Difficulties in speaking skills of english majored sophomores at tay do university

TAY DO UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE RESEARCH PROPOSAL DIFFICULTIES IN SPEAKING SKILLS OF ENGLISH-MAJORED SOPHOMORES AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY Supervisor: Ly Thi Tra My, M.A Student’s name: Pham Thi My Chi Student’s code: 1652220201079 Class: English 11A Can Tho, May 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research aims and research question 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of speaking .3 2.2 The importance of speaking 2.3 Dificulties in speaking English 2.3.1 Accent 2.3.2 Pronunciation .5 2.3.3 Vocabulary 2.3.4 Background knowledge 2.3.5 Psychological factors CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Design 3.2 Participants 3.3 Instruments 3.3.1 Questionnaire .8 3.3.2 Interview 3.3.3 Data analysis 3.4 Procedures .10 CHAPTER 4: EXPECTED OUTCOMES 11 4.1 Accent 11 4.2 Pronunciation 11 4.3 Vocabulary 12 4.4 Background knowledge 12 4.5 Psychological factors 12 REFERENCES ii QUESTIONNARE iv i CHAPTER INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the rationale, the research aims, the significance of the research and the organization of the research 1.1 Rationale Nowadays English has been more popular globally Speaking is considered to be the most important language skill “A large percentage of world’s language learners study English in order to develop proficiency in speaking We may use speaking to describe things, to complain about people’s behavior, to make polite requests, or to entertain people with jokes”, (Richards and Renandya 2002) Hornby (1995) states that through speaking language learners will be judged upon most in real life situation Tarigan (1990) defines speaking as a language skill which is developed in childhood preceded with listening skill It means that speaking is the basic skill in learning language English language is regarded as most spoken language around the world, and many people learn this language in order to have better career, job security or communicate more effectively with more people English might be a popular language to learn, but this doesn't mean it is simple to master There are many challenges people face when learning English Fauziati (2010:15) points out that “mastering the art of speaking is the single most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language and success is measure in term of ability to carry out a conversation in the language.” It has been observed that Learners not get any chance either in the classroom or outside to speak English There is also lack of exposure to authentic English language environments that allow them to use English for communication and expression Learning to speak also demands a lot of practice and attention They often stammer when speaking English Furthermore, learners are not exposed to the cultures of the native English speakers As a result second language learners at higher secondary level are poor in speaking skill As a student in English-major, the researcher realized that many second-year students majoring in English at Tay Do University had difficulty communicating in English Students are constantly trying and trying to find ways to improve their English communication skills 1.2 Research aims and research question The main purpose of the study is to investigate the factors affecting English communication skills of second-year major students at Tay Do University and answer the following question: What difficulties ELF students often encounter when speaking English? 1.3 Significance of the study Research results can benefit students and teachers It can help students to identify which factors affect their communication skills and find solutions to problems in training communication skills Last but not least, teachers can use the results of this research to find out how speaking teaching method is appropriate for their students Hence the study is found necessary to be carried out 1.4 Organization of the thesis This research includes five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter presents the rationale, the research aims, the significance of the research and the organization of the research Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter discusses about the definition of communication, the importance of communication and the difficulties in English communication Chapter 3: Research Methodology This chapter indicates the design, the methods, the participants, the instruments and the procedure Chapter 4: Results and Discussion This chapter synthesizes, calculates, and analyzes the results Chapter 5: Expect outcomes CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter discusses about the definition of communication, the importance of communication and the difficulties in communicating in English 2.1 Definitions of speaking There are many definitions according to the experts According to Chaney (1998) speaking is a social activity where individuals build and share meaning in a given context Therefore, speaking skill implements communication function This means that the speaker builds the idea to express, then communicates to the listener by speaking and vice versa According to Hornby (1974), speaking is a way to convey the message to others and speaking is a tool to convey the message directly to the listener, even if the listener understands or not This shows that speaking activity is sometimes in one direction only, the speaker communicates to the listener without reacting in the opposite direction According to (Bailey, 2000), speaking is a process of interaction where speaker intend to build meaning through producing, receiving and processing information Speaking is a quick and effective mean of communication Thus, speaking is a language skill that needs to be mastered 2.2 The importance of speaking Language is a tool of communication We communicate with others, to express our ideas, and to know others’ ideas as well Communication takes place, where there is speech Without speech we cannot communicate with one another The importance of speaking skills, hence is enormous for the learners of any language Without speech, a language is reduced to a mere script The use of language is an activity which takes place within the confines of our community We use language in a variety of situations People at their work places, i.e researchers working either in a medical laboratory or in a language laboratory, are supposed to speak correctly and effectively in order to communicate well with one another Any gap in commutation results in misunderstandings and problems When we speak to others we come to have a better understanding of our own selves, as Robert Frost - American poet won the Pulitzeronce four times (1924, 1931, 1937, 1943) said: ‘‘I am a writer of books in retrospect, I talk in order to understand, I teach in order to learn.’’ Undoubtedly, the clarity in speech reflects clear thinking 2.3 Dificulties in speaking English So far, there have been many studies related to this topic, for examples, those researchers as Doan Linh Chi in 2011, Zhengdong Gan in 2012, Martin Matějček's in 2013 Upon studying the study of Doan Linh Chi, the researcher noticed that such study dealt with Guidance for Learners’ Improvement of Speaking Skills and practicing the language Regarding the study of Zhengdong Gan reports the result of a study that aimed to identify the problems with oral English skills of ESL (English as a Second Language) students at a tertiary teacher training institution in Hong Kong The study, by way of semi-structured interview, addresses the gap in our understanding of the difficulties ESLs students encountered in their oral English development in the context of a Bachelor of Education (English Language) program Martin Matějček's thesis deals with the topic of difficulties in teaching speaking skills to adult learners In the background chapter, the characteristics of adult learners together with differences in teaching them in comparison to the young are explained as well as the theory necessary for further research 2.3.1 Accent The accent is the sound emitted when speaking, but depending on the country or territory there will be different accents In order not to confuse and create difficulties in communication, language learners need to contact and distinguish between accents In some cases, speakers are unable to pronounce words from the second language, they will use a similar sound in their mother tongue to pronounce, which will lead to misunderstandings in communication Because of the lack of opportunity in foreign language setting to interact with native speakers, the need for exposure to many kinds of scenes, situations, and accents as well as voices is particularly critical This need can be met by audio visual materials such as appropriate films, video tapes and soap operas While watching students can pay attention how people use language in real life situations, they will be exposed to different registers, accents, intonations, rhythms and stresses (Carrasquillo, 1994, p.140) Similarly they can notice the non verbal behaviour of the speakers 2.3.2 Pronunciation Pronunciation emerged as a field of systematic study towards the end of the 19th century when International Phonetic Association was established in 1886 Since then, the emphasis allotted to pronunciation teaching in ESL/EFL classrooms has been subject to fluctuations While traditional methods such as Grammar-Translation and Reading-Based Approach neglected pronunciation teaching completely and considered it irrelevant to language teaching, in subsequent methods such as Oral Approach and Audiolingualism, it had a more central role Likewise, from 1940’s to 1960’s, pronunciation teaching was of primary importance in the English Language Teaching Curriculum Although each method was at a different end of the continuum in terms of the techniques used, they were similar in the way that they focused on the segmentals Today, contemporary methods value pronunciation They operate around the assumption that “… there is a threshold level of pronunciation for nonnative speakers of English; if they fall behind this threshold level, they will have oral communication problems no matter how excellent and extensive their control of English grammar and vocabulary might be” (Celce-Murcia& et al 2010: 8) Regardless of the changing trends in or attitudes towards pronunciation teaching, it has always been acknowledged that pronunciation is a fundamental part of one’s oral ability in the target language 2.3.3 Vocabulary Words are the currency of communication A rich vocabulary helps to improve all skills of communication - listening, speaking, reading and writing Vocabulary knowledge is often considered an important tool for second language learners because limited vocabulary will prevent successful communication Schmitt (2000) emphasizes that "lexical knowledge is central to the ability to communicate and acquire a second language" According to Nation (2001), lexical knowledge and language use have an additional relationship: vocabulary helps to use language flexibly and vice versa, using language helps to increase vocabulary knowledge This shows that without enough vocabulary, the speaker is difficult to complete the dialogue Thus, the listener and speaker not understand each other or misunderstand the meaning of words This is to say that vocabulary is essential to help learners use language successfully 2.3.4 Background knowledge Many studies have been done on factors influencing subjects’ language learning Some researchers have investigated the effect of background knowledge on improving language learning in general, and learning language skills and sub-skills in particular Some specialists consider the role of schematic knowledge as a determining factor affecting and influencing language components especially comprehension Brown and Yule (1983) define schemata as “organized background knowledge which leads us to expect or predict aspects in our interpretation of discourse” They say that the listener uses two basic principles to relate the new information to his or her previous experience: the principle of analogy, i.e., things will be as they were before and the principle of minimal change, i.e., things are as like as possible to how they were before Gebhard (2000) points out that background knowledge relates to our real world experiences and expectations that we have This knowledge is very important when we consider the language processing problems of students Schmidt-Rinehart (1994) cited in Sadighi & Zare, (2006) carried out a study with the main purpose of discovering the effects of topic familiarity on L2 listening comprehension University students of Spanish at three different course levels listened to two familiar passages, one about a familiar topic and another about a novel topic The passages represented authentic language in that the recordings were from spontaneous speech of a native speaker Listening comprehension was assessed through a native language recall protocol procedure Subjects scored considerably higher on the familiar topic than on the novel one Schmidt-Rinehart concluded that background knowledge in the form of topic familiarity emerges as a powerful factor in facilitating listening comprehension 2.3.5 Psychological factors There have been several studies related to this issue that were conducted Researchers think that psychological factors such as anxiety or shyness, low selfesteem, lack of confident and fear of making mistakes are the ones that often hinder students from speaking Students are afraid to speak English and often fail to communicate in English for fear of making mistakes so they choose to remain silent According to the argument of many theorists, the fear of making mistakes is one of the main factors that prevent students from speaking English in the classroom (Tsui in Nunan, 1999; Yi Htwe, 2007; Robby, 2010) Anxiety is a feeling of stress, apprehension, and anxiety that hinders the development of students' speaking skill Students’ lack of confidence occurs when their partner does not understand what they say or they cannot express their implications to the listeners Students who are knowledgeable but unable to overcome psychological barriers will not be able to speak English well CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Design The following methods are used to collect data for the study: Quantitative method (Survey questionnaire designed with the participation of English teachers and the second-year students majoring in English at Tay Do University) observation and interviews The main source of data for the study was the student who answered the survey questionnaire while the live observation and observation was applied with the purpose of obtaining additional information for any confirmation of the results 3.2 Participants The main participants of the study are the second-year students majoring in English at Tay Do University Fifty-two English-learning second-year students at Tay Do University are randomly invited to answer the question Most students are between the ages of 18 and 23 They are highly qualified respondents who own information and directly influence study results 3.3 Instruments 3.3.1 Questionnaire In this study, quantitative research method is used to find out the difficulties of the second-year students majoring in English at Tay Do University in learning English communication The author decides to select survey techniques to collect data The instruments to help author gather information is a questionnaire The reason why the author chooses to use the survey method is that the results of the survey can create standardized, quantitative and empirical data through the use of open-ended questions Besides, the collected data is completely confidential and anonymous The questionnaire is written in both English and Vietnamese to avoid any misunderstandings The detailed questionnaire is listed in Appendix and The questionnaire consists of two parts which are Basic Information and Questions related to difficulties in learning English speaking skills The first part of the questionnaire includes questions aimed at collecting information related to the participants involving in the survey In the second part of the questionnaire, a combination of 12 questions related to learning English speaking skills for the purpose of answering the research question mentioned in chapter 3.3.2 Interview Despite the above mentioned advantages, questionnaire method also has some unavoidable disadvantages Its reliability and data quality may be low Sometimes, it is impossible to check seriousness or honesty of the answers This is especially true of studies of motivation, which is an abstract, attitudinal concept Therefore, it is advisable to incorporate more than one method in a study That is the reason why the follow-up interviews were also adopted in this study This was semi-structured interview, which aimed to provide an insight into the responses made in the questionnaires In other words, this interview was intended to gather in-depth information and make the data obtained from the questionnaires more reliable and convincing The participants were invited to answer the questions All the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese, noted-down, and lasted around one hour The data collected from the interview were used for the purpose of analysis 3.3.3 Data analysis Data collected from the questionnaire were analyzed It took several steps to process data analysis First, the data from the survey was processed into an Excel table to display the answer for each question The answers were then grouped together based on similar topics 3.4 Procedures In this part, the process of implementing the research proposal is presented The research will be done within weeks and the process is divided into steps in the following table: Duration (10 weeks) Step From the 1st week to 2nd week Step From the 3rd week to 4th week Step Activities in study process - Choosing the research topic - Designing the instruments - Looking for materials from previous studies - Writing the research From the 5th week to 6th week Step - Completing the research From the 7th week to 8th week - Submitting the research In summary, this chapter focuses on the presentation and clearly describes the data collection instruments, participant information, data collection processes and data analysis In addition, the number of participants and the sample of the research team are very clearly built The main purpose of this questionnaire is to understand the difficulties in learning to speak English of the second-year students majoring in English at Tay Do University Detailed findings will be presented in detail in chapter 10 CHAPTER EXPECTED OUTCOMES This study aims to help second-year students majoring in English and teachers at Tay Do University identify difficulties in learning to speak English The results are expected to include difficulties in accent, pronunciation, vocabulary, background knowledge, psychological factors 4.1 Accent Accent - The dialect is the culture of each region when using the language In English, if a speaker uses too many dialects, it can be a barrier that makes the listener feel confused or can be misleading No matter how much the speaker can be very knowledgeable, seductive or potential, if they use the local accent too heavily, they may not be able to choose or prioritize speaking because English is a foreign language, which is quite difficult to hear and understand by itself This is also one of the difficulties in learning to speak English that second-year students - English major and Tay Do University teachers face The assumption is that they should spend a lot of time listening to and imitating the voices and tones of native speakers to overcome this difficulty 4.2 Pronunciation English is similar to Vietnamese, when pronounced correctly, it will make it easier for listeners to understand and feel what you want to convey If you not, you will make it difficult for both the listener and you to communicate and transmit the language Unfortunately, the pronunciation skill in English is a skill that many second-year students - English major and teachers of Tay Do University find it difficult lack confidence when uttering the words As a result, they need to find a pronunciation method that they feel is right for them, then persevere and try to spend time practicing pronunciation 11 4.3 Vocabulary Lack of vocabulary and choosing the right vocabulary to extend the conversation in English is one of the great difficulties that second-year students majoring in English at Tay Do University face Lack of vocabulary makes it easy for conversations to end Students should read lots of foreign books and works to learn new words and at the same time continuously cultivate and revise known vocabulary in their spare time 4.4 Background knowledge The lack of background knowledge in speaking subjects is a factor that makes the speaking ability of second-year students of English major at Tay Do University affected negatively Students should regularly practice and update their knowledge on various topics to overcome this problem 4.5 Psychological factors Psychological factors i.e fear of being wrong when speaking in public, low selfesteem about the ability to speak English is a big barrier for second-year students majoring in English at Tay Do University in the process of learning English To overcome this problem, teachers should regularly encourage students to communicate with each other during English speaking classes Students need to practice English communication regularly with their classmates 12 REFERENCES Angela L Carrasquillo (1994) Teaching English as a Second Language: A Resource Guide Bailey, KM (2005) Practical English Language Teaching: Speaking McGraw-Hill, Inc Brown, H.G and Yule, G (1983) Teaching the spoken language- Cambridge University Press Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D.M., Goodwin, J.M & Griner, B (2010) Teaching pronunciation: A course book and reference guide 2nd edition Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Chaney, A L., & Burk, T L (1998) Teaching Oral Communication in Grades K-8 Boston Fauziati, Endang (2010) Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Era Pustaka Utama Surakarta Indonesia Gebhard, Jerry G (2000) Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press Hornby G Working with Parents of Children and Young People with Special Educational Needs London: Nation, I S P (2001) Learning vocabulary in another language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (1999) Second language teaching & learning Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Richards and Renandya (2002) Methodology in Language Teaching - Cambridge University Press Sadighi, S & Zare, S (2006) Is listening comprehension influenced by the background knowledge of the learners? ii Schmitt, N (2000) Vocabulary in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Schmidt-Rinehart (1994) The effects of topic familiarity on second language listening comprehension Tarigan, H Guntur (1990) Prinsip-prinsip Dasar Metode Riset Pengajaran dan Yi Htwe, Yi 2007 Shyness Main Obstacle to Learning English iii QUESTIONNARE This questionnaire is designed for the study on some Difficulties in speaking skill of English-Majored sophomores at Tay Do University Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the provided information is solely for the aims of the study, not for any other purposes Please write down the answer or circle the answer that is most appropriate! Thank you very much for your cooperation! Part 1: Participant’s information Student’s full name: ………… …………………………………… Age:……… Gender: ☐ Male ☐ Female How long have you studied English? ……… years Content (Please circle the appropriate answers and give specific answers if needed.) Where are you from? a Urban area/ city b Rural area/ countryside In your opinion, which skill is the most difficult? a Speaking skill b Listening skill c Writing skill d Reading skill What you think about speaking skill? a Very important b Important c Normal d Slightly important e Not important iv How you evaluate your speaking skill? a Very good b Good c Normal d Bad e Very bad What are your difficulties in speaking skill? (you can choose more one option) a Accent b Pronunciation c Vocabulary d Background knowledge e Psychological factors Part 2: For each of the statement below, please mark agreement or disagreement in the appreciate box to make clear your opinion Statements Strongly Disagree Disagree Learning speaking English is not simple for you I was pressured to answer questions quickly in English The lack of background knowledge of the topic makes it difficult for you to speak English 10 You don’t have enough vocabulary to express your ideas v Normal Agree Strongly Agree 11 You meet difficulties in the way to choose appropriate words in particular context 12 There are many words that you can not remember because you not review old words 13 You have poor vocabulary because you not updating new words 14 You are interested in speaking to your friends in English in class 15 You feel ashamed when you have a speech in front of your classmates 16 You are afraid to speak English for fear of being wrong 17 You have trouble pronouncing 18 Limited vocabulary is one of the factors that reduce the ability to speak English vi INTERVIEW Dear students, This interview is designed for the study of Difficulties in speaking skills of English majored sophomores at Tay Do university Please take your time to fulfill below question carefully because its result is important to my research Thank you very much! Students’ name:…………………………………………………………………… Class:…………………………………………….Age:……………………………… What difficulties you have faced when learning speaking English? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… In your opinion, which factor is the most difficult? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… vii