nghiên cứu các lỗi sử dụng từ vựng trong kỹ năng nói của sinh viên năm thứ hai chuyên ngành ngôn ngữ anh trường đại học sư phạm kỹ thuật hưng yên

A STUDY ON ERRORS IN USING VOCABULARY IN SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN OF EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY NGHIEN CUU CAC LOI SU DUNG TU VUNG TRONG KY NAN

HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

A STUDY ON ERRORS IN USING VOCABULARY IN SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN OF EDUCATION

AND TECHNOLOGY

(NGHIEN CUU CAC LOI SU DUNG TU VUNG TRONG

KY NANG NOI CUA SINH VIEN NAM THU HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH NGÔN NGỮ ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM KỸ THUẬT HƯNG YÊN )

Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Bich Van, MA

Student: Ngo Thuy Trang Student number: 11317139

Hai Duong - 2021

HUNG YEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GRADUATION PAPER FIELD: ENGLISH LINGUISTICS

A STUDY ON ERRORS IN USING VOCABULARY IN SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN OF EDUCATION

AND TECHNOLOGY

(NGHIEN CUU CAC LOI SU DUNG TU VUNG TRONG

KY NANG NOI CUA SINH VIEN NAM THU HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH NGÔN NGỮ ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM KỸ THUẬT HƯNG YÊN )

Student: Ngo Thuy Trang Student number: 11317139 Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Bich Van, MA

(ky tén)

Hung Yen — 2020

DECLARATION

I certify my authorship of the thesis entitled “A study on errors in using vocabulary in speaking of the second-year English major students at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education”

This graduation paper is the result of my own research and the substance of this thesis has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution and that if this declaration

is found to be false, disciplinary measures and penalties can be taken and imposed in accordance with university policies and rules

Hai Duong, June 2021

Ngo Thuy Trang

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researcher is so glad to have a good opportunity of doing this graduation paper It helped me collect and classify knowledge which I have studied During the process of writing this graduation paper, I have received many necessary assistance, precious ideals and timely encouragements from my teachers, family and friends I would like to express my gratitude to all of them

First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to all the teachers of Faculty of Foreign Language, UTEHY for teaching me to be a well-educated student I have learnt so many things from what they taught me They have made favorable conditions for me to study at school during

my precious four years here

Secondly, I would like to give special thanks to my supervisor, Mrs Nguyen Thi Bich Van, who has always been willing to give me the most valuable advices, experienced guidance and suggestions in order that the research can complete this study successfully

Besides, I also would like to thank my friends and my classmates for sharing ideas and checking some mistakes for my study

Last but not least, I would like to give my sincere thanks to my family who have encouraged and supported me a lot

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ABSTRACT

The study aims at investigating the students’ and teachers’ opinion about the errors in using vocabulary in speaking of the second-year English major students at English Department, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education, finding out the solutions to help students avoid mistakes in using vocabulary in speaking of the second-year English major students at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education

In order to achieve the objectives mentioned above, the researcher combined both qualitative, quantitative methods, survey questionnaire The research was carried out survey questionnaire delivered to 87 second-year English major students and 6 English teachers at Department of Foreign Languages, UTEHY to get direct opinions

1V

TABLE OF CONTENTS IM5290.) 00i9) 00010588 1 \0.419)4058.65./i500ð 00808088 ii

LIST OE ABBREVIATIONS Là LH HH HH HH Họ Hà LH Tà Hà Hà HH Hà Ikt vii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION eee een H Hà LH Hà Hà Hà HH hư 1

1.3 The research qu€SLIOIS ác Là tú HH HH HH HH H01 1Á 2

CHAPTER IT: LITERATURE REVIEW 0.0 cee ccc cee cen cece nh HH khe he kh he se ky se se

2.1.1 Definitions OŸ speakIng, - các cành TH HH HH HH HH HH Hà 4

2.1.3 Students’ difficulties in learning speaking sÌkiÏÏs 5c c5 Sc‡cerekekrrkrrrrkererri 6 2.1.3.1 Eear Of MIS(aKe HH1 HH Hà HT Hà HT Tà Lọ Là Hà Hà HT Hà HH HH 1k 6

VỆ nho :Ầ 7

2.1.3.4 Lack of Confdence «cá L11111 4 21H TT Hà Lọ Là Hà Hà HH Hà HH Hàn 10 2.1.3.5 Lack of MOLIVALIOH HH1 HH Ho HT Ho Hà LH Là Hà Hà Hà HH HH IYU II

2.2.1 Definitions

2.2.2 Characteristics of vocabulary learning

2.2.3 The relationship between vocabulary and speaking skIlls . - xe 15

2.3 Common errors in using vocabulary made by students in speaking skills

2.3.3 Errors in using vocabulary in learning speaking Skills 0.0 eee reeneeeeeeeane 18 2.3.3.1 OTAIHIHAF Sàn TH HH Hà Hà HH HT Tà Lọ Tà HH Tà Hà Hà HT kh 19

3.2.1 Survey Que€SLIONNAIY€S Sàn HH HH HH0 24

3.3.1.1 Students and teachers” perceptions toward Speaking skIlÌs - - «5 ++<+-<<2 25 3.3.1.1.1 Teachers and students” opimons at TEHY about speaking skIlls - 25 3.3.1.1.2 The biggest barrier of studying English speaking skill through students and pš1990 0025) 8n nh 26 3.3.1.1.3 The frequency of organizing and taking part in speaking activities in class of (eachers and sfU€TIS 4 LH HH Hà HH Hà Hà HT HH HH TL Lọ Tà HH Tà Hà Hà kg Hà, 28 3.3.1.1.4 Students' speaking opportunities outside of the classroom according to teachers and nh 0000 TA 29

3.3.1.2.1 The frequency of students committing errors in spoken English 30 3.3.1.2.2 The factors that make students have the most difficulty when learning English

VI

3.3.1.2.3 Common mistakes that students faced while using vocabulary in English

speaking skIll through students and teachers” OpIIOTIS - 0-5 + St r, 32 3.3.1.3 Solutions to help students avoid making mistakes in using vocabulary in speaking

1310 38

3.3.1.3.1 Main cause of making mistake while using vocabulary in speaking skill 38

3.3.1.3.2 Solutions for students through students and teachers” opInIONS 41

3.3.1.3.3 Solutions for teachers throuph students and teachers” opInIons ‹- 42

3.3.2 Main ñndings oŸ the stUỞy nà HH HH HH 44 3.3.2.1 The students’ perception toward English speaking skill oo eee 44 3.3.2.2 Error in using vocabulary in studying English speaking skills 44

3.3.2.3 Solutions to help students avoid mistake in using vocabulary in studying English J1 013 8n" 45

3.3.3 RecommendatIONS cách HH HH HH HH HH HH 46 05/1 495.084499)/90069i9) 0 ẺẺ01 50

4.1 Summary OŸ the SEUỞV Làn HH t0 0g 50 4.2 Limitation OŸ the SLUỞY ác tì HH HH HH HH HH HH ty 51 4.3 Suggestion for {urther S[UỦY cà HH HH Hà HH thà 51 REFERENCES 0.0 53

Yxsi 0) 900 00ẺẼẺẼ8 56

APPENDIX G01 .Ắ 56

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE TEACHERS ¡che 62

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS UTEHY: Hung Yen University of Technology and Education FFL: Faculty of Foreign Language

EPL: English as Foreign Language

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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Ple chart I: Students” opimons about speaking skIÏÌs - 6-5 kS* SE, 25 Ple chart 2: Teachers` opimons about speaking, skIÏÌs ¿+ 5< + +*+*k+EsSkseerserke 26 Chart 3: The biggest barrier of studying English speaking skill through students and teachers’

Ủ 27

Pie chart 4: The frequency oŸ students taking part in speaking activities In class 28

Pie chart 5: Frequency of teachers organizing speaking activities in €ÌaSS +- 28

Pie chart 6: Students' speaking opportunities outside of the classroom according to students’ 0010011001) 50N007ẼẼẺĐẼ8ẺẼ ốẽốốố ố ố ố 29

Ple chart 7: Students' speaking opportunrttIes outside of the classroom according to teacher’ 0010011001) 50N007ẼẼẺĐẼ8ẺẼ ốẽốốố ố ố ố 29

Pie chart 8: The frequency of students committing errors in spoken English due to students’ Em, 117 30

Pie chart 9: The frequency of students committing errors in spoken English due to teachers’ Em, 117 30

Table 1: The factors that make students have the most difficulty when learning English speaking skIll according to students and teacliers” añSW€TS . - Ác HT HH HH Hy 31 Table 2: Common mistakes that students faced while using vocabulary in English speaking skill through students and teacher§” OD11IIO1S - s- s6 52 1129111211111 1101111112111 111111 HH 32 Pie chart 10: Errors deal with parts of speech that students make the most based on students’ 0010011001) 50N007ẼẼẺĐẼ8ẺẼ ốẽốốố ố ố ố 33

Pie chart 11: Errors deal with parts of speech that students make the most based on teachers’ 0010011001) 50N007ẼẼẺĐẼ8ẺẼ ốẽốốố ố ố ố 33

Pie chart 12: Most difficult syntax errors for students according to students’ opinions 34

Pie chart 13: Most difficult syntax errors for students according to teachers’ opinions 34

Table 3: Frequency of students using the wrong word forms based on students’ opinions .35

Table 4: Frequency of students using the wrong word forms based on teachers’ opinions .36

1X

Pie chart 14: How often students use relative pronouns, conditionals, and passive forms in their speech based on studenfS” aIISW€TS - G2 91121 1111101111111 11111111 Hà Hiệp 37 Pie chart 15: Teachers’ opinions on the difficulty of using relative pronouns, conditionals, passive forms in StUdeNLS 0.00 SG LH HTTH HTHTH HH HH Tà Tà LH Hà Hà HH 1kg 37 Table 5: Main causes of making mistake while using vocabulary in speaking skill according to

Table 6: Main causes of making mistake while using vocabulary in speaking skill according to bš:190199 8901100 TA hố Al Table 7: Solutions for students through students and teachers” OpITIOTS - 252 42 Table 8: Solutions for teachers through students and teachers” opITIIOTS 55 43

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 The rationale for the research

Speaking skills are often identified as an important and essential skill in the process of learning foreign languages in general and English in particular However, not all learners are aware of the importance of speaking skills and actively practice this skill The fact that when you work in an English-demanding environment, employers always set the standard of whether you can speak English fluently, not how many awards or achievement you've won in English English has been taught and learnt in every country of the world Many people realize that they won't be able to reach their ideal job without knowing English English is the most commonly used language in the world, that why it is a factor that cannot be taken lightly in the process of world integration for a developing country like Vietnam People learn English because of many purposes, such as working or studying abroad Due to these important reasons, teaching and learning English becomes one of the essential problems for education in Viet Nam

Therefore, ministry of education and training pays attention to teaching methods at all schools from primary school to universities or colleges So, basically English teaching methods are applied to four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing Among these four skills, learners always have difficulty in speaking skill Each of the students at the faculty of English, Hung Yen University of Technology and Education also has problems in learning this skill They confirm that it will be a big challenge when they want to work at many well- known companies after graduating from universities if they aren’t good at speaking skill though their major is very excellent At Hung Yen University of Technology and Education (UTEHY), the second- year students at the faculty of English students must pass an English test to exam their English level and this test is one of the basic conditions for their graduating university This test consists of 4 parts: listening, speaking, reading and writing In this test, they supposed to spend 1-2 minutes to take note some ideas to talk about a random topic which is prepared by the lecture, furthermore, they must answer some extra questions about themselves like their

studying, their future plans, But the lack of vocabulary as well as lack of practical in speaking skills, so this skill score is somewhat less competitive than the other 3 skills

Therefore, with the aims to find the obstacles and give some solutions, the researcher conducted

a study entitled " A study on errors in using vocabulary in speaking skill of second- year English major students at UTEHY " The researcher hopes that this study is useful for the second- year students at the faculty of English

1.2 The aims of the research

- Investigate the students’ perceptions toward learning English speaking skill of the second-year English major students at the faculty of English

- Identify the errors in using vocabulary of second-year English major students in their speaking English

- Recommend some solutions to help students avoid making mistakes in using vocabulary

in speaking skills

To reach the goal of this research, we need to figure out the answers to the following questions:

- What are the perceptions of the second-year English major students towards learning speaking skill?

- What common errors do the second- year students at the faculty of English make in using vocabulary in speaking skill?

- What should be done to avoid mistakes in using vocabulary in speaking skill for the students?

1.4 | Methods of the study

To collect the data for researching, the author used both quantitative and qualitative methods such as survey questionnaire and classroom observation The survey questionnaire design and all the classroom observation activities were based on the main aims of the study

1.5 Subjects of the study

Second-year English major students of Hung Yen University of Technology and Education 1.6 Scope of the study

Due to the fact that this topic is very broad as well as time constraints, the study will be focusing on exploit vocabulary errors in the second-year English major students of Hung Yen University of Education and Technology

I.7 Design of the study

This study consists of three parts:

Chapter One: Introduction presents the rationale, aims, research questions, methods, subjects, scopes and designation of the study

Chapter Two: Literature Review provides a theoretical basis for the study

Chapter Three: Methodology includes an overview of speaking skills, vocabulary and errors in using vocabulary of the second-year English major students in their speaking English Findings and Discussion reports the findings of the study and discusses the prominent aspects Chapter Four: Conclusion presents the conclusions of major findings, recommendations, limitations for the study, and suggestions for further studies

CHAPTER IT: LITERATURE REVIEW Literature review will focus on vocabulary errors in speaking skills It will be covered

in one chapter After the introduction, the theoretical assumptions as well as findings from previous empirical research will be reviewed to discuss methods to help students avoid making mistakes in using vocabulary in speaking skills The next section discusses the overall view of the errors Followed by a summary of documentation related to error correction to see what the appropriate correction strategies are in the said lessons Finally, the chapter summary concludes the document overview

2.1 Overview of speaking skill

2.1.1 Definitions of speaking

Speaking is one of the most important in our lives, because speaking or oral communication is necessary to use in daily activities And it’s generally done in face-to-face interaction, and communication Through speaking, the people can express their think and communicate with others

Based on an article by Peter Lucantony (Published 17 May 2017) on the Cambridge University Press He mentioned about the views of some experts on the Speaking skill teaching and learning context in Saudi Arabia before he come to aconclusion: “Learners tend to be fairly fluent in basic spoken English, but they often lack accuracy’ Let’s take a look at some of the theories:

Jack Richards (2002): “The ability to speak a second language well is a very complex task” He concerned if we had set a goal that was too out of reach for the learners, so that we unintentionally put too much pressure on them His view is supported by Paul Seligson (1997) who says that: “Very few students will become fluent speakers but they can probably speak more than they do now and they can easily be made to feel more comfortable” So, it can

be said that in order to increase learners’ receptive ability, we, especially teachers, need to push back our unrealistic high expectations of the learners, not to set the standards and let that absurd measure becomes a hindrance to their progressive learning path

Another theory by Chris Candlin (1990): “Getting students to talk is the major and one of the most difficult tasks confronting any teacher” His point is about the common situation among learners when they want to develop their speaking skills, it is: Lack of confident In his opinion, the majority of people who are asked to speak or give opinions in public tend to be hesitant, confused or fearful (probably due to a fear of making mistakes and being corrected in front of others) They let their fear overwhelm themselves, afraid they will speak the wrong grammar They do not realize that confidently speaking out their opinion, accepting their shortcomings is the only way for them to track and improve the quality of their output and thereby gradually correct and improve themselves This has also been pointed out by Kang Shumin (2002): “Learning to speak a foreign language requires more than knowing its grammatical and semantic rules

From all of the opinion above, it can be concluded that speaking is a productive skill, and the ability to express the communication with other Because the main purpose of speaking

is to communicate in order to express thoughts in effective, it help the students to understand the meaning of everything and trying to communicate

2.1.2 The importance of speaking skill

According to Zuliati (2013) Speaking is an important language skills, in which communications take an important role in the world of information, speaking is a spoken language that is taught in the era of globalization Because of speaking, students can communicate with other students in our country or different countries, we can share ideas and opinions There are some people who see the skills of the student based on their speaking skills and not of language skills Students can effectively use speaking skills

In other study of Parupalli Srinivas Rao — an English lecture about THE IMPORTANCE

OF SPEAKING SKILLS IN ENGLISH CLASSROOMS (March 2019), he once mentioned about the important of speaking skill The role of speaking skill is sharply portrayed by him through the fact that today good communication is an indispensable skill in achieving success

in all fields He also emphasized about the important of speaking skill in English classes:

"Speaking skill is the most important skill to acquire foreign or second language learning

Among the four key language skills, speaking is deemed to be the most important skill in learning a foreign or second language” Follow this point, Brown and Yuke (1983) said,

"Speaking is a skill in which students will be most valued in real-world situations." But even so there is the sad fact that the teaching of speaking is still undervalued, almost all teachers have followed a path by continuing to teach speaking skills by having students memorize the dialogues or repetitions of exercises They forget that in this modern world, communication skills are required learners and English teachers teach students the skills they need to improve high ability to speak and perform well in real situations

According to Richard (2008:19) asserts that the mastery of speaking skill in English is priority for many language learners It can be concluded that the function of speaking is to enable students to communicate in real communication and situation In addition, according to Chaney (1998:13), speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts From the definitions, it means that speaking should improve communicative skill of students, because only in that way the students can

The use of English has become popular nowadays English can make the students communicate with strangers in the world When someone makes a trip abroad, English language is also very useful because it is accepted as an international language In Indonesia, many schools which develop into the International schools based on standards that use English as the instructional language in all subjects Therefore, speaking is a very important skill to get to the carrier and education (Ridyani: 2009)

2.1.3 Students’ difficulties in learning speaking skills

2.1.3.1 Fear of Mistake

Definitions

As argued by many theorists, fear of mistake becomes one of the main factors of students’ reluctance to speak in English in the classroom (Tsui in Nunan, 1999; Yi Htwe, 2007; Robby, 2010) With respect to the fear of making mistake issue, Aftat, (2008) adds that this fear is linked

to the issue of correction and negative evaluation In addition, this is also much influenced by

the students’ fear of being laughed at by other students or being criticized by the teacher As a result, students commonly stop participating in the speaking activity (Hieu, 2011) Therefore, it

is important for teachers to convince their students that making mistakes is not a wrong or bad thing because students can learn from their mistakes

B Causes of fear of mistake

The primary reason of fear of mistake is that students are afraid of looking foolish in front

of other people and they are concerned about how other will see them (Kurtus, 2001) In addition, Hieu (2011) and Zang (2006) cited in He and Chen (2010) explain that students feel afraid of the idea of making mistakes as they are worried that their friends will laugh at them and receive negative evaluations from their peers if they make mistake in speaking English Students’ fear of making mistakes in speaking English has been a common issue especially inan EFL context like in Indonesia As argued by Middleton (2009), most EFL students are afraid to try and to speak in a foreign language they learn In this context, as he adds, students do not want to look foolish in front of the class In some other cases, they also worry about how they will sound, and are scared of sounding silly and so on

C Solutions

In terms of possible solution to overcome students’ fear of mistakes, Zua (2008) gives several suggestions First, she suggests that emotional bonds between students and teachers should be build This way, the students are expected to feel comfort with their teacher and believe that the teacher will help them if they make mistake Second, Zua further states that the teacher should improve the students’ concentration when learning English This can be done, as she suggests, by creating a supporting learning atmosphere Finally, the last suggestion is that the teacher creates a harmonious atmosphere that can reduce students’ nervousness In this context, how to deal with errors in conversational English of students is worth discussing and emphasizes that mistakes in communication are keys to carry out a communication

2.1.3.2 Shyness

A Definitions

Shyness is an emotional thing that many students suffer from at some time when they are required to speak in English class This indicates that shyness could be a source of problem

in students’ learning activities in the classroom especially in the class of speaking Therefore, paying attention on this aspect is also quite important in order to help the students do their best

in their speaking performance in the classroom (Gebhard, 2000) In line with this, Baldwin (2011) further explains that speaking in front of people is one of the more common phobias that students encounter and feeling of shyness makes their mind go blank or that they will forget what to say This theory is also supported by the result of this research in which most students fail to perform the speaking performance at their best As they say, their inability to show their ability in speaking is also influenced much by their feeling of shyness In other words, it can be said that shyness plays an important role in speaking performance done by the students Causes of shyness

With regard to the cause of shyness, Bowen (2005) and Robby (2010) argue that some shy learners are caused by their nature that they are very quiet In this case, the students are not very confident and tend to be shy because most of them find it very intimidating when speaking English in front of their friends and teacher In addition, Saurik (2011) identifies that most of English students feel shy when they speak the language because they think they will make mistakes when they talk They are also afraid of being laughed at by their peers This fact is also found in the data of this study that students’ shyness is their perception on their own ability In this sense, they are afraid of being laughed at by their friends due to their low ability in speaking English

Solutions

In terms of possible solution to overcome shyness, Pesce (2011) says that it is urgent that teacher creates a friendly and open classroom environment By doing this, shy students are hoped to feel fine of making mistakes in their learning This way, students will not worry of their imperfect pronunciation and grammar As a result, they dare to speak in their speaking class Solving the shyness problem, Chinmoy (2007) suggests that in order to help students to

be more confident in their speaking that convince students to look upon shyness as a thing to overcome and do not fear failure or success The above solutions to reduce shyness are worth

doing As said by students involved in this study, their feeling of shyness needs to be solved In this case, they need guidance from

2.1.3.3 Anxiety

A Definitions

Anxiety is a feeling of tension, apprehension and nervousness associated with the situation of learning a foreign language (Horwitz et all cited in Nascente, 2001) Further Nascente writes that, among other affective variables, anxiety stands out as one of the main blocking factors for effective language learning In other words, anxiety influences students in learning language Therefore, paying attention to this factor of learning should also betaken into consideration The fact that anxiety plays an important role in students’ learning is also shared

by other researchers like Horwitz (1991) as cited in Sylvia and Tiono (2004) He believes that anxiety about speaking a certain language can affect students’ performance It can influence the quality of oral language production and make individuals appear less fluent than they really are This explanation suggests that teachers should make an attempt to create a learning atmosphere which gives students more comfortable situations in their learning activity

Causes of Anxiety

Regarding the causes of anxiety, Horwitz and Cope (1986, in Zhao Na, 2007) based on the findings of their study, found out three main causes of students’ anxiety i.e communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation The communication apprehension refers to the students’ ability to communicate in the target language Their low ability in this aspect, in many cases, causes anxious feeling among many students The second cause which is test anxiety deals with students’ fear of being tested The last cause has to do with other students’ evaluation In this case, as mentioned above, very often that other students ‘evaluation causes anxiety among students themselves In addition, fear of being evaluated by their teachers is also another factor affecting students’ anxiety (Liu, 2007; Zhou, et all 2004) All these show that understanding students better and being skillful in managing classroom should be part of the teachers’ concern As suggested by Harmer (2007), to reduce this anxiety feeling, teachers need

2.1.3.4 Lack of Confidence

Definitions

Lack of Confidence It is commonly understood that students’ lack of confidence usually occurs when students realize that their conversation partners have not understood them or when they do not understand other speakers In this situation, they would rather keep silent while others do talking showing that the students are lack of confidence to communicate In response

to this, Tsui cited Nunan (1999) says that student who lack of confidence about themselves and their English necessarily suffer from communication apprehension This shows that building students’ confidence is an important part of teacher’s focus of attention This means that the teacher should also learn from both theories and practical experience on how to build the students’ confidence

Causes of Lack of Confidence

He and Chen (2010) state the main cause of students’ confidence is their low ability in speaking English In this case, as they add, many students think that their English is bad and feel

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that they cannot speak English well The other cause of students’ lack of confidence also deals with the lack of encouragement from the teacher (Brown,200L) In this context, many teachers

do not think that convincing students that they are able to speak English is important As a result,

as Brown adds, students find the learning demotivating rather than motivating This suggests that encouragement becomes a vital thing in order to build the students’ confidence Therefore, giving students encouragement and showing that they will be able to communicate well in English plays a role in students’ success of learning

C Solutions

With regard to possible solution to overcome the students’ lack of confidence, Ye Htwe (2007) shares the strategy to build students’ confidence He says that maximizing students’ exposure to English is a good way to build the students’ confidence In line with this, Kubo (2009) adds that to build students’ confidence to speak English, teachers can provide regular opportunities to practice proper pronunciation and intonation, and to converse freely By doing this, students will experience a greater sense of ability to speak English Therefore, teacher should create a comfortable atmosphere in which learners are encouraged to talk in English and are praised for talking

2.1.3.5 Lack of Motivation

A Definitions

It is mentioned in the literature that motivation is a key to students’ learning success (Songsiri, 2007) With regard to the issue of motivation in learning, Nunan (1999) stresses that motivation is important to notice in that it can affect students’ reluctance to speak in English In this sense, motivation is a key consideration in determining the preparedness of learners to communicate Zua (2008) further adds that motivation is an inner energy She says that no matter what kinds of motivation the learners possess it will enhance their study interest It has been proven in many studies that students with a strong motivation to succeed can persist in learning and gain better scores than those who have weaker motivation of success showing that building students motivation to learn is urgent for every teacher

B Causes of Lack of Motivation

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With respect to the causes of lack of motivation, Gardner in Nunan (1999) elaborates the causes of the students ‘lack of motivation e.g uninspired teaching, boredom, lack of perceived relevance of materials and lack of knowledge about the goals of the instructional program These four, as he further says, very often become source of students’ motivation Uninspired teaching, for example, affects students’ motivation to learn In this context, monotonous teaching, in many cases, reduces the students’ motivation due to their feeling of boredom This shows that paying attention to those four factors is vital In response to the issue of motivation, Babu (2010) argues that lack of motivation in learning causes students’ hesitation to speak English in the classroom

He says that the background of this situation is that students are not motivated by the teachers towards the communication in English In line with what Babu says, Siegel (2004, in Aftat, 2008) believes that motivation is Problems And Difficulties of Speaking That Encounter English Language Students At Al Quds Open www ijhssi.org 104 | Page a product of good teaching

In his further explanation, Aftat emphasizes that to motivate students to learn well and actively communicate in English, teachers should have passion, creativity and interest in their students

In other words, students’ motivation is really influenced by the teachers’ teaching performance Therefore, it is important that teachers also show enthusiasm in their teaching performance Solutions

Aftat (2008) suggests that to encourage students’ motivation, teachers should provide constant encouragement and support as well ask questions that reveal the basis of a students’ problems Doing this becomes very important because encouragement also gives students a feeling of secure and welcome in their learning Other suggestions to increase students’ motivation are shared by Liu and Huang (2010) They say that to overcome students’ lack of motivation, teachers can do activities like promoting students’ awareness of the importance of English, enhancing students’ interest in English, and developing their self-confidence 2.1.4 Components of speaking skills

Among the four skills, speaking skill is a difficult one to assess with precision, because speaking is a complex skill to acquire Lado (1977) says that four or five components are generally recognized in analysis of speech process as the follows: 10

13

(1) Pronunciation

Pronunciation is the way for students to produce clearer language when they speak It deals with the phonological process that refers to the component of a grammar made up of the elements and principles that determine how sounds vary and pattern in a language

(2) Grammar

It is needed for students to arrange a correct sentence in conversation It is in line with explanation suggested by Heaton (1978) that students’ ability to manipulate structure and to distinguish appropriate grammatical from in appropriate ones The unity of grammar also learns the correct way to gain expertise in a language in oral in oral and written form (3) Vocabulary

One cannot conduct communication effectively or express their ideas both oral and written form if they do not have sufficient vocabulary So, vocabulary means the appropriate diction which is used in communication

(4) Fluency

Fluency can be defined as the ability to speak fluently and accurately Fluency included

a reasonably fast speed of speaking and only a small number of pauses and “ums” or “errs” These signs indicate that speakers do not have spent a lot of time searching or the language items needed to express the message

2.2.1 Definitions

According to Richard Nordquist — an English and Rhetoric Professor (November 04, 2019), vocabulary (the Latin word for "name", also known as compound words, vocabulary and vocabulary) refers to all words in a language understood by a particular person or group of people There are two main types of vocabulary: active and passive The active vocabulary includes the words we understand and use in everyday writing and speaking Passive vocabulary

is made up of words that we can recognize but often do not use in normal communication Experts have proposed some terms about vocabulary According to Richards and Renandya (2002: 255), vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the

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basis for how learners speak, listen, read and write Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabulary, learners often achieve their potential and may be discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening

to the radio, listening to the native speaker, using language in different context, reading or watching television

The other definition of vocabulary states from Hatch and Brown (1995: 1), they say that vocabulary refers to a list or set of words for a particular language or a list or set of words that individual speakers of language might use Hatch and Brown (1995:1) also state that vocabulary

is the only system involved of alphabetical order

In addition, Brown (2001: 377) views vocabulary items as a boring list of words that must

be defined and memorized by the students, lexical forms are seen in their central role in contextualized, meaningful language Richard in Schmitt (1997: 241) also states that knowing

a word meaning knowing how often it occurs, the company it keeps, its appropriateness in different situations, its syntactic behavior, its underlying form and derivations, its word associations, and its semantic features

Based on those statements, it can be assumed that vocabulary is a list of words as a basic component of language proficiency which has a form or expression and contains of aspects, they are meaning, use of word, form (pronunciation and spelling)

2.2.2 Characteristics of vocabulary learning

Zaremba (2006) pointed out that while reading and listening are considered to be two receptive skills in learning and using language, writing and speaking are two other useful skills needed to be integrated into the development process, efficiently communicate Of all four English skills, speaking seems to be the most important skill needed to communicate Zaremba (2006) also explains that speaking or communication skills are often placed before work experience, motivation, and education certificate as criteria for new recruiting into employment It is worth mentioning that speaking skills tend to help learners benefit more with some specific advantages The ability to express thoughts, feelings, emotions and so on can give learners the following advantages

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I want to mention the ability to stand out When it comes to speaking, people tend to think

of it as a common skill However, being able to excel and speaking English effectively and confidently is not a common ability It is more remarkable that there are not too many talented speakers in the world, but if one speaker has good skills and is developed with relentless opinions and effort, it can stand out

2.2.3 The relationship between vocabulary and speaking skills

Nation (1990) explains the importance of vocabulary language as “Vocabulary is not an end itself A rich vocabulary makes the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing easier to perform.” So, by mastering vocabulary learning one can concentrate fully on other advanced levels and features of developing foreign language learning more efficiently Support that view, in the Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 9 Number | March

2018, Khan, Radzuan, Shahbaz, Ibrahim & Mustafa provided their opinion that the role of vocabulary in speaking particularly attains the considerable attention of EFL learners and instructors It is viable from the results that deficiency of vocabulary knowledge and the problems in enunciating or communicating what EFL learners already have learnt or in their mind are the main indicated reason for speaking inability Correspondingly, most of EFL instructors also classified vocabulary insufficiency as a fundamental issue in speaking English

as of their current level

2.3 Common errors in using vocabulary made by students in speaking skills 2.3.1 Definitions of error?

There are a number of definitions of errors Each researcher gives a definition of errors depending on his or her perspectives and aspects of study According to Krashen (1982) “error

is any deviation from a selected norm of language performance, no matter what the characteristics or cause of the deviation might be” Hendrickson (1980) defines ‘error’ as “an utterance, form, or structure that a particular language teacher deems unacceptable because of its inappropriate use or its absence in real-life discourse” In the light of this, an error could be

to refer to the language deviated from the Standard English, and/or that are deemed to be inaccurate

2.3.2 Types of error

Learner errors can be categorized in terms of various criteria According to Burt (1975) errors are classified into: global errors and local errors The former refers to errors that hinder communication and “affect overall sentence organization, such as wrong word order, missing, wrong, or misplaced sentence connectors” On the other hand, the latter affects single elements

in a sentence without hindering communication such as errors in noun and verb inflections, articles, and auxiliaries, etc On the basis of the linguistic levels, errors can be divided into four major categories as follows: (1) Grammatical Errors, (2) Grammatical Errors, (3) Phonological Errors, (4) Lexical Errors

But in this study, we only focus on errors in using vocabulary in studying English speaking skill which means we will mainly focus on analysis the Grammatical Errors Grammatical errors, which stress the need for grammatical accuracy in both speech and writing, may hinder communication In the opinion of Diemroh Ihsan in “Speaking and Writing Errors Made by Students of English Education” (1999, 226-228) The grammatical errors can be classified into some categories:

(1) Some errors deal the use of parts of speech such as the misuse of adverbs, verbs, nouns, prepositions, and articles

Eg 1: Wereal make the audience bored (adverb)

=> We really make the audience bored

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Eg 2: We ask to ourselves what is the purpose of our speaking (preposition)

=> We ask ourselves what the purpose of our speaking is

Eg 3: We have to limited our speaking too (verb tense)

=> We have to limit our speech, too

Eg 4: Beside that there are many other steps to make good speech (prep., article a)

=> Besides that there are many other steps to make a good speech

Eg 5: They get nervous and forget what to say that stumble over words (missing subject)

=> They get nervous and forget what to say that they stumble over words

Eg 6: But one thing they should know the purpose of this speech (missing verb)

=> But one thing they should know is the purpose of this speech

(2) Errors dealing with syntactical matters like word order, parallelism, and Subject — Verb

agreement

Eg I: You must know the audience, who are they (word order)

=> You must know the audience, who they are

Eg 2: Maybe you want them to bring new candidates or offering a new imported drug (parallelisms)

=> Maybe you want them to bring new candidates or offer a new imported drug

Eg 3: There are some possible way that can take the pain out of speech making (agreement)

=> There are some possible ways that can take the pain out of speech makin

(3) Incorrect use of word forms is that the speaker use noun instead of verb, cardinal instead of ordinal number, adjective instead of verb, noun with -ion ending instead of noun with -ing ending

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Eg 1: After reading this article, Ican get some steps on how to give a good speech (choice of word)

=> After reading this article, I can learn (know) some steps on how to give s good speech

Eg 2: If you have been asked to speech in front of people some- times you get trouble (noun used as verb)

=> If you have been asked to speak front of people sometimes you get trouble

Eg 3: The five step that I have arranged also for other students who want to know to make a good speech (cardinal used as ordinal number)

=> The fifth step that I have arranged is also for other students T who want to know how to make a good speech

Eg 4: We just remember that we have to brave and self-confident (adjective used as verb)

=> We just remember that we have to be brave and self-confident

Eg 5: They can use simple vocabulary and expression in order to help them avoid confusing (- ING ending noun used instead of -ION ending noun)

=> They can use simple vocabulary and expression in order to help them avoid confusion (4) Errors deal with relative pronouns, conditionals and passive forms

Eg I: The most important one is we have to be brief (missing relative pronoun)

=> The most important one is that we have to be brief

Eg 2: We asked to give a lecture or a point about an idea (missing verb-passive voice)

=> We are asked to give a lecture or a point about an idea

Eg 3: Don't talk too much because we are as the moderator (conditional)

=> Don't talk too much if you are the moderator

2.3.3 Errors in using vocabulary in learning speaking skills

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2.3.3.1 Grammar

The first problem is grammar Hetrkul (1995) said that grammar is also very important for students when learning speaking skills If they want to master English, it is necessary for them to use grammar appropriately so that they can produce meaningful sentences Grammar considers as the first step in learning any language besides the pronunciation In fact, Vietnamese students focus on grammar rather than speaking English However, Vietnamese students do not know how to apply the grammar taught in their speech, so most Vietnamese students often speak the wrong grammar Learning English grammar is very difficult for students As professional Jack C Richard, grammar is divided into two dimensions which focus

on how to use grammatical system to create a sentence, and how to use grammatical system in the process of creating spoken as well as written text Mostly, when speaking English, students make grammatical mistakes Usually, students make mistakes in tenses, active and passive, and vocabulary when speaking English They have misused tenses sometimes they want to say in the past tense, but they often say in the present tense instead of the past tense They cannot easily distinguish the differences between past, present, and future tense uses

2.3.3.2 Vocabulary

Vocabulary can be defined as “words we must know to communicate effectively; words

in speaking (expressive vocabulary) While Ur (1998) states: “Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language However, a new item of vocabulary may

be more than just a single word A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary “items” rather than “words.” In addition, Burns (1972) defines vocabulary as “the stock of words which is used by a person, class or profession According to Zimmerman cited

in Coady and Huckin (1998) vocabulary is central to language and critical importance to the typical language learning From the definitions above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is the total number of words that are needed to communicate ideas and express the speakers’ meaning That is the reason why it is important to learn vocabulary in speaking Therefore, when entering

a specific communication situation, Vietnamese students often have difficulty trying to translate words from Vietnamese into English word by word and then put together sentences to say In

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addition, they will also have many difficulties in communicating English with poor vocabulary, and obviously, the rich vocabulary will greatly support them and make them become professional with diversity in speaking In fact, first-year English majors still have a lot of limitations in communication when speaking only English with simple words

2.2.3.3 Pronunciation

According to the Oxford dictionary, pronunciation is how the word is pronounced In fact, one

of the main mistakes in speaking English by Vietnamese students is pronunciation I have listed some common errors in English pronunciation

as misunderstandings Most non-native speakers often do not pronounce the ending sound clearly: /s/, /iz/, /z/, /d/, /ed/ The main reason leading to the above mistake is that they do not know the rule of ending sound pronunciation Almost English major students at HPU do not know whether the pronoun /s / or/z/in case of adding "s", "es" at the end of a word or confusing /d/and/ed/ in the verb

(2) Sound connection

One of the problems that Vietnamese is different from English is the sound connection

In Vietnamese, the sounds are pronounced clearly On the other hand, in English, native speakers tend to match the syllable of the previous words with the first sound of the next word so that when native speakers speak quickly, it makes it difficult for non-native speakers to understand

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what they said Because of this difference, students often forget the sound connection while speaking All most English majoring students speak English in Vietnamese-like ways, in which each word is pronounced clearly and separately If you don't link words together, it will be difficult for you to track the speed of native speakers and they cannot keep up with your thoughts Linking words makes your conversation faster and as natural as a native speaker

(3) Mispronunciation

A Stress

As language is developed, children must master not only the phonemes that make up individual words, but also their associated stress patterns One major reason why foreign speakers of English have difficulties with pronunciation is due to the lack of stress knowledge

of the new language being learned Second language learners will often sound ' foreign’ when using their own native language stress patterns while speaking the new language (Small, 2005) From the past, much of pronunciation teaching has involved the practice of isolated sound or stress and intonation Stress is used to describe the point in a word or phrase where pitch changes, vowels are lengthened and volume is increased It is vitally important in conveying meaning in phrases and sentences A word with more than one syllable is more complex, for example, the word ‘export’ on the second syllable (export) it as a verb, but if it is stressed the first syllable (export), it is now a noun Getting the stress wrong can damage the chances of being understood Moreover, Scrivenr (2005) pointed that students needed to learn pronunciation that would allow them to be understood in the contexts where they were most likely to need to use the language So, stress is a very important aspects of English pronunciation In English, words that have more than one syllable will always have one particular syllable that will receive primary stress For example, the disyllabic word ‘sister’ has primary stress on the first syllable The multisyllabic stress on the second syllable Syllables in disyllabic and multisyllabic words that do not receive primary stress may receive secondary stress, depending on the level of emphasis given to the individual syllable (Small,2005) Most Vietnamese students encounter stress problems so, it should be improved teaching and learning

an attempt to answer the three research questions posed at the beginning of the study 3.1.1.1 Teachers in Faculty of Foreign Language at UTEHY

Questionnaire for teachers was delivered to 6 teachers who are enthusiastic, open- minded and friendly with people They play important roles in teaching English for students Most of them are young and have teaching experience as well as graduated from the English department of well-known universities 100% of them have achieved MA degree

3.1.1.2 Students in Faculty of Foreign Language at UTEHY

The research was undertaken with the participation of 87 second-year students in Faculty

of Foreign Language They age from 20 to 21 A large numbers of them have learnt English for

7 years (4 years at secondary school and 3 years at high school) However, their English backgrounds are quite similar because most of them come from different rural areas in the North and under being influence of curriculum of English for high schools students in the past, students did not have many chances to practice English skills Thus, when entering UTEHY, their English levels were limited and they have to face up with many difficulties in studying 3.1.1.3 The textbook

The textbook for second-year students of major English is Get Ready for IELTS Speaking This is a good book powered by Collins Like other skills, the Speaking book still includes 12 units corresponding to 12 common topics in IELTS such as Family, Freetime,

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Hometown After each 3 Units, there will be 1 Review Unit to help you review the skills previously learned skills At the end of the book is a Practice Test, which will help you familiarize yourself with the IELTS test format At the end of the book there is also an Answer key section for you to compare answers

3.2 Data collection instruments

3.2.1 Survey Questionnaires

To be more specific, the questionnaires for students consist of 3 sections with 16 questions The first section has 5 questions presenting the students’ perceptions toward learning English speaking skill The second section has 7 questions presenting to some common errors

in using vocabulary in speaking skills The last section has 4 questions presenting some solutions

to help students avoid making mistakes in using vocabulary in speaking skills

Almost similar to the questionnaire for students, the set for teacher also includes 3 sections with 16 items The first section has 5 questions about the teachers’ perceptions toward learning English speaking skill The second section contains 7 questions with some common errors in using vocabulary in speaking skills The last 4 questions are to give information about some solutions to help students avoid making mistakes in using vocabulary in speaking skills 3.2.2 Data collection procedures

The data was collected through the survey questionnaires

For the students’ questionnaire, the researchers cannot be able to go directly to classes to have students do survey questionnaires due to the complicated situation of the Covid-19 epidemic Therefore, I prepared online survey questionnaires and asked for direct contact information with the class presidents of the 3 second-year classes of the foreign language department at 3 campuses so that the class presidents of each class could transfer the survey questions to each classmate A promise as well as special thanks was made before they answered the questionnaire Results will be sent directly to the researcher

3.3 Data analysis

This chapter deals with the collected data and analyzed statistics on the responses to the questionnaires of errors in using vocabulary in speaking skills of the second-year English major students at UTEHY

3.3.1 Questionnaires

3.3.1.1 Students and teachers’ perceptions toward Speaking skills

3.3.1.1.1 Teachers and students’ opinions at UTEHY about speaking skills

A Students’ opinions

@ A Difficult but interesting

@ B Easy and interesting 26,4% @ C Easy but not interesting

@ D Difficult and interesting

Pie chart 1: Students’ opinions about speaking skills

As shown in the pie chart, when asked about students’ opinions speaking skill, 57.5% of students at Hung Yen University of Technology and Education say that speaking skill is difficult but interesting, 26.4% consider it difficult and interesting Only 9.2% of them suppose that

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speaking skill is easy and interesting An insignificant part of them thinks that speaking skill is easy but not interesting

B Teacher’s opinions

@ A Difficult but interesting

@ B Easy and interesting

@ C Easy but not interesting

@ D Difficult and interesting

83,3%

Pie chart 2: Teachers’ opinions about speaking skills

According to the survey questionnaire, following is the pie chart about the opinion toward speaking skill from teachers’ point of view We can clearly see from the above pie chart, 83.3%

of surveyed teachers think that speaking skill is difficult but interesting And the rest of them think that it is difficult and interesting

Therefore, it can be concluded that teachers and students have similar opinion and attitudes about learning speaking skills Most of them agree that learning speaking skill is difficult but students still maintain a positive learning attitude

3.3.1.1.2 The biggest barrier of studying English speaking skill through students and teachers’ views

The negative transfer of mother language

= Difficult in choosing the proper words

No prosperous English learning environment

Chart 3: The biggest barrier of studying English speaking skill through students and teachers’

views

As can be clearly seen from pie chart, most students and teachers think that difficult in choosing the proper words is the biggest barrier of studying English speaking skill Which accounts for 37.90% of students and 50% of teachers

Follow after that is no prosperous English learning environment, which agreed by 28.7%

of students and 33.3% of teacher

Taking the last place, 33.3% of students and 16.7% of teacher consider the biggest barrier

of studying English speaking skill is the negative transfer of mother language

So far, there is not much difference in the perception of students and teachers about the biggest barriers to students’ speaking skills All three of these are barriers that most students face

in the process of learning speaking skills And we are all constantly trying to find solutions to overcome these disadvantages

Pie chart 4: The frequency of students taking part in speaking activities in class

To answer to the question “How often do you take part in speaking activities in class?” 47.1% of the surveyed students choose “often”, 42.5% reveal that they sometimes take part in speaking activities in class, 9.2% give the answer “always”, and only 1.2% reveal that they never take part in speaking activities in class

B Frequency of teachers organizing speaking activities in class

Pie chart 5: Frequency of teachers organizing speaking activities in class

As can be clearly seen from pie chart 5, 16.7% of the teachers sometimes organizing speaking activities in class The number of the teachers who reports “often” takes up only 33.3%