Difficulties encountered by english majored students in studying speaking iii subject at banking academy of vietnam

BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS IN STUDYING SPEAKING III SUBJECT AT BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM Student : Lam Thi Bich Ngoc Class : K20ATCB Academic year : 2017-2021 Student Code : 20A7510128 Supervisor : Ms Nguyen Thi Minh Hang (MBA) Hanoi, May 2021 Tai ngay!!! Ban co the xoa dong chu nay!!! 17014126234561000000 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I declare that this graduation thesis entitled “Difficulties encountered by Englishmajored students in studying Speaking III subject at Banking Academy of Vietnam” is the result of my own research except as cited in the references The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in the candidature of any other degree Hanoi, May 2021 Signature Lam Thi Bich Ngoc i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people that I wish to express my sincere thanks for their contribution to my graduation thesis First, it is a genuine pleasure to express my deep sense of gratitude to my supervisor, MBA Nguyen Thi Minh Hang - a lecturer in the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Banking Academy of Vietnam for her support throughout my study period Her timely advice, meticulous scrutiny, and scientific approach have helped me to a very great extent to accomplish this task Without her encouragement and guidance, my graduation thesis could not be completed Second, I would like to express my sincere thanks to English-majored students at Banking Academy who participated in an online survey Their responses contributed considerably to the accomplishment of my dissertation Finally, it is my privilege to thank my family for their constant encouragement and motivation throughout my study ii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Background of the Study 1.3 Objectives of the Study 1.4 Research Questions 1.5 Significance of the Study 1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study 1.7 Definition of Terms CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW .6 2.1 A Critical Review of Literature on English Speaking Skill 2.1.1 Definition of Speaking 2.1.2 Characteristics of Speaking Skill 2.1.3 The Importance of English Speaking Proficiency 2.1.4 English Speaking Difficulties 2.1.5 Causes of English Speaking Difficulties 11 2.1.6 Suggested Strategies to Address the English Speaking Difficulties .13 2.2 Previous Studies 15 2.2.1 Vietnamese Research 15 2.2.2 Foreign Research .16 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .19 3.1 Locale of the Study 19 3.2 Research Design 19 iii 3.3 Population and Sample 19 3.4 Research Instrument 19 3.5 Data Gathering Procedure 20 3.6 Statistical Treatment 21 3.7 Reliability 21 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 22 4.1 Findings 22 4.1.1 Difficulties in “Speaking III” of ATC students 22 4.1.2 Causes of Students’ Difficulties in “Speaking III” course 26 4.1.3 Suggested Solutions to Deal with Students’ Difficulties in the “Speaking III” course 31 4.2 Discussion 34 4.2.1 Difficulties encountered by English-majored students in the “Speaking III” course 34 4.2.2 Causes of Students’ Difficulties in “Speaking III” course 37 4.2.3 Suggested Solutions to Deal with Students’ Difficulties in the “Speaking III” course 39 CHAPTER V: RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION 42 5.1 Recommendation 42 5.1.1 To Language Lecturers 42 5.1.2 To English-majored Students 42 5.2 Conclusion 43 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES 49 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Meaning EFL English as a Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language FIT Faculty of Information Technology SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences v LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The ranges of mean score 21 Table 4.1 Sample of the research .22 Table 4.2: Reliability analysis of Difficulties factor 23 Table 4.3: Students’ difficulties in “Speaking III” course 24 Table 4.4: Reliability analysis of Causes factor 27 Table 4.5: Causes of students’ difficulties in the “Speaking III” course 28 Table 4.6: Reliability analysis of Solutions factor 31 Table 4.7: Suggested solutions to deal with students’ difficulties in the “Speaking III” course 32 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Summary of data from Table 4.5 29 Figure 4.2: Summary of data from Table 4.7 33 vii ABSTRACT This study was conducted with the purpose of investigating ATC students’ difficulties when studying “Speaking III” subject To elucidate the objectives of the research, three facets of the research question were examined namely the main English speaking difficulties encountered by ATC students, the possible causes of these difficulties, and feasible solutions to surmount their difficulties The research employed a questionnaire method to collect data The questionnaire was sent electronically to 62 ATC students to gather needed information Afterward, the data were analyzed by SPSS software to examine the reliability and analyze descriptive statistics The research’s findings indicate that three significant difficulties hindering students from English speaking proficiency were inadequate English vocabulary, misuse of complex structure, and inability to employ a wide range of structures Besides, three possible causes of students’ English speaking difficulties were that they have not studied actively, lacked effective self-study methods, and felt nervous when speaking in public With regard to suggested strategies, most respondents revealed that it is helpful for them to receive feedback for their speaking performance, bonus points for active contribution, and chances to work in pairs or in groups regularly Keywords: English speaking difficulties, English speaking proficiency, Englishmajored students viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction In the current globalization context, it is fundamental for people to master foreign languages, especially the English language which is regarded as the global language of the world In the context of Vietnam, the government has permitted multitudinous foreign enterprises to invest in diverse industries in the country due to the advancement of modern science and technology and the integration policy; therefore, it has led to increased interactions between Vietnamese people and foreigners Consequently, the demand for learning foreign languages in general and the English language in particular saw a considerable increase in Vietnam in recent years (Ngo, 2010) Of all major English skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing that are instructed prevalently in most English classes, speaking is esteemed as the most significant skill for students to acquire due to its immense benefits First and foremost, speaking English fluently and accurately could help English-majored students to follow English-related subjects at university effectively Second, English speaking proficiency assists overseas students to remove language barriers and enables them to adapt to foreign cultures and environments effortlessly Regarding the importance of English speaking proficiency, Nunan (1991) also emphasized that mastering speaking skills is the single most crucial facet of learners, and success can be determined based on the ability to perform a conversation in the language However, in Vietnamese context, English subject is considered one of the most complex subjects at school and university, and English speaking proficiency may be challenging for Vietnamese students to acquire because it is patently clear that speaking a foreign language is much more difficult than speaking the native tongue In addition, Shen & Chiu (2019) confirmed that several previous research studies have investigated Asian students’ English speaking challenges, but there are inadequate studies on the English speaking difficulties of Vietnamese students Therefore, it is in desperate need of conducting more research studies about English speaking difficulties confronted by Vietnamese students, and several possible solutions should be put forward to assist them in enhancing their English speaking proficiency