[LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ] Implementation of project-based learning methods in enhancing secondary students’ motivation in learning english speaking at UK Academy Ba Ria

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

In the last few decades, for the sakes of global communication and exchanging information, English language has developed as the primary language This language is spoken by more people around the world than any other language, which gives it the name “global language” English language has been known to gradually become one of the most popular languages with over 2 billion speakers all over the world By the number of speakers, this language is considered the largest Moreover, the number of native English speakers is also the third largest which makes it even more common

English language has a very powerful ability to connect people from different countries and cultures It helps strengthen relationships and build up understanding There is an interesting fact that if a person can communicate in English, he or she will be able to speak or have a conversation with over 20 percent of people in the world because there are 67 countries using this language as their official language

There are some main reasons making English a worthy language to spend time studying First of all, English is the language of science, aviation, computers, diplomacy, trade tourism, etc and that means being competent in English ensures people’s opportunities of applying or getting jobs in multinational companies Secondly, English is spoken by people from all around the world and it means that when people are working, studying, or travelling in anywhere in the world, English ability can help them to have conversation with people from many other countries Thirdly, there are numerous scientific papers written in English The truth is, in the last century, this number has started to outweigh the number of papers written in the native language of the researchers For this reason, having a good knowledge of English is incredibly important to those working and studying in the scientific field Another reason is that English is also the language of the media industry and the Internet so having the ability to understand English could be beneficial for entertaining

When it comes to discuss the importance of the use of English in the Vietnamese context, learning and teaching English has become utterly crucial, and being well supported and taken care of The first reason for that is, the ability of using English benefits people in many ways, especially in Vietnam now The demand of going abroad to study of Vietnamese students is higher than ever In order to meet the opportunity of being given a chance to get a scholarship or being qualified to enroll in a school, the efficiency in English is undeniably necessary Another reason is that the numbers of investors from all over the world coming to invest in Vietnam are rising so being able to use English is like being given an opportunity to apply for a decent job Moreover, understanding English helps a person with communicating and studying Since tourism is developing rapidly and effectively in Vietnam, the numbers of foreigners coming and living in Vietnam is increasing so being able to speak and understand English helps a lot with socializing It is a common knowledge that many subjects and materials are originally written and taught in English, in order for Vietnamese learners to expand their knowledge, understanding English is absolutely beneficial

A person’s English ability is evaluated through four criteria: ability of speaking, reading, listening and writing It is undeniable that all four skills are equally important, but in all of these four skills, speaking is considered the hardest to master and the most commonly evaluated Being able to speak English, a learner would have to master these four elements such as vocabulary, fluency, grammar and pronunciation That is the proof why we could say speaking is the skill that we need to invest the most time on Speaking skill is very important as the ability of speaking English fluently does not only show the ability of using English of a person but also the communicative competence of him or her Having a good ability to communicate in English can benefit a person throughout his or her lives, especially in studying and working Communicative competence is the aim of 21st century language learning (Eaton, 2010) Many employers are demanding their employees to be equipped with soft skills such as communicative skill and computing one That is why it is crucial for pupils or students to prepare themselves with good English-speaking skills when learning at school or university Spending time practicing speaking English at school or university is now even more necessary due to the requirements of current situation in society School or university environment provides a learner with peers to have a conversation with so that they can practice language everyday and projects, major assignments etc which include presentations also provides a learner’s opportunities to work on formal and speech - like language

In order to master a skill or a subject, people all need one major factor to achieve it It is motivation Motivation plays an important role in learning English in general and learning speaking skills in particular Motivation is an orientation towards learning Thereby, it impacts how likely a pupil or student is either to give up or push forward, and how thoughtful its reflection on his or her learning will be The deeper the motivation for pursuing an achievement, the more likely that the pupil or student will put significant effort to working harder for it On the other hand, having low motivation leads to low interest and low academic persistence Therefore, it is certain that motivation acts as a major factor in enhancing students’ academic performance, especially English-speaking skills

Due to the fact that, motivating learners to speak English is urgently crucial and looking for suitable and effective approachs to apply in the teaching curriculum is also urgently important There are a lot of approaches, approachs and techniques such as communicative language teaching, group work, controlled practice etc applied for teaching English speaking skills for learners in order to enhance their leaning motivation and get good results However, each approach or technique has its own good effects and drawbacks Therefore, it is necessary to employ a suitable approach that can help enhance learners’ motivation when learning English speaking skills Project-based learning (PBL) approach has been considered a suitable approach to implement for improving English learning Moreover, a relatively large number of research have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of implementation of PBL in enhancing learners’ motivation in learning English, and they show promising results Motivation and PBL are both proved to be significant to academic performance of learners, especially learners of English in general and English speaking in particular

Many studies have been conducted to show the significance of PBL and motivation in learning and teaching a language to foreigners, especially learning and teaching English PBL allows learners to develop all four skills in language learning during the process of creating products (Parrish 2004) PBL provides a model in which learners will get involve in designing, solving problems and taking part in cooperative work which helps better their second language performance (Jones & Muffitt, 1996) In hope to enhance students’ language skills, Srikrai (2008) and Simpson (2011) carried out a study about PBL, and the results showed that students’ language skills were improved through PBL activities The reasons for that were the students who took part in PBL activities required to use reading, listening, writing and speaking skills during the process

Motivation plays a fundamental role in pursuing all purposes in life including educational achievement even if it is learning about how numbers work in Maths, or in learning a second language Woolfolk (1998: 372) claims “Motivation as an internal state that arouses, directs and maintains behavior” Salvin (2001) also states that

“Motivation as an internal process that activates, guides and maintains behavior over time”

With all background information mentioned above, having this study conducted is urgently necessary for the reality of learning and teaching English at the moment and the basis to conduct the research is valid.

Statement of the problem

Throughout some years of observing and teaching as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher at UK Academy (UKA) Ba Ria, the researcher found that the secondary students here are very neglected when practicing speaking English They hardly speak English to each other, use none or very little English when the teachers ask them to have a discussion about the related topics during lessons This situation occurs not only in lower-level classes but also in most of the other classes here It is likely that they don’t understand about the real need to practice or to speak English and it also shows that the lack of motivation is still huge This prevents the development of students’ English-speaking ability because the development of communicative skills can only take place if learners have the motivation and opportunity to express their own identity and relate with the people around them (Littlewood, 1981)

As a consequence, it is meaningful to realize the significance of applying an appropriate teaching approach in order to educate teenagers and at the same time to motivate them during their learning Besides that, the importance of student - centered learning in the 21 st century has forced the teachers to change their ways of designing teaching strategies It is believed that in English learning, PBL approach can be used as an effective tool to further students’ motivation in English speaking PBL refers to a approach that gives students opportunities “to design, plan, and carry out an extended project that produces a publicly exhibited output such as a product, publication, or presentation” (Patton, 2012) The activities in PBL are so fascinating and they ask students to be engaged in them so much that they make language learning more meaningful and communication more purposeful (Thi, 2011)

Based on the real situations of students’ English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria, the teachers here have employed PBL approach in hope to improve students’ English-speaking performance Some lessons require students to work in groups and carry the lessons’ contents themselves They would have to search for information from different sources and present what they have found in front of the class Most of the students seemed to be very motivated following the process However, to some extent, the way PBL being applied and assessed by the teachers and the students was not taken advantage of properly

Therefore, conducting the research on “Implementation of project – based learning methods in enhancing secondary students’ motivation in learning English speaking at UK Academy Ba Ria” is urgent and necessary so that the panorama of the situation can be viewed in a more thorough way.

Objectives of the study

The study aims at investigating the enhancement of secondary students’ motivation in learning English speaking at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City when teachers apply PBL in their English teaching process The objectives of the study are as follows:

❖ To explore the difficulties teachers and students have to face when PBL is applied to enhance motivation in English speaking learning of secondary students at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City;

❖ To examine teachers and students’ attitudes toward the implementation of PBL in enhancing motivation in English speaking learning of secondary students at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City;

❖ To find out whether PBL helps to enhance students’ motivation in English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City;

❖ To offer effective solutions to enhance students’ motivation in English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City.

Research questions

In order to achieve the research objectives, the thesis must address these following questions:

1 What difficulties do teachers and students of UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City cope with/face with when PBL is implemented to enhance motivation in English speaking learning?

2 What are teachers and students’ attitudes towards the implementation of PBL to enhance motivation in English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City? Are there any significant differences in the teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward using of PBL to enhance motivation in English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City?

3 How effective is implementing PBL at UKA Ba Ria to enhance students’ motivation to learn English speaking?

Research scope

The research was conducted in order to mainly find out the implementation of project – based learning approachs in enhancing secondary students’ motivation in learning English speaking at UK Academy Ba Ria

The particular duties of the research are to explore the difficulties teachers and students have to face when PBL is applied to enhance motivation in English speaking learning of secondary students at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City; to examine teachers and students’ attitudes toward the implementation of PBL in enhancing motivation in English speaking learning of secondary students at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City; to find out whether PBL helps to enhance students’ motivation in English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City; and to offer effective solutions to enhance students’ motivation in English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City.

Research significance

The research is theoretically supportive to previous and future research It systemizes theoretical issues related to the subject matter It supports the evidence that the implementation of PBL enhances students’ English ability

It is clearly shown that lessons which are planned following PBL approach benefit students in various ways Students will be more interested and engaged in the lessons by being included in every stage of the project The teachers who work as the instructors will instruct the students on how to carry out the projects The students, with the guide of the teachers will have a chance to grasp the knowledge in a more intentional way by being asked to read and research for information However, the source of the materials should be trustworthy and authentic Besides, students are put in groups while doing project works which grant them the opportunity to get to know their classmates better which helps strengthen their relationship with their peers Group work helps them develop important skills that will be beneficial for them in the future like collaboration skill, problem solving skill and communication skill Furthermore, having to work on the projects asks students to practice critical thinking and self- learning Students are also asked to make presentations which ask them to practice self- confidence because confidence can be achieved by practicing The two most important ingredients to master speaking skills such as self-learning and self-confidence are also built up When the students learn the vocabulary and try to figure out a grammar structure all by themselves, they will probably memorize it better and when they have the time to practice their confidence, they will surely speak a language more confidently

The research contributes to the overall quality of teaching and learning English in Vietnam practically as applying PBL approach provides the teachers great opportunity to teach and be more active in their way of delivering the lessons Giving the students more authority and opportunity to speak and express their opinions and thoughts would be the ideal way for the teachers to listen to new and innovative ideas Teachers will also learn how to organize the activities in class and get chances to be creative which will reduce the stress of being a teacher This study allows educators to be more confidents and active in applying PBL in their teaching process, especially when teaching English speaking This study is also catered to improve students’ overall motivation to speak English through better understanding of PBL Furthermore, EFL and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers may consider using PBL in English teaching in general and teaching English speaking in particular

The data of the research is also hoped to be useful for further research on the same topic They are certainly a valuable and reliable reference source for further related research

The research results are also expected to better the overall teaching and learning English practice in Vietnam Above all, PBL could be really applied not only at UKA

Ba Ria but also at other educational settings in Ba Ria – Vung Tau and in Viet Nam because the stakeholders will be more willing to invest to better the procedure of PBL.

Definition of key terms

There are some major terms that are mentioned and analyzed in the study This section provides their definitions in order to give readers a better understanding of the study’s perspective

Project-based learning is a learning approach based on projects which encourage learners to be the center of studying because they have a chance to have more autonomy in their learning process and they also get to practice other soft skills as the activities are real -life related (Solomon, 2003)

Motivation is a main and an essential ingredient to help anyone pursuit anything in life (Kober, 2012)

Attitude is someone’s feeling or opinion towards something (Gawronski, 2007)

Implementation is the process of making a decision or plan become effective English speaking learning is practicing the results of the whole learning process, learners learn to share, discuss their ideas and opinions in English.

The structure of the study

The thesis is constructed in five chapters as followings:

This chapter introduces the problem, gives an overview about the study It also discusses the scope of the study, the significance of the study, its aims and objectives, and research questions

This chapter covers the literature review which aims to discuss published information on the previous related works in the research area Moreover, it presents relevant information about definitions of key terms and conceptual framework for more understanding of the study

This chapter explains the details of the selected approachology that the researcher is going to use in the study, including details on the setting, participants, research designs, instruments, data collection and data analysis procedures

This chapter presents the results for each of the research questions beginning with the quantitative data followed by the qualitative evidence and includes a discussion of the findings

This chapter discusses the conclusion, limitations, recommendations and suggestions for future research.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

This chapter discusses the theoretical framework based on to initiate the thesis

It also provides information on some related studies about PBL and its processes carried out in English teaching settings and the possibility of motivational benefits it may bring especially to students’ speaking skill The two key terms analyzed in this study are speaking skill motivation and PBL The first term, speaking skill motivation, will be analyzed separately as speaking skill and motivation PBL has been upgraded constantly to serve different purposes so that is the reason why this second term is defined differently along with the procedures to have PBL carried out

English speaking ability has become one of the must-have requirements for the job market and also considered as an important skill of the 21 st century That makes a big change on how English is taught and learnt One of the most outstanding, practical approaches that is being used to teach language and other subjects in many schools for a certain period of time is PBL PBL has been applied in many language teaching curriculums and there have been various researches done to show its effectiveness in enhancing learners’ motivation in studying English in general and studying English speaking in particular Those researches have been conducted in many countries in the world as well as in Vietnam

However, those studies were conducted under different educational settings and the participants are in different age groups and from different backgrounds To find out how effective PBL helps to promote students’ motivation in English speaking learning is a potential research direction in this related research field The main objective of the study is to find out if the application of PBL approach at UKA Ba Ria actually enhances the students’ willingness to use English to speak in the classroom Thereby, the theoretical framework mentioned in this chapter serves as a solid basis to fulfil all the objectives and research questions of the thesis

The thesis also supports the idea that PBL is a teaching approach in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

Learning English speaking skill

Ambrose et al defines learning as “a process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of experience and increases the potential for improved performance and future learning” (2010: 3) The results of learning process may cause change in the learners’ level of knowledge, attitude or the way they behave

De Houwer et al (2013) states that learning has been defined functionally as changes in behavior that result from experience or mechanistically as changes in the organism that result from experience

Dewey (1938) claims that learning is constructed socially, and when it comes to learning, the process should place children at its center, rather than curriculum and institutions In order to learn effectively, students are required to make use of previous experiences to create something new from it

Speaking skill is one of the most important skills and that is why it is necessary for language learners to make an effort to master this skill Nunan confirms that

“speaking is the ability to express opinion, ideas, or thought orally; it consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning in order to be understood by the people we are speaking with” (2003: 40) Widdowson states that “speaking is the oldest and most universal way for human beings to express their thoughts and feelings” (1998: 5) And Chomsky claims that “spoken language refers to linguistic competence or capacity and linguistic performance” (2001: 2)

Speaking skills enable people to communicate, express their thoughts, their feelings and exchange information with others There are two types of speaking skill as informal and formal which are used in daily life Informal speaking skills are useful for normal conversations with friends and family On the other hand, formal speeches are necessary for professional contexts like workplaces, meetings etc Formal language is necessary to make a good impression and to show professionalism of a person

Syakur (2007: 4) says that “the components of speaking skills include at least five elements such as vocabulary, grammar, fluency, pronunciation and comprehension.”

The five elements of speaking skills are mentioned below:

The most important element to develop speaking skill or to say something or to speak is to know what words to use and how to use them correctly Vocabulary development starts when we start to learn how to speak We need to understand the meaning of a word and how to say it, when to say it in order to speak the language Imagine the number of words we need to know to keep up a conversation and communicate effectively in our own language and that makes it even more difficult when we speak in other languages than our mother tongue The fact is that you are only considered fluent in a language when you have a vocabulary of around 10,000 words

Many people think that grammar and structures are only needed when writing a language, but grammar actually plays a very important role on the meaning aspect of a speech such as the use of tenses and how to form a sentence Understanding grammar helps us speak the language in an efficient way and understand the language thoroughly

Having the ability to pronounce words correctly and clearly is another crucial element of speaking skill as it helps other people understand what we mean to say Furthermore, there are words being pronounced slightly or completely differently which makes non- native speakers confused when listening to them Sometimes, even native speakers find themselves clueless listening to words in their own language because of the difference in how some words are pronounced This is the big reason why knowing how a word is pronounced is necessary as it also helps us actually understand the language

Speaking fluency is an element that is only developed by everyday practice and actual practice Reading a text aloud or practicing pronouncing words are great ways to improve fluency of spoken language Fluency is the ability of understanding words and responding to them as they hear them immediately Fluency plays the role as the final result of knowing the words, how to pronounce them and understand the structure to finally form a sentence and to keep the conversation going Fluency comes mostly from one’s confidence and it comes naturally

In order to hold or to start a conversation, it is crucial to be able to respond and to initiate to a subject This means a person need to have the ability to understand the language which demands listening skill, a good source of vocabulary, understanding of structures, and most importantly the knowledge of the contexts… These factors explain the reason why the level of comprehension needs time to see improvement

2.2.3 Types of classroom speaking performance

Brown (2001: 266-268) classifies six types of oral production that students are expected to do during speaking lessons in class They are: imitative, intensive, responsive, transactional, interpersonal and extensive

This kind of speaking performance’s purpose is to practice intonation or to pinpoint some vowel sound Imitative speaking is not catered for interaction purposes but for practicing some bits of the language’s elements This kind of performance is normally carried out in the form of drilling

This kind of speaking performance is the next step of imitative speaking Learners will get to practice some aspects of grammar points of the language Pair work or individual practices are the two speaking classroom activities can be used for this type of performance

Responsive speaking is the stage where learners are able to give responses or comments to a question in a meaningful way

Transactional speaking performance is practiced under the form of dialogues

Specific topics are given so the students can practice focus on exchanging specific information that they have learnt or prepared for This kind of speaking performance is an extended form of responsive speaking performance

This type of speaking performance is similar to transactional speaking Learners are expected to practice dialogues In this stage, learners can be able to talk in conversation to maintain relationships However, the contents of the conversation can be difficult for the students to understand or even misunderstand because it may involve some factors like slang, sarcasm etc

Motivation

Motivation is basically the factor that causes a person to act whether it is standing up to go for a walk or taking a yoga lesson It can also be described as a desire to work on something willingly and in an enthusiastic way Motivation is the chain of process that founds, leads, and which keeps what is called goal-oriented behaviors going Motivation is also what activates behavior which includes biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces Motivation is the general desire or willingness of an individual to act on something or do something

Motivation is also defined as "some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something" (Harmer, 2001: 51) Steers and Porter (1991: 6) pointed out the three factors while having motivation discussed as follows:

Motivation is believed to be in charge of "why people decide to do something, how long they are willing to sustain the activity and how hard they are going to pursue it" (Dửrnyei, 2002a: 8)

Ryan and Deci (2000a: 54) claimed that "to be motivated means to be moved to do something" In the contrary people who are defined as unmotivated people are the ones that have lost momentum to act on something

Williams and Burden (1997: 111) states that "interest, curiosity, or a desire to achieve" are the main elements that made up a motivated individual” However, being interested and curious is the things that make someone start working on something, but also there are factors that drive people to maintain the act to pursuit the goal

According to Steers and Porter (1991: 6), motivation can be formed as the following factors:

Motivation is crucial to get something done successfully and properly because it helps a person change his or her old, bad habits It also helps a person figure out ways to solve a problem and cope with challenges and opportunities willingly It is obvious that motivation is an essential factor for an individual to be successful in any fields

There are two major means of motivation which can be intrinsic or extrinsic In Self - Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985), types of motivation are distinguished based on the sources of the actions which are the reasons or the goals of why something is done

Extrinsic motivations are those coming from the factors of the outside of an individual Those factors are often rewarded like money, reputation, trophies and praises This type of motivation can be found literally anywhere within society When a person is doing something that basically affected from the outside matters, it means that person is extrinsically motivated Extrinsic motivation can be met through many social – environmental aspects which can be expected rewards, positive feedback or evaluation, competition, etc (Amabile, 1996; Deci and Ryan, 1985)

Intrinsic motivations in contrast are what called internal factors that make somebody do something These internal factors are what meeting exactly an individual’s demands It is usually the things we do for our own enjoyment, not to complete a given task or an assignment For example, when a person is intrinsically motivated, he or she would attend a course, take on a habit or enjoy his or her interests, just for his or her personal satisfaction Intrinsic motivation seems to come from within the individual who does a task Working on a certain task simply gives the task doer satisfaction (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997)

According to Cherry (2010), motivation involves three main components which are intensity, activation and persistence Activation is like the first step of the process to get something done It can be a decision that a person first makes to start doing something seriously For example, enrolling in a course or a program Persistence can be described as non-stop actions, endurability and efforts to reach a target even if it is hard works or involves obstacle Intensity is the amount of constancy and concentration that a person puts in his or her work People who focus on work and even take extra work to reach their goal are being motivated with great intensity All these three components of motivation is the concrete proof of why motivation impacts greatly on how likely a person could success on doing something

Types and components of motivation are shown in the figure below:

Motivation to speak English

2.4.1 Motivation to speak English and its importance

When it comes to motivation to learn something, it suggests the learner’s desire and willingness to use effort and determination to be successful in the learning task (Schunk et al, 2008) Motivation plays a very important role on learners’ English competence and as well as English speaking’s ability Motivation is the main factor that initiates and ensures learners to keep practicing learning to speak a different language besides their mother tongue In other way, motivation is the key factor to push a learner to start working on learning English in general and on learning English speaking in particular and endure the process of making English speaking a success Learning English speaking is challenging because it asks a learner to be at least at

Figure 2.2 Types and components of motivation intermediate level of lexical source and grammar besides other components that a learner need to focus on are fluency and pronunciation Each component which stands alone is really very complicated to master

Motivation is intangible because it is the thing that we can’t see or touch but at the same time it is what we can easily acknowledge when we work on something Crookes and Schimts (2016: 469) states that “motivation has been identified as the learners’ orientation with the regards to the goal of learning a second language.”

Motivation to speak English is also the drive that keeps learners wanting to get engaged in the language learning process Falk in Norris (2001: 2) states that “it is taught that students who are most successful when learning a target language are those who like the people that speak the language, admire the culture and have a desire to become familiar with or even integrate into the society in which language is used It means that students who are most successful when learning a target language at least will imitate not only the culture itself but also a desire and integrate into the society in which language is used”

The results of a research by Nurjannah et al (2013) show that the effect of motivation of students on learning English speaking is significant The students with higher motivation show better speaking ability than those with lower motivation Data and results collected from the research of Menngo (2016) through interview and questionnaire show that motivation is affecting students’ speaking ability significantly Hoang (2011: 27) claims that “motivation is one of the main factors affecting the success or failure of students in foreign language learning”

2.4.2 Challenges of motivating learners to learn English speaking

Students’ motivation of learning English speaking can be proceeded from both external and internal factors Thus, the obstacles that the teachers and learners may find themselves encountered can be from both of these sides

Since getting engaged in the topic is very important to make speaking skill less challenging to master, being interested in the topics would make the learners feel much more engaged in the lesson However, students might find the materials or topics that they are given are not enticing or interesting enough for them to be engaged in and this is demotivating According to Chambers in Thanasoulas (2002: 37) “if the teacher is to motivate pupils to learn, then relevance has to be the red thread permeating activities.”

The schools’ curriculums in Viet Nam have not been attaching students’ speaking ability to the outcome of the process of teaching and learning English at schools which can possibly decrease students’ motivation to learn English speaking Abu-Alhija (2007) suggests that extensive tests may increase students’ motivation to study and practice The evidence for that is for years, speaking skills have not been included in tests at school It means that the students have not been evaluated for this skill The students not being under pressure of being tested can affect their willingness to take English speaking practice seriously into consideration There are also studies (Dawadi, 2018; Shohamy et al., 1996) showing that high-stakes tests, like English proficiency tests can play a role as an effective instrumental motivation for students to learn English

Another challenge is that recreating spontaneously and natural environment for the students to speak is undoubtedly difficult for both educators and managers to work on while having opportunity for students to actually immerse and expose in English- speaking atmosphere is crucial The reasons to that are the source of teachers being properly trained or the qualified native teachers, the amount of time for speaking lessons are limited

Students’ English competence is the main and biggest challenge for both learners and teachers to accomplish speaking efficiency According to Syakur (2007) and Harris (1974), there are at least five aspects of speaking skills which are grammar, pronunciation, fluency, coherency and vocabulary that a learner needs to be competent to master speaking skills Learning a quite large amount of vocabulary in English and doing grammar exercises to understand and know how to use structures are already hard works for the students Practicing pronunciation and fluency is even more challenging for them to work on Tutyandary (2005) states that the students who had the tendency to keep quiet during speaking lessons due to the lack of self-confidence, motivation to speak out And the reason for that is because they were asked to present individually in front of the class and being afraid of making mistakes

Lacking confidence in students can affect significantly on their willingness to speak not only in their own language but especially in a language that they are not used to, like English They can be either worried of being embarrassed because of their pronunciation or their word choice, grammatical mistakes etc

Another factor that can demotivate learners’ ability to speak English is that they don’t understand the needs of practicing English speaking which might encourage them to take less responsibility and feel like they have less autonomy to practicing speaking English seriously Akbari (2016) states that one of the reasons that make language learning difficult was caused by a lack of understanding the important role of the language, specifically English language Knowing that they are not being scored on speaking skill might take a toll on students’ motivation to put effort in practicing speaking English and preparing for speaking lessons To conclude, educating the students in a way that they understand the importance of speaking skill is necessarily essential

2.4.3 Increasing motivation to speak English

Motivating students to speak especially in English is challenging because it asks for hard work not only from the students themselves but also the teachers who responsible for helping them to feel motivated them to speak out Many researches have been carried out, different approaches and techniques were introduced to help resolve the issue Increasing motivation to speak English for students is an enduring process that asks for effort from both the learners and the teachers According to Dorney and Otto (in Thanasoulas 2002: 2), there are three main elements in increasing English speaking’s motivation of students such as setting motivational environment, creating motivation in students and maintaining students’ motivation

Creating a supportive and friendly environment can help encourage students to speak even with the students who have little or very little English ability This is even more necessary for students who are not confident enough to speak in front of other people

Helping students to become more goal-oriented is the very first step to make them feel motivated to speak English When the learners focus on reaching one specific objective or accomplish a given task, project at a time, the chance that they can see the process they have made is more possible and they can see it after a relatively short period of time The teachers’ roles are to be the instructors, to help put them in groups and set appropriate group goal, and create realistic beliefs so that the students know what to expect Furthermore, making change to the curriculum if needed, choosing relevant and interesting topics for the learners, letting the students know that their goals of mastering speaking skill can be achieved in variety of ways and different strategies are also very important to creating students’ motivation

Project -based learning (PBL)

2.5.1 Definition of PBL and its significance in English teaching and learning

PBL has always been a crucial part of the practice of education since the early 1980s and it was mostly shaped by the communicative approach Due to the effectiveness of PBL, many schools have adapted it as a useful tool for teaching and learning English

Legutke and Thomas (1991) define project work as a student-centred teaching and task-centred approach It promotes students’ autonomy, and it helps motivate learners to use language in real life situations in other way Learners are asked to use authentic language during discussions Project work is the result of discussions and negotiations among all participants

According to Hedge (1993), a project is an extended task that usually integrates language skills through a number of different activities The activities are planning, discussing, researching and gathering information through reading, listening, observing and sometimes interviewing It also helps build problem- solving skills, oral, written reporting

PBL approach is also defined as “an instructional approach that contextualizes learning by presenting learners with problems to solve or products to develop” (Moss

& Duzer, 1998: 1) In addition, PBL is an extremely effective approach that makes the students feel free to give their own opinions, to ask different questions, even develop theories about the topics covering fields of interest which helps build their problem- solving skills creatively in and outside the classroom (Katz & Chard, 2000)

Thomas (2000: 1028) defines PBL by five criteria: (1) “Projects are central, not peripheral to the curriculum”; (2) “Projects are focused on questions or problems that

‘drive’ students to encounter (and struggle with) the central concepts and principals of the discipline”; (3) “Projects involve students in a constructive investigation”; (4)

“Projects are student - driven to some significant degree”; and (5) “Projects are realistic, not school - like” In addition, collaboration, indeed should be included as a sixth criterion to PBL approach’s criteria (Thomas & Mergendoller, 2000)

According to Stoller (2006), PBL is being defined based on these ten criteria: (1) there is a process and a kind of product; (2) allowing students to have (partial) ownership of the project; (3)could be extended for a period of time ; (4) including soft skills such as integrating skills; (5) learners’ understanding about a topic is built through the process of learning language and content; (6) both collaborative works and self-work are demanded; (7) learners are responsible for their own learning process; (8) both learners and teachers are adaptive to the new roles; (9) the final product of a project should be tangible; (10) the process of the project and the final product need thorough reflecting

PBL is an approach that its processes are revolved around projects in which the learners learn by doing projects According to Oxford learners’ dictionaries, projects are planned pieces of work that are designed to find information about something, to produce something new, or to improve something PBL approach being applied at schools asks students to work autonomously on designing, decision making and problem-solving which will result in realistic products or presentations (Jones et al., 1997; Thomas et al., 1999)

The way PBL being defined clearly has been changed every now and then due to the difference of the educational settings and the development of technology However, the changes are proof that the effectiveness of PBL on how the students get to take their own autonomy to learn a language is undeniable

The application of PBL in English teaching and learning classrooms has shown tremendous improvements on learners’ performance and also their attitude towards English language Numerous studies on PBL implementation have proved that it helps build students’ language skills, soft skills and also enhances learners’ motivation to learn English

The advantages PBL brings to language learners are precious as Booth (2002) revealed that after a period of time having the project works completed, learners are given the opportunities to build their confidence and independence Especially when learners working on the planning process, they get to make decisions and discussions to compromise and to achieve the best results for their group which help enhance the skills that are crucial in the future - soft skills, for instance collaborative skill (Papagiannopoulos, 2000) Furthermore, the application of PBL also helps cut down the amount of anxiety that many students suffered from, like communication anxiety Dividing the class into smaller groups help students feel less overwhelmed by having to give their ideas or opinions in front of class, they get to practice their confidence to the point where they can actually give a speech once they find themselves comfortable enough (Booth, 2002) Project works encourage critical thinking, problem solving, negotiating and other interpersonal skills which are very important for their future career (Stein, 1995)

The application of PBL makes positive changes on students’ personal growth and also their language skills such as speaking, listening, reading and writing as well due to the requirement of different activities while having the project carried out The students get to review the knowledge that they have already learnt in a rather natural and authentic context Haines (1989: 1) claimed that due to the process of having PBL carried out in classroom, learners will go through the stage where they have to discuss and negotiate to make decisions for their work and the stage where they practice to give presentations and the last stage where they give presentations which ask them to practice speaking skills and eventually their speaking skill get some opportunities to be improved During the process of project works, students will have a chance to go through different work stages which help build their language skills (Brunetti et al., 2003; Solomon, 2003)

There have been numerous studies to show the significance of having PBL applied for teaching and learning English purposes at schools and how PBL benefits students in their journey of learning English in general and English speaking in particular According to Fragoulis (2009) and Bell (2010), the benefits of applying the use of PBL in English classrooms are huge First, PBL approach provides students with meaningful and contextual conditions to study Second, PBL creates authentic and natural environment for students to practice English speaking skill Third, students have the chance to be engaged in their own learning because they are motivated and feel interested and actually enjoyed the learning process

The data from a self-report of the studies carried out by Bartscher et al (1995) on the effectiveness of PBL on students who were known as low motivated students of grade third, tenth and fifth showed that 82% of these students claimed that projects motivate them and 93% of them showed interests in the involved topics

A study conducted by Tretten and Zachariou (1995) in four elementary schools using teachers’ questionnaires, interviews, and parents survey on the implementation of PBL The results of the assessment showed that there were not only positive attitudes towards PBL seen, but the students’ ability to solve problems and think critically also improved

2.5.3 The process of Project -Based Learning

Studies on PBL approachs show that there are a variety of processes of PBL However, most project works carried out following these four main steps as follows: topic selecting, planning, researching and products making There are many versions of how PBL being presented in English classrooms

Attitude

Attitude has always been a topic that is concerned and discussed by many researchers There are numbers of definitions for the term “attitude” However, the two definitions listed below are most relevant to the study and that is the reason why they are employed as the guideline throughout the study

The first definition is that “an attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and situations with which it is related.” (Allport, 1935)

The second definition is that “attitude are enduring systems of positive or negative evaluations, emotional feelings, and pro or con action tendencies with respect to social objects” (Krech et al., 1962)

According to Wenden (1991), attitude is categorized into three groups They are cognitive component, affective component, and behavioral component

❖ Affective component: This type of component is related to how an object, person, matter, or event makes you feel Eagly and Chaiken (1998: 415) define affective component as the “feelings, moods, emotions, and sympathetic nervous system activity that people have experienced in relation to an attitude object and subsequently associate with it.”

❖ Cognitive component: This component is your thoughts and beliefs towards a particular subject Schiffman (2004) claims that cognitive component is made of information and perceptions

❖ Behavioral component: This type of component is the element that influences someone’s behavior, or in other way of saying it decides what a person’s response towards something Kara (2009) confirms that positive attitude leads to positive behavior towards a subject

In order to make it more visually observed, based on a study of Solomon (2010) about attitude, a model was created to demonstrate the components of attitude and its explanation

Figure 2.5 Attitude and its components model

The relationship between the two terms “attitudes and motivation” has always been proved to be close as Gardner and Lambert (1972) and Lightbown and Spada (1999) always use them simultaneously According to Gardner (1985), motivation of learning a language can be described as a mixture of the attempt, desire to learn the language, and positive attitudes toward it

Brown (2000: 114) defines motivation as “an inner drive, impulse, emotion or desire that moves one to a particular action.” Gardner and Lambert (1959) claims that motivation to learn a second language mostly depends on the attitude toward the language

To conclude, learners’ motivation to study English speaking can be measured based on the learners’ attitude towards the process of PBL The measurement of learners’ motivation reflecting their attitudes can be positive or negative If their attitudes were positive, that means there is an improvement in their motivation to learn English speaking.

Related studies

There are numbers of researches on the effectiveness of the application of PBL in English teaching and learning classrooms, which is the biggest proof for the usefulness and practicability of PBL Studies on the implementation of PBL have been carried out in the context of many countries in the world, including Vietnam

2.7.1 Previous researches in foreign countries context

Riswandi (2018) carried out a study about “the Implementation of Project-Based Learning to Improve Students’ Speaking Skill” The subjects of the study are the seventh - grade students of one of Junior High Schools in Surakarta, Indonesia The data from the results showed that the students’ speaking skills were improved significantly after PBL was implemented in the classroom

A study by Bakar et al (2019) using quasi-experimental approach investigated the effectiveness of using PBL activities as a teaching strategy in improving the oral communicative competence of Malaysian English language learners The participants were 44 diploma students studied a communicative English course at a technical college in Peninsular Malaysia These participants were selected for the purpose of the study The study includes 12 - week lessons delivered to the participants using PBL teaching strategy and focused on eight PBL activities The results of the study showed that PBL was highly recommended to use as an approach to teach English for English language learners

“A Project Course in Spoken English”, a study carried out by Eslava and Lawson (1979) in which the learners were provided a soundless video of a film or a TV program and given the general information of the situation The learners were asked to work in groups to analyze and discuss the plots for the given video and then work out the dialogue for the video and dub for it This kind of project work probably catches the students’ attention and motivates them to work and practice for the final product

Another study of implementation of PBL by Horan et al (1996) showed that PBL does not only affect high - ability students’ critical - thinking, problem - solving skills positively but also students with lower ability

The results of a lot of researches like the research of Kaldi et al (2011), the one by Baran and Maskan (2010) expose that the application of PBL has left huge impact on students’ attitudes and academic results in a positive way

Despite the effectiveness of PBL application in English teaching and learning context, there are still several studies which have pointed out the challenges that both the teachers and learners have to encounter during the process A study by Ladewski et al (1991) made a list of challenges that might be experienced by the teachers and the students They are the duration of the task, the topics included in the curriculum and the tasks assigned to each member According to Mar et al (1997), the obstacles of applying PBL were: (1) Projects can take a very long period of time; (2) It might be difficult to managed the class; (3) The resource of information can be very hard to take control over; (4) The idea of letting students to gain autonomy in their learning and supporting them when they are in need are challenging to balance; (5) The use of technology as a cognitive tool; (6) Creating assessment criteria

2.7.2 Previous researches in the context of Vietnam

A study by Truong (2017) conducted at Vien Dong College in order to study about the students’ attitudes about PBL being applied in English speaking class The results of the study showed that students’ autonomy was improved significantly and their attitudes towards project works were positive and they felt motivated by being taught using PBL approach

Hoang (2012) carried out a study at Thai Nguyen University with the participants of 35 second - year students These participants were asked to work in groups for a project called “Faculty voice” The learners had to edit and produce news to accomplish the project As the final results of the research, a huge improvement was seen in the students’ language skill as well as their attitudes and even soft skills

Fifty second – year students who were English - majored were chosen to be the participants of a study conducted by Nguyen (2017) on the use of projects in teaching language skills The study used questionnaire and interview as the tool, and the findings showed that students’ autonomy was increased significantly after the implementation of PBL

Another study carried out at Vietnam National University Ha Noi during the course called “Intercultural Communication” by Nguyen (2015) claimed that even though there were challenges having PBL carried out, PBL can be used as an effective tool to improve learners’ English ability

Pham (2014) had a study conducted at An Lao High School to find out whether the application of PBL had positive affect on learners English speaking skill and their attitude towards it The study used questionnaire and interviews to find out the results and they showed that the students speaking performance was improved and their attitudes towards PBL implementation was positive

A study by Tran (2018) took place in a University, Vietnam National University, in Ha Noi about using PBL approach to improve second year’s students’ speaking skill The project aims at applying PBL to teaching English speaking to second year university students to find out if this teaching technique made a positive change on improving students’ oral skill The research was conducted at class 41B Education and aimed at investigating the effectiveness of PBL on students’ speaking skill results and students’ attitude towards PBL approach The results of the study showed that the students’ speaking skills and attitude towards English lessons were improved significantly.

Conceptual framework

The implementation of PBL in English classroom to enhance students’ motivation to practice speaking skill includes two main elements such as motivation to learn English speaking and English-speaking skill The process of PBL consists of three main stages as planning, working and presenting The implementation of PBL asks students to perform different types of speaking performance through each stage PBL approach itself motivates the students to study English speaking, and at the same time the stages will also be the motivation to push them to practice for speaking skill

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

In this chapter, the methodology used to have the study carried out is specifically analyzed and described The chapter includes seven sections The first two sections are about the context of the research The next three sections provide details about the research site, sample and sampling procedures orderly and the methodology that helped with conducting the research By the end of the chapter, how data analysis and data collection procedures conducted were specifically described The 6 main sections of the chapter were used to serve the purpose of achieving the objectives proposed in Chapter 1 of the study These objectives were achieved by having the research questions addressed:

1 What difficulties do teachers and students of UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City cope with/face with when PBL is implemented to enhance motivation in English speaking learning?

2 What are teachers and students’ attitudes towards the implementation of PBL to enhance motivation in English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria, Ba Ria City? Are there any significant differences in the teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward using of PBL to enhance motivation in English speaking learning at UKA Ba Ria,

3 How effective is implementing PBL at UKA Ba Ria to enhance students’ motivation to learn English speaking?

Research design

In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, the research used mixed – approach design to investigate how effective the implementation of PBL enhances secondary students’ motivation in English speaking learning Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used in the research Quantitative data were collected by using questionnaire tables There are 48 questions in the questionnaire table, and it takes about five minutes to finish it There were 160 students at UKA school asked to take part in completing the questionnaire for the survey The main reason why questionnaire table was used to collect data was to figure out whether the students understand the use of PBL and feel motivated with PBL being carried out to assist them learning English speaking The importance of having quantitative data in research is undeniable as its feature is to generate reliable, objective, non-biased information since it gives concrete numbers and few variables which make the findings accurate

Interviewing teachers to collect qualitative data was considered to be effective to obtain a better and deeper grasp of the use of PBL in improving secondary students’ speaking skills Semi - structured interviews were utilized during this process, and there were five Vietnamese teachers were asked to join the interview According to Berkwits (1998), making use of qualitative data is necessary as it helps convey information which quantitative data sometimes cannot That type of information could include beliefs, values, feelings and motivations

The study utilized both types of data collection approaches to exploit in-depth data so it properly serves the purpose of the study.

Research site

The study was conducted in UK Academy Ba Ria, Ba Ria City (UKA) The school is located at 165 Nguyen Huu Tho, Ba Ria City UKA is a Private International School training various kinds of students from kindergarten to high school UKA is a member of Nguyen Hoang Group (NHG) NHG is an international education service provider which has established a wide range of national and international education systems including schools, universities, and partner companies across the country Applying the policy of putting human values at the center of all its practices, NHG has successfully designed an inclusive educational system for all levels from kindergarten to Ph.D in national and international settings

UKA promises to provide students with knowledge and skills to develop themselves in all aspects in order to get the students ready to be citizens of the globe The students here will be able to strengthen their physical ability and knowledge needed for their future

The secondary students here are required to study more than 10 periods of English lessons a week including both lessons with Vietnamese teachers and foreign ones The school has just started applying Oxford’s curriculum for the ESL secondary’s classes and this program is according to the United Kingdom’s standard framework The Oxford program gives students and teachers opportunities to experience and learn through Global Skills Projects The books’ contents include several sections of projects, and the students get to do a project after 2 units UKA is an International School, so it is the reason why the students are expected to do experienced study more often than textbook study For that reason, PBL approach can be a very effective approach to be used in this educational setting

Oxford is one of the most well-known universities all over the world It is also the oldest university in the United Kingdom and has been rated as one of the top five universities in the world The Oxford International Program that UKA schools have currently applied in the curriculum has been researched, compiled and developed by the University of Oxford The Oxford International Program was designed according to the United Kingdom’s standard framework The Oxford International Program covers everything from Preschool to High School The curriculum of the program aims to create a classroom environment where students are able to have the key skills for success development Those skills are soft skills like creativity and critical thinking skills, communication and collaboration skills and other real-world skills and self- development skills The curriculum aims to enable students to build not only their language skills like speaking skills, writing, reading and listening skills but also the skills that are necessary for their future by employing PBL in the curriculum This teaching and learning approach has long been proved to help students feel motivated to learn a new language, especially English.

Sample and sampling procedures

There were 160 participants from secondary classes of grade 6, 7, 8 studying at UKA Grade 9 students did not participate in the process because they are going to take a graduation exam at the end of this school year, so they are studying a different program There are three classes in grade 6, three classes in grade 7 and five classes in grade 8 Precisely, there are 102 students in grade 6, 63 students in grade 7 and 117 students in grade 8 However, only the participants who attended in lessons that were carried out by applying PBL approach that were asked to complete the questionnaires The total number of the participants is 160 so it is appropriate as the minimum number of suggested size is thirty, as for that the sample can cover the large population (Cohen et al 2007)

Although the total number of students were asked to fill out the questionnaires were 160 155 of the delivered forms were fully completed

Some general information about the participants is provided below:

Gender: There were two grade 6 classes, two grade 7 classes and four grade 8 classes asked to fill out the answers for the questionnaire There were 19 male students and 23 female students in grade 6; 17 male students and 18 female students in grade 7; for grade 8 there were 48 male students and 30 female students The percentage of male students is 54,2% and for female it is 45,8% It is clear that the numbers of male students are slightly higher than the female ones

Time of studying English: The time of studying English is varied from less than 3 years to more than 5 years According to the results, there were 17,42% of participants revealing that they have studied English for less than 3 years, 43,87% have studied English for about 4 years, and there were 38,71% of them having studied English for more than 5 years The explanation for this trend is because these students are from different backgrounds and some of them could have started studying English very early, but some of them only started when they were sent to the school

English speaking lessons: The numbers of English - speaking lessons the participants have per week varied from 1 to 2 periods to more than 5 periods per week According to the data, 14,84% of the participants said that they have 1 to 2 English - speaking lessons per week, 10,97% said they have 3 English - speaking periods a week, 25,16% of the participants said that they have about 3 to 4 periods a week, and there were 49,03% saying that they have more than 4 periods of English - speaking lessons a week These students are studying in the same school, and they are doing the same course but they clearly have different acknowledgement about English - speaking lessons being taught and learnt at school because they had very different answers when asked about the number of speaking periods they have per week The reason for this is because when it comes to speaking lessons at school, some of them didn’t have a chance to practice English speaking or didn’t speak English much during the lessons which make them think that they have fewer speaking lessons at school than others Another reason for this is some of them may have joined English speaking lessons at the centers or they have done self-learning at home

The frequency of English speaking at school: From the data shown, only

2.38% of the students said that they always speak English at school And there are 4.76% of the students from grade 6, 3.85% students from grade 8 saying that they never speak English at school, which is a warning sign because the school has been a so-called international school, and its main focus is English However, most of the students said that they sometimes speak English

The most important element to speak English fluently: There are five main elements that were listed in the questionnaire such as comprehension, fluency, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary According to the data, most of the participants think that to be able to speak English fluently, they need all five elements of English speaking to be fluent which made up 73,55% of the participants This is the concrete proof that speaking skill is a difficult skill to master for most students

In table 1, the general information of the participants was shown It includes 6 items which are gender, age, the grade they are in, the numbers of English - speaking lessons they attend a week, and how frequent they speak English at school The details of the participants general’ information is shown below

How often do you speak English at school?

The most important element to speak English fluently

The study’s results were collected by employing mixed approachs: qualitative and quantitative There are two instruments which will be utilized: questionnaire and semi-structured interview in order to collect the data Students from different English competence level backgrounds and genders were all asked to join The total number of students who gave back the completed questionnaire answer is 155, which is sufficient to collect reliable data Both of these instruments used English and Vietnamese versions

Questionnaire is one of the research instruments that will be used to measure whether the use of PBL in teaching English speaking affects the students’ motivation at UKA The questionnaire was designed with 48 questions, separated into two main parts: The participants’ general information, their acknowledgement towards English speaking skills, and the students’ motivation in English speaking learning towards the PBL approach The first part consists of 15 questions and these questions aims to ask for information like their ages, their genders, how long they have studied English, and their opinions on which is the most important element to speak English fluently and what their understandings about English speaking are in general The second part is used to test the usefulness of PBL on students’ motivation to learn English speaking This part is divided into four smaller parts Those parts are difficulties and challenges of learning English speaking; motivation to learn English speaking skills; PBL and understanding about PBL; and PBL and the enhancement of motivation in learning English speaking Most of the questions in the questionnaire are close - ended ones According to Oppenheim (2001), there are some significant advantages of using close - ended questions which are time – saving, cost – saving, can be easily processed and are useful to test out specific hypotheses and comparing group data These questions were designed following Likert Scale Likert scale is a rating system that assesses opinions and attitudes through questionnaires by Likert (1932)

In order to cover the target aspects of the interview, semi-structured interview was used to get the questions ready The instrument would be useful as it focuses on a particular issue, generates a great deal of data needed in a short period of time (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2000) The questions for the interview were also translated into Vietnamese and the interviewees gave their answers in Vietnamese in case there are some further explanations that they think they can present themselves better in their mother tongue, which is Vietnamese There are five questions in the interview, the first three questions were used to acknowledge teachers’ understanding of the importance of learning English speaking The last two questions were for the purpose of finding out the importance of motivation in English speaking and how PBL helps with improving motivation.

Data collection procedures

The steps of carrying out this procedure are designed as follows:

❖ Having the questionnaire checked by an expert

❖ Asking for participants from the school

❖ Asking the participants to answer the questionnaire

❖ The data collected from the participants will be calculated and analyzed by using EXCEL software version 2019

❖ After the questionnaire process being done, a semi-structed interview was conducted In this stage, the participants were asked several questions and this process was recorded The information collected from the participants’ answers were analyzed by using qualitative content analysis

❖ After finishing designing the questionnaires, a class was asked to do a trial From the results of the trial, the questionnaire had been consulted by some experts and then modified The edited version of the questionnaire was given to 160 students participating in the study Before giving out the questionnaire to the students, they were explained in a thorough way so they could assess it objectively This procedure was repeated with the teachers’ interview process so both the teachers and students who participated in the study could understand the purpose of the interview and the study There were 160 students asked to fill out the questionnaire, and

155 fully completed forms were given back, and these forms were all valid Excel software was employed to have the data tested out Five ESL teachers agreed to attend the interview and the interview took place for one week, the interviews were all recorded, transcript, and translated into Vietnamese.

Data analysis procedures

With the questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, appropriate statistical techniques are needed to analyze data collected Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the data of the questionnaires because descriptive statistics presents a less complicated outline of the data, which makes it easier for researchers to obtain a more profound understanding about the data set (Mackey, & Gass, 2005)

Besides that, qualitative data was collected and analyzed from semi-structured interview questions Data will be recorded and transcribed into an understandable piece of writing for research purposes only According to Bloor et al (2001), having all of the recorded speech transcribed is necessary, even the unfinished and interrupted ones

In the next step, logical analysis approachs will be employed to analyze the data Quantitative data helps support the results of qualitative data All the data collected from the interview and the teachers’ personal information was kept confidential.

Summary

Chapter 3 shows the discussion of research approachology Moreover, other significant parts in the chapter are also included such as research site, the introduction and description of Oxford Program that is being utilized at UKA, some important information of the samples of the study like genders, grades, time for learning English, numbers of English speaking lessons a week, how frequent do they speak English at school, and their idea about English speaking elements Also, the research instruments which includes questionnaire and semi - structured interview were discussed along with procedures of data collection and data analysis.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Introduction

In this chapter, the results obtained from the analyzed data are clearly presented The three main items that have been the center of the discussion throughout the study are reported respectively The difficulties and challenges that teachers and students at UKA Ba Ria are facing with; The difference in the students and teachers’ attitude towards PBL; and Whether PBL helps enhance students’ motivation in English Speaking learning In addition, previous research findings are also discussed in order to illustrate and support the results of the study.

Findings

4.2.1 Teachers and students’ attitude towards English Speaking skills and motivation to learn English Speaking skill

It is important for English language learners to understand the necessity of being able to become competent at English - speaking skills In order to find out the acknowledgement and attitudes towards learning English - speaking skills of secondary students at UKA, a set of questionnaires was designed and handed out to students According to the collected data which shown in table 2, the importance and urgency of English-Speaking skills are aware by most secondary students Almost half of the students (45%) strongly agreed and 33% agreed with the opinion that in order to work for a professional occupation, being able to speak English is necessary And the data also shows that as the age increases, students’ acknowledgement is changed, which shows that they understand the importance of learning English speaking More than half of the participants (52%) said that they agreed with the idea that speaking skills need a lot of time to master Many students (67% strongly agreed and agreed) think that English speaking lessons need to be taught and learnt in a more serious way It is clear that a majority of students care about getting good at speaking English Another proof for that is, only a small percentage of students (2%) think putting time and effort in practicing English speaking at school is not necessary The results from the data also show that the fact of being able to speak English fluently which is becoming one of the worldwide standards is acknowledged mostly by the grade 8 students It means that as they get more mature, more of them understand the importance of this skill

1 Strongly agree, 2 Agree, 3 Neutral, 4 Disagree, 5 Strongly disagree

Table 4.1 Students’ attitude and acknowledgement towards English Speaking skills

I4 Most English tests and exams with certificates require candidates to take speaking skill test

I5 Speaking skill is a must – have skill to have to apply for a professional occupation

I6 Speaking skill requires learners a significant amount of time to master

I7 English speaking lessons need to be taken seriously 30% 37% 28% 5% 1%

I8 Putting time and effort in practicing speaking English at school is essential

I9 Being able to speak English fluently is becoming one of the worldwide standards

As can be seen from the bar chart 4.1, most of the students strongly agree (19,35% in total) or agree (37%) that speaking skill is difficult to learn The percentage of students who disagree with this statement is pretty low (14,19%), which should be taken into notice that, with grade 7 there is none (0%) disagreeing with this Also, the students that are neutral with the idea that it is hard to learn speaking is quite high (27,10%)

Bar chart 4.1 Students' perception towards English speaking skill

It can be viewed clearly from the chart below - bar chart 4.2 that many participants said that all five language elements make speaking English challenging to be fluent, which is the concrete proof that speaking skill is a difficult skill to master

Bar chart 4.2 Students' perception towards English speaking skill

To be more specific, these participants were asked some questions based on their level of agreement about some language aspects, and the results are shown in the table below, table 4.2

More than half of the students agree and strongly agree that vocabulary and word choice is one of the reasons that makes speaking skills difficult Especially, students from grade 6 and 7, which means that they are not very confident with their vocabulary From the data shown, grade 6 and 7 students care about getting more chances to learn vocabulary and how to use the vocabulary correctly

Grammar and structures have always been a huge obstacle for language learners in general and English learners to be able to speak the language Since it leaves a two - sided effect on how learners speak the language, if learners pay too much attention on getting the structures right, they might be scared to make mistakes and tend to keep quiet, and if they don’t, it might make it impossible or hard for others to understand them, and they might not be able to understand others correctly As can be worked out from the data, those students who are in grade 6 and grade 7 seem to be struggling with grammar

1 Strongly agree, 2 Agree, 3 Neutral, 4 Disagree, 5 Strongly disagree

Table 4.2 Difficulties and challenges of learning English Speaking

Difficulties of learning English speaking 1 2 3 4 5 i1 Vocabulary and word choice 20% 46% 28% 4% 2% i2 Grammar and structure 21% 31% 41% 6% 1% i3 Pronunciation 12% 56% 19% 10% 3%

The first question that the teachers who were asked to attend the interview was about their opinions on the importance and the difficulties of English - speaking skill The findings show that all 5 teachers agreed that this skill is very important, and it is also difficult to master The details are included below

Q.1 Do you agree that speaking skill is a very important skill?

“Absolutely, speaking is a crucial skill to express your ideas and communicate with others.”

“I believe speaking is one of the most important skills in learning any language, as it allows us to express our feelings and thoughts both formally and informally Informal speaking skills are essential when it comes to daily conversations and creating emotional connections, while formal speeches are necessary for workplaces or communicating with strangers.”

“Yes, definitely, speaking skills, especially English-Speaking skill has become one of the must-have skills for employees”

“Yes, I agree In this modern world, communication skills play a vital role and one must have mastery over these skills to get success in their respective fields

So, speaking is the most important skill among all the four language skills in order to communicate well Also, they allow us to communicate with others and express our thoughts and feelings.”

The next question of the interview was about the difficulties that learners might find themselves encounter while learning English speaking, from the teachers’ point of view

Q.2 Do you think it is difficult for learners to be good at English speaking and why is it?

“Some learners might find spoken English difficult for them to master as they could spend hours studying vocabulary and grammar but lack practice, lack of confidence, poor vocabulary power, hesitation, anxiety towards speaking, fear of making mistakes, not having a suitable environment to practice English, no strong motivation from teachers were some common difficulties students faced while speaking in English Therefore, it can be very difficult for learners to be good at English speaking.”

“Yes, I do think so Because the learners at the beginner level have poor pronunciation and grammatical structures even lack of vocabulary so it would be difficult to speak English at first.”

“Yes, because of being lack of general knowledge, lack of speaking practice, fear of mistake, lack of words usage and grammar practice, low motivation, low participation, reading laziness, shyness, less dictionary usage, nervousness, fear of criticism, and unfamiliar words pronunciation.”

“Becoming fluent in English can be difficult due to several factors Firstly, English vocabulary and grammar might sometimes be confusing This necessitates ample time for learners to become accustomed to and comprehend them before putting them to use Secondly, understanding how English flows is one of the greatest stumbling blocks to being good at speaking In other words, learners need to familiarize themselves with how English is spoken since it is often very different from how their native language is spoken, including stresses, new syllables, and so on.”

“Yes, I do think that English speaking skill can be a difficult skill for learners to be good without lots of effort.”

As English - speaking skills being agreed from both sides to be a difficult skill to master, one of the elements that is very important to make students want to start learning and practicing is motivation The proof for that is the results collected from the questionnaire for students and interview question for the teachers

Motivation plays a crucial role in working towards any goals And motivation which comes from the ability to speak English fluently is one basic key to make it possible for learners to speak fluent English There is almost zero percent of the students saying that they strongly disagree with the idea that motivation isn’t important for them to want to learn English speaking To be able to succeed in something, it is necessary to want to do it at first, the next thing is effort From the data collected, 70% of the students said they strongly agree with the opinion that motivation makes them want to put in effort to practice speaking English, and 74% students said motivation was the key ingredient that pushes them to keep practicing and to make it a habit, find information in table 4.3

Table 4.3 Motivation to learn English Speaking Skill

Importance i1 Motivation of being able to speak English makes you want to learn English speaking

25% 48% 24% 3% 1% i2 Motivation of being able to speak English fluently makes you try to practice speaking English

35% 35% 21% 7% 1% i3 Being able to speak English fluently motivates you and it makes practicing a habit

The teachers were also asked about their perspective on the importance of motivation in students’ willingness to learn English speaking The details are below:

Q Do you think motivation plays a crucial role in how students learn English speaking? And how is it?

Discussions

4.3.1 The difficulties that the teachers and students have to face during the implementation of PBL to enhance motivation to learn English Speaking

The first question of the study addresses the main concern of the research, which are the difficulties of the implementation of PBL to improve students’ motivation to learn English Speaking The analyzed data collected from the questionnaire and interview shows that there are some factors of PBL process that make it challenging for both learners and teachers to apply PBL at school These difficulties can originate from the students’ performance and the external environment

Learners’ language ability and confidence level are two major concerns when it comes to difficulties that both the teachers and learners have to encounter during the process of PBL Besides the ability to cooperate, take responsibility, and self- study could affect greatly how effective it is to have the process carried out

Firstly, PBL encourages learners to speak to make discussions, or even to present in front of the classroom Being shy and embarrassed to make mistakes makes them scared to speak out especially in a language that is not native to them and that can make it hard for PBL to deliver its benefits properly Secondly, students are considered the center of the learning process which asks them to take control over their studying Self-studying skill is necessary to prepare themselves to finish the task they are given and to contribute to their group’s success There could be chances that some students have to take more responsibilities than others Thirdly, there are probably chances that students need to work in groups, which helps build their collaborative skills However, some students do not find themselves familiar with working in groups and may be struggling with it According to previous researches, the teachers who have recruited PBL in their teaching approach might find it difficult to make their students work cooperatively efficiently (Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Marx et al., 1997; Lee & Tsai, 2004) Especially with students who are not familiar with group work would definitely feel hard to negotiate on different matters (Grant, 2002)

Besides the internal factors mentioned above, other factors like the school curriculum, time management, classroom management could make it really challenging for PBL to be properly implemented

For the purpose of having a project done inside of a classroom, the school curriculum plays a major role in how possible it is for a project to happen or succeed Are the topics included age-relevant? Are they interesting to the majority of the students? etc Moreover, as the nature of PBL is to have learners work in groups or be in charge of their studying, poor classroom management could cause conflicts between students and lose track of some of the students PBL processes are also reported to take quite a long period of time (Dahlgren et al., 1998) Making a detailed, thoughtful plan for a project is crucial to ensure that it wouldn’t affect other lessons of the syllabus and other subjects

4.3.2 Students and teachers’ attitudes towards PBL

Studying students and teachers’ attitudes towards PBL approach is also necessary to measure the effectiveness of PBL being applied in the teaching and learning process for the improvement of learners’ motivation According to the results collected from analyzed data, both of the results from teachers’ interview and the students’ questionnaire show that the majority of the students and all of the teachers are aware and understand the use of PBL Furthermore, the attitudes of both are very promising as most of the students seemed to be interested in the implementation of PBL in the learning process, and they show excitement to have the projects done The reason for this positive result could probably be because they are interested in the given topics, or they enjoy being in charge of their studying, and PBL helps them understand the lessons better A study case carried out by Bas and Beyhan (2010) shows that PBL affects students in grade 5 who are studying English classes positively In the research of Bas (2011), he claims that the effect of PBL does not only leave a positive effect on students learning academically but also their attitudes towards English lessons About the teachers, understand and being aware of the challenges of having PBL applied in their classrooms, they still believe PBL is a very effective approach to teach and learn, and to improve their students’ overall attitude towards the subject, especially to teach English speaking Based on the findings obtained, the students’ positive attitudes are strongly supported by all three components which are affective, cognitive and behavioral components

4.3.3 Whether PBL helps increase students’ motivation to learn English speaking

The results of this study show that PBL does increase students’ motivation to learn English speaking The students asked to join to fill out the questionnaire about how and what makes them feel motivated to do something A very high number of participants agreed that they feel motivated to learn when they know that it benefits them Their motivation to learn English speaking could also be evaluated through their attitudes towards the learning process

Specifically, the majority of them show very positive attitudes towards the process of PBL implementation These findings were also confirmed by the interview answers from the teachers at school Understanding and knowing about the beneficial aspects of applying PBL into English learning and teaching would be very motivating for the students to get engaged The evidence for that is most of the participants agreed with the benefits that PBL brings about McCarthy’s (2010) claims that PBL is a approach that helps enhance the students’ autonomy to learn a foreign language It also helps improve students’ motivation to learn language, and it makes it possible for learners to be able to communicate in another language Beneke (2008), and Faris

(2008) pointed out that PBL improves students’ motivation Hilton-Jones (1988) claims that PBL allows learners to practice in authentic environments, and it also makes them aware of its importance for their future demands, which helps build their motivation The results of the findings show that both intrinsic and extrinsic types of motivation are displayed when PBL being applied in the studying process.

Summary

The chapter provides the insights of the results collected from the questionnaire given to the students at UKA, and interview questions answered by the teachers here This chapter is considered the most important part of the study as it shows and discusses the results collected The first part reports on the difficulties that students and teachers at UK Academy face when PBL implemented to teach and learn English speaking The second part is the report on the students and teachers’ attitudes towards PBL The last two parts report on the difference in students’ attitudes and the effect PBL has on students’ motivation to learn English speaking skill.

CONCLUSION

Summary of the main findings of the thesis

The study was conducted to serve the purpose of studying the effectiveness of the implementation of PBL at language teaching settings especially in enhancing learners’ motivation

PBL being implemented at educational settings has been proved to be effective for educational purposes Due to the effectiveness of it on learners’ attitudes to learn which affects their motivation to try harder for better outcomes The importance of motivation to learn English speaking is clearly proved by many researches and also the results of this study speaks the same thing

However, having PBL applied at school can be challenging at times The findings of the study show that the process of PBL might take a period of time, which could possibly affect other subjects if the process didn’t work out as expected Moreover, letting students work in groups and have major control over the learning process could cause some conflicts, such as different opinions between peers, unequal tasks distribution, students would make too much noise during the process, etc Another concern is that how each student should be evaluated, and the evaluation criteria should be made so that it meets the students’ contributions and competence

Both teachers and students’ attitudes towards the application of PBL can be considered as the main concern of any relevant researches However, the results show that both the students and the teachers’ attitudes towards the application of PBL are considered to show signs of optimism According to the questionnaire filled out by the participants, a majority of the students have been working well with the process of PBL, and also acknowledge, show agreement towards the benefits of PBL On the teachers’ side, it seems that the use of PBL has been supported by most of the teachers

The study results also show the students’ concerns about learning English speaking such as how it is difficult to learn, how it was being taught and learnt before PBL being applied It can be seen that there were signs of promising outcome of PBL application since there are significant changes of attitudes towards the application of this learning approach As the learners’ motivation to learn English speaking are mainly affected by their perceptions of the approach, their positive attitudes towards the use of PBL are the concrete proof for the significant that PBL approach brings about, especially on the learners’ motivation to learn English speaking This statement is as well supported by the teachers’ comments when they observed how it affects their students’ motivation to learn English speaking

As a result, PBL being implemented benefits English language learners academically and socially, even though there could be challenges along the way Having PBL applied at any educational settings is essential and it needs proper attention.

Pedagogical implications

The study carried out to investigate students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards PBL approach being applied at UKA Ba Ria for the purpose of improving secondary students’ motivation to learn English speaking skills Based on the results collected from the questionnaire of the students and interview of the teachers, to have PBL implemented at secondary schools in general, and at UKA Ba Ria specifically in a successful way, several pedagogical implications could be suggested These suggestions are catered for the stakeholders, the teachers, and for the students

❖ Recommendations for educational management and administration (the stakeholders)

It is imperative for the stakeholders, especially the schoolboard, to be aware of and understand the process of implementation of PBL Having PBL implemented properly could benefit from investments, either financial investment or investment in time and effort Moreover, reinforcing the implementation of PBL at schools, providing and organizing workshops for the teachers and educators to share and learn from each other as the same time with checking and making evaluations are necessary to better the application of PBL at schools

Shifting from traditional teaching and learning approach to PBL approach also changes the role of the teachers inside of the classroom The teachers now are responsible for giving initial instructions, facilitating and supervising the work that being carried out mainly by the students All these new roles that the teachers take on need proper training and workshops, attending trainings or workshop to listen to other teachers’ ideas and to share experience is crucially important

Learning to work with other classmates is just as important as working on solving math problems, writing an essay, etc Collaborative skills are a must-have skill to adapt and to work in any environment Carrying out a project in PBL approach asks students to learn to practice soft skills It is crucial that students must be aware of the necessity of listening to others and respecting others’ opinions Also, trying to contribute to the mutual benefits of the group by doing self-learning, giving ideas, helping out with some work is considered essential to the success of PBL implementation.

Limitations

During the process of having the research carried out, there are certain limitations that are aware and listed as follows

Firstly, the reliability of the results obtained from the study could have been even higher as the numbers of participants and the instruments used to have the research conducted were limited for a particular reason

Secondly, the details of how PBL being implemented in each level or class could have been shared, the details could have included the steps to have PBL processes carried out inside the classroom, the evaluation criteria, etc

Finally, creating a pre-speaking test or an interview for the students to find out about their attitudes towards English speaking lessons could have been done before the implementation of the approach As a result, a post-speaking test, an interview with the students after lessons taught and learnt with PBL approach could have catered to make a clearer, better comparison between the two stages.

Recommendations for further research

As being drawn from the limitations mentioned above, the recommendations for further researches can be deduced based on those limitations

First of all, the population of the study, the numbers of participants who asked to join could be expanded by having the area of the study expanded

Secondly, pre-speaking tests and post-speaking tests could be given to participants to build up the reliability of the research, as PBL helps improve learners’ motivation to learn English speaking so that their ability to speak English, as a consequence, could be improved

Furthermore, asking the teachers who have had PBL applied in their English language classroom to give details on how they have PBL processes implemented in their lessons could have been of great help Also, some interview questions could be created to ask the students about their opinions and ideas about how PBL should be implemented at school It is strongly advised to share teachers’ way of giving instructions to the students, the steps of PBL process inside the classroom, the evaluation criteria, etc Learning from the students and teachers’ perspective could help contribute to better utilizing this teaching and learning approach

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I am currently doing a research on students’ motivation to speak English using PBL approach at UK Academy, Ba Ria This questionnaire aims to gather data relating to the effectiveness of PBL approach on students’ motivation to speak English Your collaboration on completing this questionnaire will help contribute to my study greatly Your personal information and also the data collected will be kept completely confidential and used to serve academic purpose only Thank you for taking the time to assist me with the research

Ba Ria Vung Tau University

+ What is your gender? Male Female

+ Which grade are you in?

+ You have studied English for…

Less than three years Between three and five years

+ How many periods do you have for English speaking lessons a week?

1 to 2 periods less than 4 periods

+ How often do you speak English at school?

+ Which element do you think is the most important to speak English fluently?

Please select the number that suits your opinion accordingly strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), are neutral (3), agree (4), or strongly agree (5)

1 2 3 4 5 Challenges i1 Speaking is the most difficult skill to learn i2 Speaking lessons are not being taught and learnt effectively i3 Speaking skill not being scored affect students’ effort negatively

Importance i5 Most English tests and exams with certificates require candidates to take speaking skill test i6 Speaking skill is a must – have skill to have to apply for a professional occupation i7 Speaking skill requires learners a significant amount of time to master

Urgency i8 English speaking lessons need to be taken seriously i9 Putting time and effort in practicing speaking English at school is essential i10 Being able to speak English fluently is becoming one of the worldwide standards

SECTION C: DIFFICULTIES AND CHALLENGES OF LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING

Please select the number that suits your opinion accordingly strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), are neutral (3), agree (4), or strongly agree (5)

1 2 3 4 5 Difficulties of learning English speaking i1 Vocabulary and word choice i2 Grammar and structure i3 Pronunciation i4 Being scared of getting embarrassed when making a mistake i5 Getting shy and nervous in front of people i6 Don’t see the importance of practicing speaking

Challenges of learning English speaking i1 Lacking of spontaneous English-speaking environment i2 Lacking of quality English-speaking time i3 Speaking skill not being evaluated, assessed properly is demotivating

SECTION D: MOTIVATION TO LEARN ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL

Please select the number that suits your opinion accordingly strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), are neutral (3), agree (4), or strongly agree (5)

1 2 3 4 5 Importance i1 Motivation of being able to speak English makes you want to learn English speaking i2 Motivation of being able to speak English fluently makes you try to practice to speak English i3 Being able to speak English fluently motivates you and it makes practicing a habit

You feel motivated to learn speaking when i1 I am interested in the given topics i2 I am encouraged to speak up i3 I will be rewarded later i4 I know that it benefits my future i5 I enjoy working in groups to practice English speaking

SECTION E: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING APPROACH AND UNDERSTANDING ABOUT PROJECT-BASED LEARNING

Please select the number that suits your opinion accordingly strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), are neutral (3), agree (4), or strongly agree (5)

1 2 3 4 5 The process of PBL i1 Getting the opportunity to work in groups i2 Self-studying is necessary and is taken seriously i3 Getting to give out individual ideas and opinions i4 The lessons are carried out mainly by the students i5 The teacher only helps with initial instruction and giving advice during the process i6 The process of PBL needs working on for a significant period of time

The benefits that PBL brings about i1 Getting a chance to improve language skills especially speaking skill i2 Taking full responsibility of my studying i3 Having better reflection after the lessons i4 Having chance to practice collaborative skill i5 Having chance to practice self -learning i6 Having chance to improve my confidence

SECTION F: PROJECT-BASED LEARNING APPROACH AND THE

ENHANCEMENT OF MOTIVATION IN LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING

Please select the number that suits your opinion accordingly strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), are neutral (3), agree (4), or strongly agree (5)

1 2 3 4 5 Attitude towards PBL i1 I find the topics included enticing i2 I enjoy taking responsibility of my own study i3 I’m interested in learning through projects i4 I feel motivated to be able to give my ideas and opinions i5 I have better insights of the lessons i6 I enjoy taking charge of making decisions with my teacher being an instructor