An investigation into language learning strategies to improve english speaking skills among high school students a case of three high schools in binh duong province

PEOPLE'S BINH DUONG PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY -🕮 - HOANG THI LE QUYEN AN INVESTIGATION INTO LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: A CASE OF THREE HIGH SCHOOLS IN BINH DUONG PROVINCE MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 22 02 01 MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE BINH DUONG PROVINCE, 2023 PEOPLE'S BINH DUONG PROVINCIAL COMMITTEE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY -🕮 - HOANG THI LE QUYEN AN INVESTIGATION INTO LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: A CASE OF THREE HIGH SCHOOLS IN BINH DUONG PROVINCE MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAJOR CODE: 22 02 01 MASTER THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SUPERVISED BY Ph.D TRAN THANH DU BINH DUONG PROVINCE, 2023 STATEMENT OF THE AUTHORSHIP I, the undersigned, at this moment, declare that I am the sole author of the thesis entitled “An Investigation into Language Learning Strategies to Improve English Speaking Skills among High School Students: A Case of Three High Schools in Binh Duong Province.” I have fully acknowledged and referenced the ideas and work of others, whether published or unpublished, in my thesis My thesis does not contain work extracted from a thesis, dissertation, or research paper previously presented for another degree or diploma at this or any other university Binh Duong, July 2023 Hoang Thi Le Quyen i RETENTION OF USE I hereby state that I, Hoang Thi Le Quyen, being a candidate for the degree of Master of English Language accepts the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In this regard, I agree that the original of my Master’s thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for study and research purposes ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been possible without the support of many people and groups Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ph.D Tran Thanh Du, for his continued guidance and invaluable assistance and insights leading to the writing of this thesis My sincere thanks also go to all Thu Dau Mot University teachers for teaching me the essential knowledge to complete this paper Furthermore, I am greatly indebted to the Binh Duong Department of Education and Training and Vo Minh Duc High School for their financial support and assignments Moreover, I am fortunate to have been a part of the English Group of Vo Minh Duc High School; I am highly thankful to my colleagues and students from Vo Minh Duc, Binh Phu, and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School for their constant bits of help Additionally, I would like to extend my special thanks to the authors of my thesis’s references Last but not least, I am grateful for my parents, siblings, husband, and daughters, whose unconditional love and support keep me motivated and confident iii ABSTRACT The role of language learning strategies (LLS) in second language acquisition has received increased attention across several disciplines in recent years LLS has been shown to occur in many studies over the years to improve language learning efficiency The current study endeavors to scrutinize LLS employed by the students at (1) Binh Phu, (2) Vo Minh Duc, and (3) Nguyen Thi Minh Khai high schools and suggests solutions to improve the effectiveness of LLS Based on the data collected and analyzed by mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative), the survey reveals that students’ motivation enormously affected LLS The author first sent and collected data from questionnaires, complimented interviews, and subsequently experimental teaching and classroom observation The findings simultaneously show that students use many LLS to enhance their speaking skills, but the most frequently used ones are cognitive and affective Significant correlations among types of LLS and the influence of motivation on the choices of LLS are consistent with previous studies The study’s results concerning LLS and the effectiveness of LLS are expected to be beneficial to teachers of English and students in terms of narrowing the gap between the students' LLS and their teaching methodologies preferences and sketching out the appropriate strategies to enhance students’ speaking skills The implications of these findings and the importance of viewing learners holistically are discussed, and recommendations are made for ongoing research Key words: affective strategies, cognitive strategies, language learning strategies, memorization strategies, speaking skills iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS C: Control class E: Experimental class IELTS: International English Language Testing System LLS: Language learning strategies BP: Binh Phu High School MK: Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School VMD: Vo Minh Duc High School Pre: Pretest M: Midterm test P: Posttest S1: LLS … S12: LLS 12 S1COMPUTE: Memorization strategies S2COMPUTE: Cognitive strategies S3COMPUTE: Compensation strategies S4COMPUTE: Metacognitive strategies S5COMPUTE: Affective strategies S6COMPUTE: Social strategies v LIST OF TABLES Chapter Table 1.1 The population of the three high schools Chapter 28 Table 3.1 Student subjects 33 Table 3.2 Teacher subjects 34 Table 3.3 Speaking assessment criteria (Adapted from IELTS speaking criteria) 39 Table 3.4 Cronbach’s Alpha for each category of the questionnaire 42 Chapter 44 Table 4.1 Students' English learning 44 Table 4.2 Students’ motivation in learning English 45 Table 4.3 Descriptive statistics of students’ motivation in learning English 46 Table 4.4 Students’ preference for LLS 46 Table 4.5 Descriptive statistics of the activities 54 Table 4.6 Descriptive statistics of pretest results 55 Table 4.7 Paired sample midterm test 56 Table 4.8 Paired sample posttest 57 vi LIST OF FIGURES Chapter 11 Figure 2.1 Diagram of the Strategy System 18 Figure 2.2 Theoretical Framework 26 Chapter 28 Figure 3.1 Concept map of data collection and analysis 31 Figure 3.2 Sampling procedures 32 Figure 3.3 The formula for calculating the reliable sample size 33 Chapter 44 Figure 4.1 LLS preference of the sample 47 Figure 4.2 LLS use of three grades 48 Figure 4.3 LLS use among three grades 49 Figure 4.4 LLS use among three schools 49 Figure 4.4 Differences of test results 49 Figure 4.5a LLS use of VMD students 50 Figure 4.5b LLS use of BP students 50 Figure 4.5c LLS use of MK students 51 Figure 4.6 Differences of test results 59 Figure 4.7 Test results among three schools 59 vii LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX - LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGY CATEGORIES CLASSIFIED BY RUBIN, O’MALLEY ET AL., AND OXFORD 78 APPENDIX - LEARNING STRATEGIES 79 APPENDIX – STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 81 APPENDIX - STUDENTS’ PRIORITY OF LLS 84 APPENDIX - OBSERVATION CHECKLISTS 89 APPENDIX 6- QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 97 APPENDIX - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS 103 APPENDIX - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS 104 APPENDIX - RESULTS OF TEACHER INTERVIEWS 105 APPENDIX 10 - RESULTS OF STUDENT INTERVIEWS 110 APPENDIX 11 - RUBRICS FOR PRE, MID, AND POST-TESTS 115 APPENDIX 12 – TEST RESULTS OF VO MINH DUC HIGH SCHOOL 118 APPENDIX 13 – TEST RESULTS OF BINH PHU HIGH SCHOOL 123 APPENDIX 14 – TEST RESULTS OF NGUYEN THI MINH KHAI HIGH SCHOOL 128 APPENDIX 15 - PRETEST OF SPEAKING 133 APPENDIX 16 - MIDTERM TEST OF SPEAKING 134 APPENDIX 17 - POST TEST OF SPEAKING 135 APPENDIX 18 – PAIRED SAMPLE T-TEST 136 APPENDIX 19 – COMPARISON BETWEEN CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL CLASSES 141 APPENDIX 20 – COMPARISON AMONG CONTROL CLASSES FROM THREE SCHOOLS 142 APPENDIX 21 – LLS USE AMONG THREE HIGH SCHOOLS 147 APPENDIX 22 – LLS USE AMONG THREE HIGH SCHOOLS 148 viii