A survey on difficulties in speaking english of english majored freshmen at tay do university 1

TAY DO UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE A SURVEY ON DIFFICULTIES IN SPEAKING ENGLISH OF ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY Supervisor: PHAN THI MINH UYEN, M.A Student: PHAN THI NGOC HUYEN Code: 13D220201017 Class: English 8A April 2017 COMMENTS ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… i TABLE OF CONTENTS COMMENTS i TABLE OF CONTENT ii ABSTRACT iv CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 The significance of study 1.3 The organization of study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of speaking and its importance 2.1.1 Definitions of listening 2.1.2 The importance of listening 2.2 The difficulties in speaking English 2.2.1 Linguistic cause 2.2.1.1 Vocabulary 2.2.1.2 Pronunciation 2.2.1.3 Grammar 2.2.1.4 Background knowledge Psychological 3.1 Learner’s attitude 3.2 Learner’s motivation 3.3 Learner’s strategies 3.4 Learning speaking environment 10 3.5 Learner’s practicing time 12 CHAPTER RESEARCH AIMS-RESEARCH QUESTIONS-HYPOTHESIS 13 3.1 Research aims 13 3.2 Research questions 13 3.3 Hypothesis 13 ii CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 15 4.1 Design 15 4.2 Participants 15 4.3 Instruments 15 4.4 Questionnaire 16 4.5 Procedure 16 CHAPTER EXPECTED OUTCOME 17 REFERENCES 19 APPENDIX QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS 20 APPENDIX STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW 25 iii ABSTRACT The research "A survey on difficulties in speaking English of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University" is conducted with the aims of helping students find out their difficulties in learning speaking English to help them improve their speaking English skill better The participants of this research is English majored freshmen course 11 (2016- 2020) at Tay Do University The research is divided into two stages The stage is to collect information from students by paper interview questions This information will be analyzed into the expected outcome iv CHAPTER INTRODUCTION In this chapter, the researcher would like to present the rationale, significance and the organization of the study 1.1 Rationale Language is our primary source of communication It is the method through which people share our ideas and thoughts with others There are thousands of languages in this world Currently, English is the primary language of not only countries actively touched by British imperialism, but also many business and cultural spheres dominated by those countries It is the language of Hollywood and the language of international banking and business As such, it is useful and even necessary language to know English is an immensely varied language It is spoken by more than 300 million native speakers and between 400 and 800 million foreign users It is the official language of air transport and shipping, the leading language of science, technology, computer, commerce and international negotiation When studying English, students usually focus on four basic skills: speaking, listening, writing and reading Among these skills, speaking is a major skill which is hard to be learned and plays a significant role in communication In addition, speaking is used as a common way to learn English and it is the first step to study a new language In Tay Do University, there are many students met some difficulties because of some reasons: lacking of vocabulary, mistakes in pronunciation and some other elements such as grammar, intonation, accent and background knowledge For those reasons, as an English learner, the researcher understands how other learners as well as English students at Tay Do University deeply want to find out difficulties in speaking English to help students improve their speaking skill In English: listening, speaking, reading, writing have equal importance But in this research “A survey on difficulties in Speaking English of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University” I will help learners determine some common difficulties their speaking skill Because today there are too many people learned a long time but not speak English clearly If we just study as a machine to get a degree, we will forget everything we studied very fast 1.2 The significance of study This study is expected to help the freshmen majoring in English at Tay Do University realize their difficulties in learning English speaking subject In addition, basing on the problems mentioned in this study 1.3 The organization of the study This research proposal includes five chapters consisting of Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature review Chapter 3: Research aims – Research questions – Hypothesis Chapter 4: Research methodology Chapter 5: Expected outcomes CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of speaking and importance of speaking There are several factors that make the English language essential to communication in our current time It is the most common foreign language It used in many countries and many field, including entertainment, politics, business and education 2.1.1 Definition of speaking “Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information” (Brown, 1994; Burns and Joyce, 1997) Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment and the purposes of speaking It is often spontaneous, open-ended and evolving However, speech is not always unpredictable There are several definitions of speaking stated by some authorities According to Tarigan (1990: 3-4) defines that “Speaking is a language skill that is developed in child life, which is produced by listening skill and at that period speaking skill is learned” It means that speaking like the way of communication influences our life strongly 2.1.2 The importance of speaking Language is a tool for communication People communicate with others to express their ideas and to know other ideas as well Communication takes places, where there are speeches Without speech we cannot communicate with one another The importance of speaking skill is enormous for the language learners The four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are all interconnected In each skill is necessary to become a well-rounded communicator but the ability to speak skillfully provides the speaker with several distinct advantages The capacity to put words together in a meaningful way to reflect thoughts, opinions and feelings provides the speaker with these important advantages Speaking clearly and confidently can gain the attention of an audience It is not just to leave an impression of stylishness; however, it is necessary to converse your important points in smart way 2.2 The difficulties in speaking English 2.2.1 Linguistic cause 2.2.1.1 Vocabulary Vocabulary is also important problem in learning English According to Richards and Renandya (2002: 255), thought that “Vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how learners speak, listen, read and write” When learning a new language as a foreign or a second language, students will firstly learn vocabulary words for the basic essential elements for learners Underscoring the importance of vocabulary, it is supported by Ur (1996: 60) that “Vocabulary is one of important things to be taught in learning foreign language because it will be impossible to speak up without variety of words Those statements imply the importance of teaching vocabulary as a foreign language” Vocabulary has great importance in learning a language and communication Without enough vocabulary knowledge, students are not possible to employ grammatical or other types of linguistic knowledge in communication which makes students find difficulties to understand the meaning when they listen someone speaking In short, lack of vocabulary is a reason why the students cannot show what they are thinking They cannot speak fluently because they not have enough vocabulary to express ideas, thoughts and emotion Vocabulary is learned through focused, conscious study but even more commonly in an indirect manner 2.2.1.2 Pronunciation In speaking skill, the first problem is pronunciation which is the most important problem that language learner have to face when studying English Hinofitis and Baily (1980, pp.124-125) reported that “Up to a certain proficiency standard, the fault which most severely impairs the communication process in EFL/ESL learners is pronunciation, rather than vocabulary or grammar” Improper pronunciation can lead to negative impression misunderstanding and ineffective communication If you can master the differences in pronunciation between these words, you will improve your pronunciation and be able to talk more like a native English speaker In the opinion of Gilakjani (2012) said that “Learners with good English pronunciation are likely to be understood even if they make errors in the other area, whereas learners with bad pronunciation will not be understood, even if their grammar is perfect” 3.5 Learner’s practicing time Many students said that they forget everything because they get so nervous when they are speaking English Most people are afraid of making mistakes or afraid that no one will understand them It’s this fear that stops some people from speaking at all Your goal of speaking English should be to communicate your message, not to say a perfect sentence Do not afraid of mistakes! A mistake is not always going stop people from understanding you Grammar and vocabulary are things you can learn in your own time, at your own pace You not need to pay money to improve your grammar or vocabulary And most of the time, people will still understand what you are saying even if you make a small grammatical error However, if speaking English clearly, confidently and fluently is something you will be cannot master on your own According to Farnoosh (2009, pl) “practice can be the one gap you have to close between yourself and your goals” Inaddition, Leave and Wenger (1991:98) said that “a community of practice is a set of relations among person, activity, and world, over time and in relation with other tangential and overlapping communities of practice” It shows that practice is very fundamental in learning speaking English 12 CHAPTER RESEARCH AIMS – RESEARCH QUESTIONS -HYPOTHESIS 3.1 Research aims The aim of this study is to analyze problems that freshmen are facing in the process of speaking English This study aims at finding their common problems and provides some suggestions help the learners not only at Tay Do University but also those who love learning English as well as improve their speaking skill 3.2 Research questions The research is expected to find out the problem in learning speaking English process of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University Therefore, the research will be conducted to answer the follow question: What are some common difficulties in listening English of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University? What are some solutions to improving speaking English of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University? 3.3 Hypothesis According to most of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University, speaking is the most difficult skill Because learning English speaking is a long and challenging process to learners Through the literature review and research question, the research will find out the solution to help students improve and develop their speaking skill and help them recognize difficulties when learning speaking English Since then, students will feel more confident whenever communicating with foreign and can have positive attitude and find out more motivation towards learning 13 English speaking Thanks to this study, freshmen can have positive attitude in learning speaking process 14 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Chapter presents the design, participants, instruments and procedures of the research 4.1 Design The design of the research is conducted to answer the research question and to test the hypothesis mentioned in chapter Participants were the main object in this research Firstly, the researcher will collect the data about the problems in studying English speaking subject from fifty English majored freshmen at Tay Do University who will be delivered questionnaire Besides, the interview is also designed for students to make the research more specific and more objective about the difficulties of students Finally, the methodology of this study is the quantitative research and qualitative research, because questionnaire and interview are instruments of this study 4.2 Participants The participants of this research included 50 students of English class course 11 (2016 – 2020) at Tay Do University who come from different areas, both rural and urban The students in English 11 speak Vietnamese as their mother tongue and speak English as a foreign language Most of them have been learning English from to 10 years Furthermore, in this study, they will be given questionnaires and interview in order to get information about problems they have faced in speaking 4.3 Instruments The instruments of this research are observation and questionnaire The research will help the students summarize their information by the observation Besides that, the questionnaire will lead the students general their common problem By the 15 analyzation of the researcher, researcher will find out the students’s common difficulties 4.4 Questionnaire The questionnaire includes two parts Part one consists of six questions which explores the students’ background In part two, there are 14 statements which list in a table from question to question 20 Among them, statement and focus on students’ attitude toward listening Then, the problems of students have faced in listening are stated from to 18 4.5 Procedures There are four steps to research: Steps Time Step 1 week Activities in study process Meeting and introducing the topic of the research to supervisor Writing outline Step2 week Searching for materials to support the research Writing chapters 1, and Step 3 week Designing the questionnaire Writing chapter and Step week Writing chapter Completing the research 16 CHAPTER EXPECTED OUTCOMES Speaking is necessary not only in language but also in daily communication which English majored freshmen usually face many problems Therefore, it is tough for English majored freshmen at Tay Do University to realize their problems in speaking subject First, in linguistic problems, incorrect pronunciation hinders students when learning speaking So they cannot understand the conversation easily and often make mistakes such as word stress, intonation accent, etc Besides, students usually confuse in communication because different intonation can make the same sentence have various meaning In addition, if students lack vocabulary, they will embarrass when trying to express their ideas Furthermore, if students are not good at grammar, they will not be able to produce sentences that grammatical right Next, many students usually get difficulties when they try to understand ideas or messages of the speakers because of lack of background knowledge and information about topics or fields Moreover, they also meet difficulties to show their opinion So, background knowledge is an affected factor to speaking skill Finally, psychological obstacle is one of the factors that affect learning speaking English Students sometimes feel speaking subject very tired because when listening for a long time, they usually feel stressful and their faculty of speaking is reduced On the other hand, the researcher gives some ways to help students overcome their difficulties in speaking First, students should spend time on speaking to English music which are popular music It helps students can learn some new vocabularies and expressions Second, there are many activities to practice speaking through the Internet or websites such as watching movies English, talk show or chatting with foreigners Then, students should practise listening with classroom They can communicate together as a conversation This way will improve students’s accents and voices 17 In short, the researcher hopes that this study will provide the improvement of learning in speaking subject for English majored freshmen at Tay Do University to become a better speakers 18 REFERENCES References from Books: Brown (1994), Burns and Joyce, (1997) Teaching the spoken language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Anderson, A., & Lynch, T (2000) Listening Oxford: Oxford University Press Brody, S (2001) Teaching Reading Language, Letters & Thought (2nd ed.) Milford, NH: LARC Publishing lay Gilakjani, AP, (2012) The significance of pronunciation in English language teaching English Teaching Journal, 5(4), 96-107 Hinofotis, F and Baily, K (1980) American undergraduate reaction to the communication skills of foreign teaching assistants, TESOL “80: Building Bridges: Research and Practice in TESL”, Alexandria, V.A Renandya, W.A.,& Richards, J.C (2002) Methodology in Language Teaching New York : Cambridge University Press Lay References from Internet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-native_pronunciations_of_English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accent_(sociolinguistics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_grammar https://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-language/rhythm-stress-andintonation-english-languageessay.php?essayad=carousel&utm_expid=309629- 19 APPENDIX QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS Dear students, My name is Phan Thi Ngoc Huyen and I am a senior of English major This questionnaire is one of the instruments for my research about “A survey on improving in speaking English of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University” Please take your time to fulfill these below questions carefully because its result is important to my research Thank you very much Part Student’s Full Name: ……………………………… .Class: …………… Age:……………… Please read the following questions and circle the appropriate answer for each question Give the specific answers if needed How long have you studied English?……… years Which skill you like to study? A Speaking B Writing C Listening D Reading What you think about speaking? A Very important B Important C Normal D Not important How you feel when you learn speaking? A Interesting B Normal C Stress 20 D Boring E Other………………………………………… What you think about your speaking skill? A Very good B Good C Average D Bad E Very bad In your opinion, which are your difficulties in speaking? (You can choose more than one answer) A Vocabulary B Grammar C Pronunciation D Listening comprehension E Other…………………… How many periods a week did you practice speaking English? period(s) a week How many hours a day you spend for practicing speaking? A 30 minutes B hour C and a half hour D hours E More than hours 21 Part Strongly Statements Learning (2) speaking It is difficult to learn vocabulary Lack of vocabulary makes me confused when trying to express my ideas 10 I not know the exact meaning of vocabulary 11 Incorrect pronunciation is my biggest problem I often Disagree make Strongly Disagree English is easy to me 12 No idea agree (1) Agree in pronunciation mistake when speaking English 22 (3) (4) (5) 13 I get difficulty in recognizing my partner’s means 14 I get trouble with native speakers 15 I get difficulty in explaining my idea because I not know how to arrange my ideas clearly 16 I often feel lazy when learning speaking English 17 I not have much time to practice my English speaking skill in class 18 I not have chances speaking to skill practice with foreigners 23 19 I cannot catch the speaker’s speech rate which makes me may have serious problems to understand the content of the conversation 20 I not understand the message conveyed in unfamiliar topics because of many strange words, terms and terminology THANKS FOR YOUR HELP! 24 APPENDIX STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW ●♦●♦● Dear students, My name is Phan Thi Ngoc Huyen and I am a senior of English major This questionnaire is one of the instruments for my research about “A survey on improving in listening English of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University” Please take your time to fulfill these below questions carefully because your answers are very important to my research Thank you very much! Student’s name: ……………………………… Class: ………………… Age: …… 1.What you think the role of speaking in real life? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… What are your problems in speaking? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… In your opinion, which factor has become your biggest difficulty in learning speaking (vocabulary, grammar structures, pronunciation, listening comprehension, psychological obstacles, background knowledge)? Why? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… 25 ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… What should you to overcome your speaking skill? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… The end Thanks for your help! 26