The factors affecting the speaking ability and some recommendations for improving it to english majored huflit senior graduation paper

Department of Foreign Languages HUFLIT UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET Full Name: Le Thi Thu Thuy Student ID Number: 15DH710468 Unit Code: Unit Code: Graduation paper Assignment Title: FACTORS AFFECTING ENGLISH MAJOR SENIORS’ SPEAKING ABILITY AT HUFLIT UNIVERSITY Name of Lecturer: Place of Lectures: Mr Dong Trinh Duc 155 Su Van Hanh (nd), Ward 13, District 10, Ho Chi Minh City Date Submitted: Student Email Address: lethuy151097@gmail.com STUDENT DECLARATION I declare that this assignment is original and has not been submitted for assessment elsewhere I declare that this assignment is my own work and does not involve plagiarism or collusion I give my consent for the electronic version to be examined by relevant plagiarism software programs I have made a photocopy or electronic copy of my assignment, which I can produce if the original is lost for any reason SIGNED: _ Le Thi Thu Thuy DATED: 20/06/2019 Page INSTRUCTOR’S ASSESSMENT Abstract Introduction Literature Review Method Result Discussion References Appendix Le Thi Thu Thuy Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This study would never have been completed if it had not received the support and help of many people Firstly, I want to express my sincere thanks to Mr Dong Trinh Duc who willingly accepted to instruct me during months of this graduation thesis project His warm encouragement, meticulous guidance and excellent assistance contributed a lot to the completion of this thesis His willingness to give abundant ideas and suggestions as well as correct my research has been very much appreciated Secondly, I greatly appreciate the support of Huflit English major students who willingly took part in and gave their precious time and effort to complete the survey If they had not agreed to participate, the project would have never seen the full fruition Lastly, I am very thankful to have my beloved family and friends who always encouraged me and gave precious advices which helped me a lot to finish my research I am particularly grateful for the encouragement given by my mother who gave me the moral support during this tough time Special thanks should be given to my friends who gave me consolation and positive encouragement when I had difficulties in doing the research They wholeheartedly assisted me to complete the survey without any impediment Le Thi Thu Thuy Page TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT I INTRODUCTION 7-9 Background 7-8 Literature Review Scopes Research Objective 8-9 Research Organization II LITERATURE REVIEW 10-13 Definition of Speaking 10 Important of Speaking 10-11 Factors Affecting Speaking Skill 11-13 III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14-15 Description of the Subjects 14 Procedures of Data Collection 14-15 Data Analysis and Interpretation 15 Statistical Treatment 15 IV RESULT 16-24 Result of questionnaires 16-23 Result of Interview Questions 23-24 V DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION 25-27 Purpose of Study 25 Finding and Explanation 25 Limitations 26 Recommendation 26-27 Le Thi Thu Thuy Page REFERENCES 29-30 APPENDIX A: Survey question (English version) 31-32 APPENDIX B: Survey question (Vietnamese version) 33-34 APPENDIX C: Interview question English version 35 APPENDIX D: Interview question Vietnamese version 36 Le Thi Thu Thuy Page ABSTRACT Having a good study method has long been a hot issue for any students This can be determined by study habits that people use every day In reality, many language learners find it difficult to express themselves in spoken language in the target language due to their own problems and abilities while speaking English The purpose of this study is to investigate the speaking problems of the Huflit (Ho Chi Minh university of Foreign Languages and Information Technology) students whose major is in English and the factors affecting their speaking English To carry out this survey, 100 English major juniors at Huflit were invited to the questionnaire of questions relating to their problems they have while speaking English and the root of these problems Some of them were asked to participate answering an interview with questions given by the writer Based on the research findings, some recommendations were made to help students improve their speaking ability Le Thi Thu Thuy Page CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION Background: Language is the primary communicative tool of human being Through this tool people can share their ideas and thoughts with others Some people even say that language is what separating us from animals There are thousands of languages in this world Some are spoken by millions of people like English, Chinese, Spanish,…(Wikipedia,[p1], 2019); however, according to a research of Quart in 2006, some of them are just spoken by only less than 100 people such as Bong’om, Boni, Yakunte,… Thanks to the influence of British Empire during the 18th century industrial revolution, English became widespread in the first place, at which people used it as a tool to communicate and started doing trade with places like Africa, Asian, etc as well as colonizing and ruling colonial countries around the globe However, English at this time was mainly used in administration and business dealings (ESL stories, 2014) Since then, English gradually has become an indispensability for human being and an elitist language spoken by those who are educated in literature, philosophy, poetry, etc With the importance of English, it has been taught in most of schools worldwide from primary school to university When a student starts learning English, speaking skill seems to be the most important one of all four skills (listening, speaking, writing, and reading) because those who know a language are usually referred to as speakers of that language (Ur, 1996) Meanwhile, Brown G and Yuly G (1983) stated that spoken language production was often considered one of the most difficult aspects of language learning due to its various problems for different students This makes the English communicative skill of students during and after their learning process become poor and hard to meet requirements of recruiters/ employers after graduating Le Thi Thu Thuy Page With the above points, the writer conducted this study on Huflit English major seniors to find out their limitations in speaking English with the hope of helping speaking ability of the writer herself and other students become more and more better Literature Review: People cannot deny the fact that English plays an important role nowadays One of English language skill that must be mastered is the ability to speak Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information Its form and meaning are dependent on the context they occur, including participants and their collective experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking (Brown 1994, Burns and Joyce 1997) Speaking is a skill by which you are judged while first impression are being formed (Hedge 2000: 206) When we talk about speaking, we not mean just saying the words through mouth It means conveying the messages you want to express to the listeners Therefore, the most difficult skills language learners face in language learning is speaking skill It is believed that speaking is the most important of the four language skills Bueno, Madrid, & Mclaren, 2006 stated that many learners had spent so many years studying English language but could not speak it appropriately and understandably Scopes: The focus of this paper is on the speaking English problems of seniors whose major is in English at Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT) Research Objective The purpose of this study was to find out the problems making Huflit DFL seniors cannot speak English fluently, to help them see where the root of the problems is, and to find some solutions to help students conquer difficulties of speaking this language To Le Thi Thu Thuy Page find the answers for the above problems, two research questions are given to service for this research paper: What are problems Huflit English major seniors have in English speaking? What Huflit English major seniors feel when they spend English speaking lessons in class? Research Organization: This paper is divided into five sections The first one gives a brief overview of Speaking English habits among university students, and the second one comprises analyses of aspects making students cannot speak English fluently The third one is of description of how the research is carried out The research findings and discussion will be displayed in section 4, and the final section includes some conclusions and recommendations given out to help students to overcome difficulties while speaking English Le Thi Thu Thuy Page CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE This literature review discusses difficulties making Huflit DFL senior confused when they are speaking English including the definition of speaking and the importance of it Definition of speaking There have been numerous definitions of the word “speaking” that have been suggested by the researchers in language learning In the Cambridge Dictionary, speaking means saying words orally, using the voice or having conversation with someone Eckard & Kearny (1981), Florez (1999) and Howarth (2001) defined speaking as a two–way process involving a true communication of ideas and information or feelings This topdown view considers the spoken texts as the product of cooperation between two or more interactants in shared time, and a shared physical context Important of speaking Speaking skill, especially English speaking skill, can help you in all areas in your life Human learn to speak before they can read and write Speaking is the most important skill because it is one of the abilities needed to perform a conversation between people Speaking English is not an easy task because it required speakers should know how to use words together in a meaningful way to reflect thoughts, opinions, and feelings According to Joanna and Heather (2006), many teachers worldwide including Vietnam have to teach mainly grammar and vocabulary from primary to high school because these areas are tested in examinations This means that speaking is optional skill in many English classrooms Students may have a good knowledge of grammar and a wide vocabulary to pass their examinations, but they face challenges to speak English outside the classroom Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 10 never conduct debating on different topics, and only 15% of them sometimes would conduct debating on different topics The next point indicated that whether student told their stories by using English in front of class 21% of Huflit seniors always told their stories by using English in front of class whenever they had chance Students who rarely told their stories in front of class occupied the highest figure 40%, followed by 27% of them sometimes told their stories in front of class and 12% of students never told their stories The sixth point was about if Huflit seniors’ often introduce themselves in English The result of this point showed that most of students rarely introduced themselves before speaking (40%), followed by 30% of them who never introduced themselves before speaking anything in front of class 10% of Huflit seniors always introduced themselves before speaking anything in front of class, and 20% of them sometimes would introduced themselves before speaking something in front of class The next point was discussed about whether Huflit seniors often made long speech in class Most of them (45%) agreed that they sometimes had to make long speech in class based on requirements of lesson However, 29% of them always had to long speech in class or 26% of Huflit seniors based on requirements of lecture The following up point was that if Huflit seniors often gave their opinion in English in class 39% of Huflit seniors admitted that they rarely gave their opinions in English in class and 34% of them sometimes gave their opinions in English in class Though, there appeared 10% of students never gave their opinion in English while 17% of them always gave their opinion in English The last point was about if Huflit seniors often tried to speak in English Occupied the highest percent was the number of Huflit seniors never tried to speak in English in class (39%), followed by 32% of students rarely tried to speak in English, 20% of them tried to speak in English sometimes, and only 9% of students always tried to speak in English The result shows that the majority of the students rarely or not at all participate actively in speaking activities Concretely, they dod not involve in asking and answering questions, talking to their partner, conducting debate, telling history, introducing themselves, making long speech, expressing their opinion Also, they not practice Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 22 speaking when teachers provide some opportunities Finally, the majorities of the students feltl shy and lose confidence when they try to speak English in front of others As a result, it can be seen that a large number of Huflit DFL seniors have wrong methods to study English especially studying speaking English They tend to use English only in class if required They also had poor practicing speaking English habits that affect badly on their English learning route Result of interview questions Five Huflit DFL seniors were interviewed The interviews were 10 – 15 minutes long and consisted of two broad questions about their thought about studying speaking English at Huflit University The first question asked if students wanted lectures to force them use English only in class (except some cases that cannot explain in English) to help them improve their speaking skill and that why or why not they wanted this The respond for this question was that most of interviewee thought that it was an effective way to help them improve their speaking skill Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 23 However, one of interviewee said that it was difficult for teachers to force all students in class use English because most of them liked gossiping in class, and if they used English in class only, they could not delivery their thought fully A male student also commented that he completely agreed with the above method because he found that his friends were very shy when speaking English with others, but they always complained that their speaking ability did not improve after years studying at Huflit He also said that the way of forcing students speaking English in class only could be an effective way which could make them be confident everywhere and every time The second question was asked what students think about Huflit speaking English courses from the first year to the fourth year, if the English courses were useful for them, and that why or why not those courses were useful There were general agreements that some speaking courses in Huflit university were very useful for students Only one student replied that she did not like a few speaking courses at Huflit like speaking 1, speaking 2,…because in these courses she had to talk about most of topics that she did not like to talk about or not know any information relating to this topic, except Telephoning course In conclusion, most of the students agree that changing studying method and almost of speaking courses in Huflit University can help students improve their speaking skill They admit that there are many difficulties in develop an effective studying speaking English method The biggest challenge for them is time and they find it hard to study from the beginning because they not have enough time Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 24 Chapter V: DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION Purpose of Study The purpose of this study was to find out the factors effect speaking English ability of a group of university students on their daily study and practice, to see whether they have wrong or right studying methods and practicing methods, and give some suggestions on improve speaking English ability and have a better study method in the future Finding and Explanation In the current study, the findings from the questionnaires delivered to the students showed that when the students learn speaking, they encountered many problems Huflit DFL seniors reported that they spoke very little or nothing in speaking class Most of the time, they could not think of anything to say, so they used Vietnamese A significant number of students also claimed that they were fearful of criticism or losing face They had no motivation to use English to express themselves Some more speaking problems that the students encountered in the classrooms observed were also recorded The first problem was that the students often translated the information in their mind into Vietnamese before speaking The second problem was that most of the students’ speaking performance sounded unnatural because they did not remember the structures and vocabulary when they spoke They just translate words by words Furthermore, uneven participation in all the lessons observed was also considered to be another problem Some students participated in the classroom activities actively while the others did it unwillingly In general, from the results of the investigation, it was evident that the students encountered many problems in the speaking class Moreover, there were many factors that contributed to their success and failure in performing speaking On the whole, the learning of speaking skills at Huflit University needed to be improved Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 25 Limitations The current research is only a minor survey, the findings are applied to only seniors of The Foreign Languages Department of Ho Chi Minh University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology The researcher choose this school because it is accessible without difficulties As a result, this study is limited by the precise sample size and it cannot be generalized to all universities over the country Therefore, further research needs to be carried out in larger size Recommendations As analyzed above, the grammar plays the most important role in the English speaking skill of student in Huflit University It should be taught in an effective way and used with appropriate structures, in a natural way and in right contexts The students are not confident enough to communicate with foreigners because of fear of making mistakes like saying the wrong basis (stressed, silent letter,…) Therefore, studying grammar is not enough, but we need to consider the nature of language and create confidence for students in the learning process; the combination of the grammar and speaking skills in a natural and effective way are crucial Students must be more active in class and practice speaking English with others after school In addition, the faculty may add some additional grammar courses to train students to be successful in producing utterances It is agreed that students with well-prepared grammar will be better writers Students can learn grammar by proofreading, peer-editing and revising for each other’s work because the writing process itself teaches grammar Besides, the results of the study also showed that the students did not seem to have self confidence in speaking skills Hence, students need to develop their self-confidence during speaking classes Students should be aware of the role of making mistakes in learning speaking skills Without committing mistakes fluency cannot be achieved; therefore, the students should keep in mind the value of making mistakes in learning Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 26 speaking skills They should practice more in and out classes which can help them improve their speaking skill fast and effective As it is apparent from the results of the study, though the instructors appeared to be aware of the factors that affect their students’ speaking skills, they were not employing their maximum effort to overcome the challenges and facilitate conditions to promote students’ speaking skills Thus, it is recommended that English language teachers should employ their maximum effort to minimize the problems that affect teaching speaking skills by: motivating the students to speak in the language, providing the students with various opportunities of speaking skills, providing appropriate supplementary speaking materials, giving additional/tutorial classes the teachers may improve their students’ speaking skills Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 27 REFERENCES Works Cited Brown G and Yuly G (1983) Justinecassell Retrieved 04 10, 2019, from www.justinecassell.com: http://www.justinecassell.com/discourse/pdfs/brown_yule_chap1.pdf Brown, H D (1994) Octovany Retrieved 04 10, 2019, from www.octovany.files.wordpress.com: https://octovany.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/ok-teaching-by-principles-hdouglas-brown.pdf Burns and Joyce (1997) Muni Retrieved 04 10, 2019, from www.is.muni.cz: https://is.muni.cz/th/zmjkc/THESIS_Solcova_appendices.pdf Efrizal, D (2012) Improving Students’ Speaking through Communicative Language Teaching Method at Retrieved 04 20, 2019, from www.ijhssnet.com: http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_2_No_20_Special_Issue_October_2012/1 2.pdf Florez, MaryAnn Cunningham (1999) Improving Adult ESL Learner's Pronunciation Skill Retrieved 04 20, 2019, from www.files.eric.ed.gov: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED427553.pdf Hammond, A (2014, 03 06) ESL stories Retrieved 04 10, 2019, from www.blog.esl-languages.com: https://blog.esl-languages.com/blog/learnlanguages/english-language-global-number-one/ Harmer, J (2001) Retrieved 04 15, 2019, from file:///C:/Users/nekochan/Downloads/jeremy-harmer-the-practice-of-englishlanguage-teaching%20(1).pdf Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 28 Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and learning language in classroom Retrieved 04 10, 2019, from www.oup.hu: http://www.oup.hu/THedge_TeachingandLearning.pdf Joanna Baker and Heather Westrup (2003) The English Laguage Teacher's Handbook Retrieved 04 20, 2019, from www.pccambodiaprojects.files.wordpress.com : https://pccambodiaprojects.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/the-english-languageteacher_s-handbook.pdf 10 Kearny, E & (1981) Eric Retrieved 04 20, 2019, from www.files.eric.ed.gov: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED208676.pdf 11 Kuo, L (2016, 09 20) QUARTZ AFRICA Retrieved 04 10, 2019, from www.qz.com: https://qz.com/africa/786055/only-seven-people-in-the-worldspeak-this-kenyan-tribes-language-yakunte-and-now-they-are-trying-to-save-it/ 12 Littlewood, W (2013) koreatesol Retrieved 04 15, 2019, from koreatesol.org: https://koreatesol.org/sites/default/files/pdf/Littlewood%20%20Teaching%20English%20PDF.pdf 13 Lyle F Bachman and Adrian S Palmer (1996) octovany Retrieved 04 15, 2019, from octovany.files.wordpress: octovany.files.wordpress 14 Mahripah, S (2014) staff.uny.ac.id Retrieved 04 15, 2019, from staff.uny.ac.id: http://staff.uny.ac.id/sites/default/files/penelitian/lusi-nurhayati-spd-mappllingtesol/utic-2014-proceeding-full.pdf 15 Richards Jack and Rogers (2001) Approachs and Methods in Language Teaching Retrieved 04 20, 2019, from www.novaconcursos.com.br : https://www.novaconcursos.com.br/blog/pdf/richards-jack-c.-&-rodgers.pdf Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 29 16 Shumin, K (1997) flipbooksoft Retrieved 04 17, 2019, from ww.flipbooksoft.com: http://www.flipbooksoft.com/upload/books/112012/041ba5ba1409007403c34e2c775a99ea/97-35-3-c.pdf 17 Ur, P (1991) Banarvan Retrieved 04 10, 2019, from www.barnavan.com: http://www.banarvan.com/DynamicContent/UsersDirectory/admin/MyFiles/Tea ching%20Syllabus/penny%20ur%20old%20version.pdf 18 Ur, P (2000) A Course In Language Teaching Retrieved 04 20, 2019, from www.barnavan.com: http://www.banarvan.com/DynamicContent/UsersDirectory/admin/MyFiles/Tea ching%20Syllabus/penny%20ur%20old%20version.pdf 19 Various authors (2019) Wikipedia Retrieved 04 10, 2019, from www.en.wikipedia.org: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_total_number_of_speakers Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 30 APPENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTION (ENGISH VERSION) 1/ How many percent you feel confident about your English speaking ability?  100%  80%  50%  20%  < 20% 2/ Which speaking problems HUFLIT DFL SENIOR encounter? (You can have more than one choice)  You are worried about making mistakes  You are fearful of criticism or losing face  You cannot think of anything to say  You have no motive to express themselves  You speak very little or not at all  You use Vietnamese  You are shy 3/ What are the factors that affect your speaking time? (You can have more than one choice)  Lack of vocabulary  Inhibition  Fear of mistake  Listening ability  Feedback during speak Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 31 4/ Which one below you feel most difficult when speaking English?  Stressed  Grammar  Silent letter  Liaison  Intonation 5/ Which way you think the most effective to improve your speaking skill? (If impossible tell me the reasons)  Friends  Foreigner  Teachers/Lecturers  By yourself  Family members Answering above questions: Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 32 APPENDIX B: SURVEY QUESTION VIETNAMESE VERSION Bạn cảm thấy khả nói tiếng Anh khoảng phần trăm?  100%  80%  50%  20%  < 20% Vấn đề khó khăn khiến sinh viên ngành ngôn ngữ anh Đại học Ngoại ngữtin học phải đối mặt sử dụng tiếng anh ngồi lớp học? (có thể chọn nhiều đáp án)  Bạn lo lắng việc phảm phải sai lầm  Bạn sợ bị mặt bị soi mói/ trích  Bạn khơng thể nghĩ điều để nói  Bạn khơng có động lực để chứng tỏ than  Bạn nói khơng nói  Bạn sử dụng tiếng mẹ đẻ suốt trình học  Bạn ngại sử dụng tiếng anh Những nhân tố ảnh hưởng đến việc nói tiếng anh bạn? (bạn chọn nhiều đáp án)  Khơng có từ vựng  Rào cản tâm lí  Sợ sai  Khả nghe  Nhưng lời phê bình bạn nói tiếng anh Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 33 Những yếu tố sau khiến bạn khó tuân theo trinh sửa dụng tiếng anh?  Nhấn âm  Ngữ pháp  Âm câm  Nối âm  Ngữ điệu Cách sau bạn cảm thấy hiệu thực hành nói tiếng nah để nâng cao khả mình?  Giao tiếp với bạn bè  Giao tiếp với người nước  Giao tiếp với giáo viên/ giảng viên  Tư học (ví dụ: nghe nhạc, xem phim…)  Giao tiếp với thành viên gia đình Trả lời câu hỏi bảng Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 34 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (ENGLISH VERSION) 1/ Do you want lectures force students only use English in class (except some cases that cannot explain in English) to help them improve their speaking skill? Why or Why not? 2/ What you think about Huflit speaking English classes from the first year to the fourth year? Are they useful for you? Why or Why not? Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 35 APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW QUESTION (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 1/Bạn có muốn giảng viên buộc sinh viên sử dụng tiếng anh lớp học Tiếng anh (ngoại trừ trường hợp khơng thể khó giải thích tiếng anh) để giúp học sinh/ sinh viên cải thiện kĩ nói tiếng anh mình? Tại sao? 2/ Bạn nghĩ học phần học nói tiếng anh trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ tin học từ năm đến năm tư? Chúng có giúp ích cho bạn không? Tại sao? Le Thi Thu Thuy Page 36