STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Date: 05/7/ 2016 Signature Truong Thi Hieu i ABSTRACT Since speaking in English is crucial for English language learners, the present study aims at investigating challenges faced by students and teachers of English if the teaching and learning of speaking will be implemented at Kontum Technical – Economic College The thesis is conducted with the co-operation of 12 English language teachers and 100 students from the College Survey questionnaires for both subjects are treated by excel and the statistic data are clearly presented on the tables and charts The findings of the study exposed the participants’ good perception toward learning English speaking skill The study also highlights the challenges related to teaching staff, students, and learning facilities Moreover, some measures are suggested to overcome difficulties if speaking skill is taught at this selected College ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The current MA thesis would not have been completed without valuable support of many people Therefore, I would love to express my deepest gratitude to all of them First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Tran Van Phuoc for his guidance and inspiration while I was working on this project He enthusiastically helped me in shaping the thesis, conducting the ideas and editing my drafts Secondly, many thanks go to all the participants of the study, twelve English teachers and one hundred students, for their enthusiastic participation in providing useful information I would also like to acknowledge the advice, comments I have received from my colleagues at Kontum Technical Economic College I am very grateful to all my friends in MA class and my closed friends for their support and encouragement whenever I had troubles Finally, I would like to thank my family for their special care and support during the challenging time working on the thesis iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Content Page STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii CHAPTER I- INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research aims 1.3 Objectives 1.4 Research questions of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the Study 1.7 Structure of the study CHAPTER II- LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background 2.1.1 Definition of Speaking 2.1.2 Components of speaking 2.1.3 Principles for teaching Speaking 2.1.4 Difficulties in terms of learning facilities 10 2.2 Teaching English at university in Vietnam 12 2.3 Current situation of teaching and learning English at Kontum Technical Economic College 13 2.4 Relevant Studies 15 2.5 Summary 17 iv CHAPTER III- METHODOLOGY 18 Research design 18 3.2 Participants 18 3.3 Instruments 19 Data Analysis 22 CHAPTER 4- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 24 Teachers and students’ perceptions toward learning speaking skill at KTEC 24 4.2 Challenges in teaching and learning speaking 4.2.1 Challenges by teaching staff 4.2.2 Challenges in learning speaking facing by students 36 Shortage of learning facilities as a challenge 41 Measures to overcome challenges 43 4.4 Summary 49 CHAPTER V- CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS 51 5.1 Summary of the study 51 5.2 Implications 52 5.2.1 To the teacher 52 5.2.2 To students 53 5.2.3 To the administrators 53 5.3 Limitations of the study 54 5.4 Suggestions for further study 55 REFERENCES 56 APPENDIX 61 APPENDIX 68 v LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Chart Teachers’ and students’ perception toward learning English .24 Chart Teachers’ and students’ perception towards learning English speaking skills 25 Chart 3.Teachers’ and students’ perception towards the elements needed in learning English speaking skills 26 Chart 4.Teacher’s and students’ perception towards teaching and learning English speaking skills integrated with other communicative skills 27 Chart 5.Teachers and students' perception towards teaching speaking skill based on speaking skill's criteria of level B1 in CEFR for non major English students 28 Chart 6.Challenges in terms of teachers’ competence (Teachers’ perception) 32 Chart Challenges in terms of teachers’ competence (Students’ perception) .33 Chart Teachers and students agree with the challenges in terms of large class size .40 Chart Teachers and students’ agreement on what teacher to help students overcome challenges 43 Chart 10 Measures deal with challenges in terms of teaching staff 45 Chart 11 Measures deal with challenges related to students .47 Chart 12 Measures in terms of teaching facilities 49 Table 1Describing challenges in questionnaire 20 Table Challenges deal with teacher staff (Teachers’ teaching methodology) 29 Table Challenges facing students 36 Table Shortage of learning facilities 41 vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language KTEC: KonTum Technical-Economic College L1: First Language L2: Second Language LHCs: large heterogeneous classes SLA: Second Language Acquisition VNUH: Vietnam National University, Hanoi vii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale We are living in the global world in which English language has rapidly become an international language To meet this requirement, English has been taught almost everywhere in Vietnam, especially in schools, colleges, universities, English is a compulsory subject All the society pays a lot of attention, spends a lot of time and money on teaching and learning English In Vietnam, the teaching and learning English has mostly been focused on the four skills and speaking is considered one of the most necessary and important skill David Nunan (1999: 225) wrote: “When someone asks, “Do you know another language?” they generally mean “Can you speak the language?” One cannot be considered to know a language without speaking it It can be seen that speaking is one of the most important skills that learners must master when the learning a foreign language According to Cao Thanh Nguyen (2011), his research findings show that while teaching English lessons from primary school to high school, or even at university, teachers often taught students grammar and vocabulary which was taken from textbook; other skills were not adequately taught For this reason, so how to speak English well is a problem for many learners of English, especially for the students of colleges and universities in Vietnam Despite the fact that most of the students have been learning English since they were at high school, they are deficient in English speaking Consequently, the teaching and learning English speaking in reality is still far from satisfaction Especially, in the remote and poor areas like the highland, learning speaking skill has had lots of difficulties relating to general knowledge, class organization, students’ motivation, … Kontum Technical-Economic College (KTEC) is one of the four junior colleges and vocational schools in Kontum City situated in the West highland, a remote area in Vietnam; and, English is taught as a compulsory subject there However, English teaching and learning mainly focused on grammar and there are no speaking tests in the final exam so that the other skills are not adequately taught at this college As a teacher of KTEC, from my observation and my own ten - year teaching experience, I see that students at KTEC get high marks at the final writing and reading exam, but students’ speaking ability is still low With the hope of helping students to learn to speak English effectively, the teacher’s duty is to find out the answer to the question “What are students’ challenges in learning speaking English?” For the mentioned reasons, I would like to conduct a study on “An investigation into challenges of learning English speaking faced by students at Kontum Technical Economic College.” 1.2 Research aims The research is done with the hope to understand the teachers and students’ perception toward teaching and learning English speaking skill at KTEC as well as the challenges facing students at KTEC when English speaking skill is taught Moreover, based on the findings, the researcher also suggests some measures to overcome the challenges at the college 1.3 Objectives The objectives of the research are: - to investigate the important role of learning speaking skill through teachers and students’ perception - to explore the challenges that students at KTEC have faced in learning speaking English - to give some measures to overcome these challenges in order to improve teaching and learning English speaking at KTEC 1.4 Research questions of the study This study is aimed to answer the following questions: What are teachers and students’ perceptions toward teaching and learning English speaking skill at Kontum Technical Economic College? 2 What are the challenges that students have faced in learning English speaking at Kontum Technical Economic College? What should be done for overcoming these challenges? 1.5 Scope of the study The study is at KTEC only due to the constraints of time, effort, finance and knowledge of the field The participants of the study include 100 students and 12 teachers at KTEC The study investigates the challenges in terms of teaching staff, students and learning facilities facing students if speaking skill is taught at KTEC The research also suggests some measures which will be only applied for students and teachers at this college to learn speaking English better 1.6 Significance of the Study The present study is conducted to explore the challenges that students have encountered in learning speaking English The result of this research would help the teachers and students aware of the difficulties in teaching and learning speaking English at KTEC, so that it will be the premise for teaching and learning speaking at KTEC Moreover, it can apply to teaching and learning speaking in other school 1.7 Structure of the study This study includes five chapters Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter is about the rationale, research aims, research objectives, research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study and structure of the study Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter presents the theoretical background of the study and revises some relevant studies in Vietnam as well as in other countries Chapter 3: Methodology It presents the details of the study, participants, research instruments and data analysis Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions This chapter deals with the results of the questionnaire analyzed by Excel software and clearly described in tables and charts Nguyen, V, Minh (2008) An Investigation into the Difficulties of Learning Speaking Skills With the New English Textbook 11 at Quang Tri High Schools Nunan, David (1999) Second Language Teaching & Learning Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers Nunan, D (2003a) Practical English Language Teaching (First Edition) Singapore: McGraw_ Hill Companies Nunan, D (2003b) The Impact of English as a Global Language on Educational Policies and Practices in the Asia‐Pacific Region TESOL quarterly Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com ( 9th Edition) (2016) Oxford Oxford, R.L (1990) Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know New York: Newbury House O'Grady, W (1996) Language acquisition without Universal Grammar: A general nativist proposal for L2 learning Second Language Research Ramírez, V A C (2010) Students’ Perceptions about the Development of Their Oral Skills in An English as A Foreign Language Teacher Training Program Universidad Tecnológica De Pereira Facultad de Bellas Artes y Humanidades Programa de Enseñanza de la Lengua Inglesa Pereira: Colombia Riasati, M J (2012) EFL Learners’ Perception of Factors Influencing Willingness to Speak English in Language Classrooms: A Qualitative Study World Applied Sciences Journal 17 (10): 1287-1297, 2012, ISSN 1818-4952 © IDOSI Publications, 2012 Richards, J C & Rogers, T S (1986) Approaches and methods in language teaching: A description and analysis Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Rivers, W (1968) Teaching Foreign Language Skills Chicago: University of Chicago Press Schmitt, N (2000) Vocabulary in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press 59 Spratt, M., Pulverness, A & Williams, M (2005) The TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test Course United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Syakur (1987) Language Testing and Evaluation Surakarta: Sebelas Maret University Press, Tarigan, H G (1990) Prinsip-prinsip Dasar Metode Riset Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Bahasa Bandung: Angkasa Taken from http://rujukanskripsi.blogspot.com/2013/06/definition-of-speaking Retreived on 29th January 2016 Teacher’s Guide to the Common European Framework (2000) Longman: Pearson Longman CEF companion website: http://www.longman.com/cef Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge CUP Utsumi, L & Doan T, N, Hau (2008) Teaching and Learning English in Viet Nam at the University Level The 8th ASIA TEFL – 2010 Hanoi International Conference Willis, D (1990) The lexical syllabus London and Glasgow: Collins Co-build http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/speaking Retrieved on January 4, 2016 60 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (Teacher Form) Dear teacher, This questionnaire is designed to obtain data on-going titled: An investigation into challenges of learning English speaking faced by students at Kontum Technical Economic College Please note that any information given here is for research purpose only, and will be treated confidentially I’ll be grateful for your anticipated co-operation Before answering the questions, please fill in some information: * Gender : Male * Your age : under 30 Female 30-40 more than 40 * How long have you been teaching English? less than 10 years 10 -20 years more than 20 years Please read each of the following statements carefully and put () in the column (box) of the option which best describes your opinion 61 A PERCEPTION TOWARD LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH Do you think all four English skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) should be learnt at Kontum Technical Economic College? Yes No In learning English, Speaking skill is …………………… A very important B important C not important To speak English well, what students need? (You can tick more than one answer) A Pronunciation B Vocabulary about the topic C Grammar Do you think it is more effective to teach speaking skill in integration with any of other communicative skills? Yes No Do you think teaching speaking skill at your school should be based on speaking skill’s criteria of level B1 in CEFR Framework for non major English students? Yes No B CHALLENGES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILL 62 If speaking is taught in KTEC, what are the challenges that teachers and students will face? Challenges Agree I Teaching staff Not many teachers have good ELT methodology Some teachers lack experience in teaching speaking integrated with other skills Teachers not know how to use speaking activities Teachers not know how to organize speaking class with group work, pair work 10 Teachers feel unsure of ways of encouraging students to participate in speaking activities in large class 11 Not many teachers have C1-level speaking competence 12 Teachers not know how to assess B1-level speaking competence 13 Teachers not know clearly levels of students before teaching them 14 There is a lack of English-native teachers of English 15 Teachers not feel self-confident to teach 63 Not sure Disagree speaking skill to mixed-level large classes 16 Teachers overuse L1 in class II Students 17 Students are not aware of required minimal B1level speaking competence after the course 18 Students pronounce sounds with difficulty 19 Students are unable to build correct simple sentences in speaking 20 Students not have enough vocabulary to express ideas easily in speaking 21 Students are very anxious in attending speaking activities 22 Students are not active in speaking activities 23 Students have no clear motivation in learning speaking English 24 The number of students in speaking class is large (more than 35 students) III Learning facilities 25 Classroom is not fully equipped with necessary facilities for learning speaking English such as visual aids, pronunciation charts, reference materials, radio, TV, computer, video, projector,… and specific tables or an English corner 64 26 The speaking section is not designed separately and clearly in the textbook 27 Time for practicing speaking English is limited C MEASURES TO OVERCOME CHALLENGES MEASURES Yes 28 What should the teachers to help students overcome the challenges? A Teachers must register with a clear procedure to attend and pass B2/4th -C1/5th-level language competences, ELT methodology and IT in training workshops organized by National Foreign Language Project 2020 if they want to go on teaching English B Experienced teachers in ELT should be in priority list to be chosen to teach speaking in some years C Teachers should design or adapt a placement test to identify the levels of students before teaching speaking D Teachers should explain the importance of learning speaking to students, and the requirements of B1/3rd-level speaking competence before beginning the course or the module E Teachers should learn how to design or use some speaking supplementary materials with suitable topics for teaching speaking (accompanied with technology or IT) if the speaking section is not designed separately in the current textbook F Teachers should practice using group- work, pair-work to motivate students to speak as much as possible 65 No G Teachers should use more speaking activities to encourage students to speak actively H Teachers should learn how to teach speaking in integration with other skills I Teachers should design or adapt speaking exam types from CEFR materials and get students them J The school should invite or hire foreign teachers of English to teach some hours for some classes 29 What should the students to overcome the challenges? A Students must explore carefully the requirements of all levels of CEFR and B1/3rd - level speaking competence through references or internet B Students must understand the importance of learning speaking in learning English at the university C Students should pronounce and memorize as many words and expressions used in reading texts as possible D Students should consult new vocabulary in context through dictionaries or internet E Students should use learned vocabulary in speaking F Students should practice presenting ideas through written simple sentences and then through spoken ones G Students should watch simple video clips in English and practice speaking in pairs 66 H Students should be encouraged to involve speaking activities in pairs or groups under the supervision of teachers I The students should attend English clubs, English speaking contest to practice speaking English J Students should practice speaking with foreign teachers of English as much as possible 30 What should the KTEC to overcome the challenges about learning facilities? A The School should locate English classes in a subject room equipped with visual aids, pronunciation charts, reference materials, radio, TV, computer, video, projector and specific tables for learning speaking skill B The School should supplement ½ to (45-minutes) period per week for English speaking section C The School should limit the number of students in speaking class to 15 or 20 students Thank you for your cooperation! 67 APPENDIX PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN Phiếu thu thập thơng tin lập nhằm mục đích giúp sinh viên không chuyên trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế Kỹ thuật Kon Tum nâng cao kỹ nói Việc tham gia trả lời câu hỏi bạn nguồn đóng góp có giá trị để chúng tơi hồn thiện cách dạy học nói tiếng Anh cho sinh viên không chuyên trường Xin vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi cách trung thực xác Chúng tơi đánh giá cao giúp đỡ bạn Trước trả lời câu hỏi, xin vui lòng điền đầy đủ thơng tin đây: - Giới tính: Nam - Tuổi: 20 Nữ từ 20 đến 25 25 - Bạn học tiếng Anh rồi? chưa đến năm chưa đến năm -7 năm năm - Bạn học giáo trình tiếng Anh trường: Xin vui lòng đánh dấu câu trả lời phù hợp cho câu hỏi sau: A NHẬN THỨC VỀ VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH Theo bạn sinh viên nên học kỹ tiếng Anh (Nghe, Nói, Đọc, Viết) trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế-Kỹ thuật Kon Tum? Đồng ý Không đồng ý Theo bạn, việc học tiếng Anh kỹ nói là: quan trọng 68 quan trọng không quan trọng Theo bạn để nói tiếng Anh tốt, sinh viên cần gì? Phát âm Từ vựng chủ đề Ngữ pháp Theo bạn việc tích hợp kỹ nói với kỹ khác giúp cho việc học nói đạt hiệu cao hơn? Đồng ý Không đồng ý Theo bạn việc dạy kỹ nói trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Kon Tum có nên dựa vào tiêu chí lực nói cấp độ B1dành cho sinh viên không chuyên ngữ khung tham chiếu Châu Âu hay khơng? Có Khơng B NHỮNG THÁCH THỨC TRONG VIỆC HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI Nếu kỹ nói dạy trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế- Kỹ thuật Kon Tum khó khăn, thách thức sinh viên phải đối mặt? Đồng ý Những thách thức I Về đội ngũ giáo viên Khơng có nhiều giáo viên đạt lực ngôn ngữ cấp độ C1 theo khung tham chiếu Châu Âu Nhiều giáo viên chưa có phương pháp dạy tiếng Anh tốt 69 Không Không đồng ý Một số giáo viên thiếu kinh nghiệm dạy kỹ nói tích hợp với kỹ khác Giáo viên cách tổ chức hoạt động để dạy kỹ nói 10 Giáo viên cách tổ chức hoạt động nhóm, cặp học kỹ nói 11 Trong lớp học đông sinh viên giáo viên cách khuyến khích học sinh tham gia vào hoạt động nói 12 Giáo viên khơng tự tin để dạy kỹ nói lớp học với nhiều trình độ khác 13 Giáo viên khơng biết rõ trình độ sinh viên trước dạy 14 Giáo viên chưa biết cách đánh giá lực B1 kỹ nói sinh viên theo khung tham chiếu Châu Âu 15 Thiếu giáo viên ngữ học nói tiếng Anh 16 Giáo viên sử dụng tiếng Việt nhiều lớp học ngoại ngữ II Về sinh viên 17 Sau khóa học, sinh viên chưa nhận thức yêu cầu, lực nói cấp độ B1 18 Sinh viên gặp khó khăn việc phát âm tiếng Anh 19 Sinh viên khơng có khả để nói câu đơn giản 20 Sinh viên khơng có đủ từ vựng để diễn đạt ý tưởng cách dễ dàng 70 21 Sinh viên lo lắng tham gia hoạt động nói tiếng Anh 22 Sinh viên không động hoạt động nói 23 Sinh viên khơng có động lực rõ ràng việc học nói tiếng Anh 24 Số lượng sinh viên lớp học nói đơng (hơn 35 sinh viên) III Về sở vật chất 25 Lớp học nói không trang bị đầy đủ phương tiện cần thiết cho việc học nói: phương tiện nghe nhìn, bảng phiên âm, tài liệu tham khảo, đài phát thanh, ti vi, máy vi tính, máy chiếu, … bàn ghế chuyên biệt 26 Phần nói khơng thiết kế rõ ràng riêng rẽ sách/ giáo trình 27 Có thời gian cho việc thực hành nói tiếng Anh lớp C BIỆN PHÁP ĐỂ VƯỢT QUA THÁCH THỨC KHÓ KHĂN Biện pháp Đồng Không ý đồng ý 28 Giáo viên nên làm để vượt qua thách thức phía đội ngũ giáo viên? A Giáo viên phải đăng kí tham gia học để đạt bâc B2/4 C1/5 lực ngôn ngữ theo khung tham chiếu châu Âu, tham gia khóa tập huấn phương pháp dạy học tiếng Anh khóa đào tạo Tin học tổ chức Đề án ngoại ngữ quốc gia 2020 họ muốn tiếp tục dạy tiếng Anh 71 B Nên ưu tiên chọn giáo viên có phương pháp dạy ngoại ngữ tốt để dạy kỹ C Giáo viên nên thiết kế mơ kiểm tra xếp lớp để xác định trình độ học sinh trước tiến hành dạy nói D Ngay từ đầu khóa học giáo viên nên giải thích tầm quan trọng việc học kỹ nói cho sinh viên yêu cầu phải đạt lực ngôn ngữ trình độ B1 theo khung tham chiếu Châu Âu E Giáo viên nên học cách thiết kế sử dụng tài liệu tham khảo theo chủ đề phù hợp để dạy nói phần nói khơng thiết kế riêng rẽ giáo trình học F Giáo viên nên cho sinh viên làm việc theo nhóm, cặp để khuyến khích sinh viên nói nhiều tốt G Giáo viên nên sử dụng nhiều hoạt động khác để khuyến khích sinh viên nói cách chủ động H Giáo viên nên học cách dạy kỹ nói tích hợp với kỹ khác I Giáo viên nên thiết kế biên soạn lại thi nói theo khung tham chiếu Châu Âu sinh viên thực hành học nói J Nhà trường nên mời giáo viên nước dạy tiếng Anh để dạy cho sinh viên số học kỹ nói 29 Sinh viên nên làm để vượt qua thách thức việc học kỹ nói? A Thơng qua mạng internet, tài liệu tham khảo, sinh viên phải tìm hiểu cách cẩn thận yêu cầu trình độ B1 theo khung tham chiếu Châu Âu, đặc biệt lực nói B Sinh viên phải ý thức tầm quan trọng việc học kỹ nói trường đại học C Sinh viên phải học cách phát âm, ghi nhớ nhiều từ tốt 72 cách diễn đạt đọc D Sinh viên nên tra cứu từ ngữ cảnh thông qua từ điển internet E Sinh viên nên sử dụng từ vựng học để nói F Sinh viên nên thực hành trình bày ý tưởng qua việc viết nói câu đơn giản G Sinh viên nên xem clips tiếng Anh ngắn thực hành nói với bạn H Sinh viên nên khuyến khích tham gia vào hoạt động nói theo cặp theo nhóm hướng dẫn giáo viên I Sinh viên nên tham gia câu lạc kì thi nói tiếng Anh Nhà trường tổ chức để thực hành nói tiếng Anh J Sinh viên nên thực hành nói tiếng Anh với giáo viên nước ngồi nhiều tốt 30 Nhà trường nên làm để vượt qua thách thức mặt phương tiện dạy học? A Nhà trường nên trang bị phòng học với đầy đủ phương tiện cần thiết cho việc học nói: phương tiện nghe nhìn, bảng phiên âm, tài liệu tham khảo, đài phát thanh, ti vi, máy vi tính, máy chiếu, … bàn ghế chuyên biệt B Nhà trường nên tăng thời lượng học kỹ nói ½ đến tiết tuần C Nhà trường nên giảm số lượng học sinh lớp học kỹ nói từ 15 đến 20 sinh viên lớp Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác, giúp đỡ bạn! 73