This differs from informal L2 learning that takes place in naturalistic contexts That is to say, in an EFL background or "poor-acquisition setting," English is not used outside of the classroom or as the language of instruction for school subjects; instead, language teachers, course books, or learning aids are used to supply English As a result, the lack of exposure to and experience with the target language almost always results in difficulties in increasing oral competency and fluent characteristics
Furthermore, the cause is attributed to a variety of flaws in real-life learning material sources Otherwise, such students are more likely to develop language skills through the acquisition of grammar and vocabulary It is reasonable to assume that these difficulties may prevent language learners from improving their speaking fluency
Trang 27The Vietnamese MOET has approved the national plan for "Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Formal Educational System between 2008 and 2020" (Decision No 1400, 2008) This plan paves the way to having a more practical approach to doing better than a theoretical strategy and trying to use English as the main component to catch up with other nations in the region and internationally In 2014, MOET launched the foreign language program (MOET, 2014), with the goal of encouraging Vietnamese institutions to adopt English as the medium of instruction (EMI) for teaching academic courses While EMI may experience challenges during its implementation, it is meant to improve English language teaching and learning in
tertiary education in response to current developments in integration,
internationalization, and globalization (Manh, 2012; Nguyen, Hamid, & Moni, 2016; Ngo & Hendricks, 2018) However, before being implemented across the whole higher education system, it is intended that this novel educational method will first be tested at a select number of universities that are pertinent to the field In conjunction with this model, Nguyen et al (2016) took a closer look at the aspects of institutional autonomy for higher education institutions in Vietnam This was done in an effort to deal with the neoliberal demands of beginning educational reforms aligned to stretching higher education while certifying its quality and outcomes It is worth noting that their study revealed that "the implementation of EMI programs at autonomous universities did not satisfy many of the necessary conditions," such as lecturers' English proficiency, materials and resources, teacher training, and creating social and pedagogical environments for ensuring content and language learning outcomes" (Nguyen et al., 2016, p 680)
Trang 28In terms of teaching methodology, although Vietnam has incorporated a communicative approach, which is deprived of the strong form version of CLT, into the teaching and learning of English, it is not being fully utilized due to the strong emphasis placed on academic examinations In other words, the communicative approach to English teaching and learning is not fully exploited as it should be, emphasizing English grammar, writing, and reading skills to prepare learners for these tests (Le, 2011; Pham, 2014; Bui, 2016) as well as being shaped by the scholastic approach (Erlenawati, 2005) This suggests that the concentration is on written English rather than just spoken English, resulting in difficulty in conversing in the language verbally
Despite this, there has been a lot of effort in recent years to return to the traditional approach to English language education (P Le & Ngan, 2016) This resonates with the suggestion made by Hoang (2001, p.38), indicating "the traditional approach could be either improved in the direction of the principles of communicative language teaching or used as a kick-off step in the communicative classroom." He further mentioned that "the teaching hierarchy could be first accuracy, then fluency, or acquisition following learning, not the other way round" (p.38) Therefore, in Vietnamese EFL contexts, it is beneficial for successful speaking pedagogy to conduct an in-depth investigation of "the factors, conditions, and components that drive speaking effectiveness" (Shumin, 2002, p 210)
2.2 Theoretical background
In the middle of the 1990s, Skehan created a proficiency model that included these three elements of fluency, accuracy, and complexity (Skehan, 1996; Skehan, 1998) Complexity, accuracy, and fluency are thought to adequately and effectively reflect the key aspects of L2 performance and proficiency This indicates that production, proficiency, and development of second languages are all influenced by
complexity, accuracy, and fluency More than that, accepting and recognizing
Trang 29Fluency refers to the ability to speak the target language quickly, without pausing, hesitating, or reformulating, or reformulation, whereas accuracy refers to the
ability to speak the target language in an appropriate manner Complexity is frequently
defined as the capacity to employ a broad and diverse variety of advanced structures and vocabulary in the L2 (Ellis 2003, 2008; Ellis & Barkhuizen 2005; Lennon 1990;
Skehan 1998) It is hypothesized that real-world contexts would affect speakers'
attempts to strike a fair balance between linguistic complexity, accuracy, and fluency
(Housen & Kuiken, 2009; Skehan, 2014) Likewise, according to Skehan and Foster
(1997), users of a second language have reduced attentional abilities, making it difficult for them to simultaneously process information that is complex, accurate, and fluent
The current research explores the opinions of both instructors and students on the aspects that contribute to oral fluency, taking into consideration their current conditions and situations As discussed in the thesis, it is necessary to have a firm grasp of the definitions of "oral fluency" and "associated concepts" before attempting to appreciate the elements that determine an individual's level of oral fluency There are numerous definitions of oral fluency and diverse approaches to discern speaking fluency, so much so that those interested in learning more about oral fluency are sometimes confused (Préfontaine, 2010) He argued further in favor of a multidimensional conception of fluency
Trang 30fluency, L2 cognitive fluency, and L2 perceived fluency Individually, each of the three LOF components is difficult to quantify Besides, his framework for L2 fluency includes five components including cognitive fluency, utterance fluency, motivation, interactive communication, and experiences
More specifically, the main framework employed in this study is viewed as reflecting the operation of a dynamical system Segalowitz (2010) This leads one to believe that the cognitive activities underlying utterance fluency are themselves changed by fluency-relevant experiences, which are in turn shaped by social interactions, motivational states, and subjective experiences connected with employing the L2 Focusing research in this way will yield a set of factors that are related to the dynamical system and help learners improve their oral fluency
Based on this framework that were described, this seems to go well beyond describing and documenting fluency phenomena, and it also has implications for how to approach concerns about oral fluency components in a systematic manner Also, from this key framework (Segalowitz's 2010), the researcher is going to discuss the meaning of oral fluency as well as significant aspects that influence speaking fluency
2.2.1 Complexity
Complexity is a challenging term, as seen by the many unclear definitions presented for it (Lahmann, 2015) For example, according to Ellis (2003), complexity is the degree to which the language generated in accomplishing a job is rich and diverse The word "complexity" is described as a condition or characteristic of being "intricate" or "complicated" in the Oxford Dictionary of English There are several definitions of complexity that link it to concepts such as complicatedness, difficulty, or cost In the SLA literature, the phrase is used in at least two separate contexts: linguistic complexity and cognitive complexity (DeKeyser 1998; Williams & Evans 1998; Housen & Kuiken 2009)
2.2.2 Accuracy
Trang 31prominently and often together in L2 studies, which is an asset of L2 learners' performance evaluated to examine the effect of other factors (Housen, Kuiken, & Vedder, 2012)
Skehan and Foster (1999, p.96) regard accuracy to be a reflection of the capacity to operate without making errors This may imply better levels of linguistic control, but it may also reflect avoidance of complex structures that might potentially cause mistakes However, when it comes to communicative language teaching, fluency is distinguished from accuracy In particular, pedagogical perspectives place different emphases on fluency and accuracy, which was discussed in research related to understanding communicative L2 proficiency in classroom contexts (e.g., Allwright (1979) argues Brumfit (1979, 1984; Hammerly 1990) However, Brumfit's (1984) definition of Fluency as "the maximally effective operation of the language system so far acquired by the student" (p 57), accuracy does not receive much attention., Similarly, a considerable amount of research supports the idea that demands for fluency may come at the expense of accuracy (Lightbown & Spada, 1990; Gass, Mackey, Alvarez- Torres, & Fernandez-Garcia, 1999; Tavakoli & Skehan, 2005)
2.2.3 Fluency
Trang 32An alternative investigation of fluency can be found in Lennon (1990, 2000) He proposes that there are two notions that might be used to define fluency In the so-called broad concept, fluency means global oral proficiency, indicating that a fluent speaker has a strong foreign or second language command The term is strikingly similar to Chambers' (1997) idea, which "describes the spoken production of a person who can use the language effectively, usually of someone speaking a foreign language" (p.536) He has been relatively consistent in his conceptualization of fluency as a synonym of oral proficiency that somehow follows the characteristics of competent language speakers He also pointed out that "in CLT, the notion of fluency is used to assess how well learners use their knowledge to achieve their linguistic and communicative purposes" (p.537) This concept of fluency seems to hold the same ideas as the second aspect of fluency proposed by Fillmore (1979)
Trang 33According to a recent study by S Segalowitz and Segalowitz (2016), fluency attainment is shaped by a variety of dependent variables such as age, aptitude, ethnolinguistic identity, intelligence, learning style, personality, and so on In the same vein, Simona Kopnická (2016) manifested a diversity of significant factors that play a prominent part in speakers' fluency Temporal and lexical speech stream factors (speech rate, pauses, repetitions, self-corrections), speaker factors (exposure, practice, interaction, proficiency, immersion experience, age, gender, and motivation), and speaker-external factors (tasks, environment – lab vs natural setting) are some of the different features playing a role in fluency Wood (2006) defined Fluency in temporal variables like the amount of speech, rate of speech, repair phenomena, pause phenomena, and length of fluent runs
Given communication in a foreign working environment, it is generally agreed that foreign language fluency is necessary Thus, when teaching EFL, language teachers tend to agree with Herder and Sholdt's arguments that "you must work on your speaking fluency in order to get better understood by others." This can be illustrated briefly by Nation (2014) He defined fluency as using the best of what is already known Furthermore, fluency is viewed as one of the most critical components of the output process in EFL or ESL learning, which paves the way for successful communication in L2 learners Yet, as Kirk (2014) underlined, even though wide-ranging teachers might view the fluency skill as necessary, they also see it as a complicated phenomenon when addressing fluency in the classroom According to the information in Van Patten's talk show, Tea with BVP, fluency is context-dependent Remarkably, he describes it as the intersection of speaking and listening, and the context determines accuracy and the role of each
Trang 34subsequently introduce but rarely teach language learners essential socio-cultural skills In the same way as the discussion of CLT, it is widely considered the most productive approach for English language teaching to promote communicative competence among L2 learners While some educators contend that CLT is considered an ideal approach and should be the dominant approach for teaching English, critics have also argued that CLT is not feasible in many countries, particularly in Asian countries This is because their local learning culture is more likely to emphasize mechanical and memory learning and a lack of individualism and creative thinking (Kay, 2002) Although these views of fluency reflect widespread definitions of the term, it is necessary to define fluency as more specific and relevant to the context examined in this research
Ultimately, it must be proposed that the term "fluency" be discussed with two meanings in this present study The first meaning is considered proficiency or as a component of proficiency (Lennon 1990, 2000) Fluency appears to mean global oral proficiency; that is, a fluent speaker has a strong command of a foreign or second language From the combined literary evidence, it is clear that researchers are describing fluency as proficiency in using language to communicate, including Sajavaara and Lehtonen (1978), Faerch, Haastrup, and Phillipson (1984), Hedge (1993), and Weir (1993) They all came to view fluency as an inextricable part of communicative competence This means the speakers can use linguistic and pragmatic competence (Koponen and Riggenbach, 2000) Given this, it appears likely that the level of oral fluency of L2 speakers is frequently used as a measure of their language skills or proficiency The second meaning of oral fluency comprises three distinct but interrelated concepts: cognitive, utterance, and perceived fluency (Segalowitz, 2010) This fluency framework of Segalowitz was mentioned in the following part
Figure 2.1 Aspects of L2 fluency – Segalowitz’s model Aspects of L2 fluency
Trang 35Nevertheless, each component represents a significant part of the overall definition of LOF According to an investigation by Segalowitz (2016a, p.79), "cognitive and utterance fluency need to be situated in the social context of communication to take into account the role played by the pragmatic and sociolinguistic nature of communication in shaping L2 fluency development."
This research focuses on oral fluency in the context of foreign language teaching and learning In this situation, the word "fluent" has a specialized meaning in this context
2.2.3.1 Fluency as proficiency
No matter how fluency is defined, it is generally accepted that it entails communicative competence or language proficiency when discussing non-native fluency, or LOF (Freed et al., 2004) As described on the previous page, this dissertation will describe and examine oral fluency as a part of oral proficiency
Along with Lennon (1990), other researchers broadly define fluency as a concept that, to some extent, refers to a characteristic feature of language proficiency, especially second language proficiency or global oral proficiency (Biancarosa, Shanley, & Shanley, n.d.; Lennon, 1990; Chamber, 1997; Koponen & Riggenbach, 2000; Hilton, 2008; Baker- Smemoe, Dewey, Bown, & Martinsen, 2014; Leonard, 2015; Gorkaltseva et al., 2015; Nzanana, 2016; Lahmann, Steinkrauss, & Schmid, 2017) Although, in some standard terms, fluency indicates both ease and accuracy in delivering a speech (Fluency, n.d.), fluency has a more specific and distinct meaning in the field of linguistics That is to say, fluency in proficiency is "the ability to produce the second language with native-like rapidity, without pausing, hesitation, or reformulation" (Housen, Kuiken, & Vedder, 2012, p.2) Communicating and conveying the target language fluently and accurately is the ultimate goal of a foreign or second language learner (Kormos & Dénes, 2004) The primary objective of a foreign or second-language learner is to communicate and transmit the target language fluently and accurately (Kormos & Dénes, 2004b)
Trang 36proficiency measures put students through tests based on recognized proficiency standards, such as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), published by the Council of Europe in 2001 For instance, it describes fluency as one of the main criteria for measuring the L2 learners' proficiency level The CEFR framework establishes criteria for describing and justifying speaking levels of competency to discern the levels of competence and proficiency of L2 learners in the target language The rating scale for spoken fluency is shown in appendix VII, the criteria for spoken fluency in CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001)
It should be noted that fluency here is one of five evaluation criteria, the other ones being range, accuracy, interaction, and coherence Although the IETLS speaking criterion frequently includes "fluency and accuracy," the findings proposed by Ers, Stitutio, and Lee (2008) revealed no strong positive correlation between accuracy and fluency Alternatively, their research came up with the idea that the development of these two components of oral skills is independent of each other An additional feature of this criterion is that CEFR describes oral fluency at the highest level (C2) as the natural, effortless, and unhesitating flow of spoken language, which is very cognitively demanding in operationalization In other respects, Segalowitz (2010) also mentioned fluency as the cognitive level of language processing
Furthermore, practical examples of evaluating the L2 learners' proficiency levels, lexical resources, grammatical range and accuracy, pronunciation criteria, fluency, and coherence are other fundamental criteria in the IELTS speaking test (as in the appendix) As shown in table 2, the order of features in the criteria starts from the bottom As Davies (2014) questioned, the fluency and coherence criterion during the IELTS speaking assessment is part of fluency or a different factor Thus, it is evident that the oral fluency component plays a prominent role throughout the purpose and development of the language tests
Trang 37As for university students, the minimal English language proficiency level for language English-major students is the C1 level which is the level upon graduation
2.2.3.2 Utterance fluency
Utterance fluency generally refers to the "temporal, pausing, hesitation, and repair characteristics of speech" (Segalowitz, 2010, p 48), which is comprised of quantifiable components of utterance fluency In other words, L2 utterance fluency is defined as "the fluidity of the observable speech as characterized by measurable temporal features such as syllable rate, duration, and rate of hesitations, filled and silent pauses" (Segalowitz, 2016a, p 81) It has also been proposed that utterance fluency is a form with multiple aspects: breakdown fluency, speed fluency, and repair fluency (Skehan, 2003; Tavakoli & Skehan, 2005)
There are two versions of the speech rate, including unpruned and pruned Unpruned speech involves everything that a partaker produces (although often excluding non-word fillers), whereas pruned speech eliminates repair instances from the calculations (Leonard, 2015, cited in Mota, 2003; Yuan & Ellis, 2003) Riggenbach (1991), for example, researched the spontaneous speech of six ESL learners, which showed that the fluency ratings provided by 12 ESL instructors were influenced primarily by speech rate and pausing She also discovered that hesitation clusters harmed perceptions of fluency Furthermore, Derwing et al (2004) investigated 28 untrained NS listeners' fluency perceptions on three speaking tasks such as picture description, monologue, and dialogue, undertaken by low proficiency ESL learners The results confirmed that fluency ratings were associated closely with measures of pausing and standardized pruned syllables per second However, some or all pauses are sometimes separated from calculations (Mochizuki & Ortega, 2008; Iwashita et al., 2008; Préfontaine, 2010; Leonard, 2015)
2.2.3.3 Cognitive fluency
Trang 38by the ability of each individual to perform the process of planning and assembling an utterance with the characteristics that they have:
Cognitive fluency has to do with the speaker's ability to efficiently mobilize and integrate the underlying cognitive processes responsible for producing utterances with their characteristics (Segalowitz, 2010, p 48) As it is concerned with the process of mentality, it cannot be easily measured directly (De Jong et al., 2013b)
In one study that addressed cognitive fluency, De Jong et al (2013a) operationalized cognitive fluency in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and processing abilities They employed multiple tests to measure processing speed, including speed of lexical retrieval, sentence completion, and speed of articulation, in addition to untimed activities to assess grammar and vocabulary knowledge They concluded that these tasks might "tap most aspects of L2 linguistic skills that supposedly underlie L2 cognitive fluency" (De Jong et al., 2013a, p.7)
2.2.3.4 L2 perceived fluency
Perceived fluency is the combination of utterance and cognitive fluency and adds the listener to the equation In other words, Segalowitz (2010) proposed that "perceived fluency has to do with the inferences listeners make about a speaker's cognitive fluency based on their perception of utterance fluency" (p.48) This means that perceived fluency is credited by a listener to a speaker, relying on the judgment inferred from hearing the utterance produced by the speaker In this respect, it is worth noting that fluency is found to be difficult to measure in an objective way This approach aligns with Goldman and Eisler's (1968) observation that it is challenging to detect fluency in real-life speech samples Instead, fluency is a quality that the listener perceives, notwithstanding variations in speed, breakdowns in coherence, pauses, and false starts
Whereas utterance fluency belongs to utterances and cognitive fluency is connected to the speaker, perceived fluency is an impression on the part of the listener Lennon stated in a similar vein that "fluency is an impression on the listener's part that the psycholinguistic processes of speech planning and speech production are functioning easily and efficiently" (Lennon, 1990, pp 191)
Trang 39teachers (Freed, 2000; Kormos & Denes, 2004; Riggenbach, 1991; Rossiter, 2009), or other natives (Bosker et al., 2013; Derwing et al., 2009; Freed, 2000) or non-native (Rossiter, 2009) speakers to rate speech samples These approaches may lead to raters using their ratings on different criteria (Leonard, 2015 cited in Rossiter, 2009), which refers to fluency as a judgment made by the listener, not by the speaker
2.2.4 Segalowitz’s framework for L2 fluency
In this article, we investigate factors influencing oral fluency of Vietnamese-speaking students by understanding the construct of L2 oral fluency and viewing L2 fluency as reflecting the operation of a dynamical system This investigation is motivated by framework for L2 fluency (Segalowitz, 2010)
Figure 2.2 The framework of oral fluency factors
Trang 40The capacity to organize, develop, and execute utterances in terms of lexical access and the use of language resources to communicate meanings, manage sociolinguistic activities, and seek psychosocial aims are all included in the concept of cognitive fluency Utterance fluency characteristics such as speech pace, hesitancy, and pause phenomena, among other things, are another component of the framework The next important factor in becoming fluent in a second language is motivation It contains the desire to communicate, attitudes about communication, language, and identity Motivation impacts how individuals communicate and which social circumstances they choose to communicate in Then, the social context has an effect on speech production because it determines the cognitive work demands associated with communication and serves as the primary source of information on linguistic affordances The last factor is one's experiences, which may include the frequency of exposure, the possibility of repeated practice, etc
2.2.5 L2 Oral fluency factors
It appears natural to accept that various kinds of elements directly or indirectly involve and affect oral fluency A study conducted by Segalowitz (2016b) found that "L2 fluency is the outcome of the operation of a dynamical system where cognitive, motivational, social, sociolinguistic, pragmatic and psycholinguistic considerations interact in complex ways" Aligning this conceptual framework of the L2 fluency of Segalowitz ( 2010) and its influences with the setting of the present study, the factors influencing LOF may be divided into five main categories based on its dimensions' central roles and consequences, which includes motivation, behavior and attitude, tasks, instructions and exposure to English