factors affecting motivation in learning speaking english of students at nghe an college of culture and arts

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled: “Factors affecting motivation in speaking English of students at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts” is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching, Vinh University and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution in any other degree or qualification

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, I would like to grateful and respectfully acknowledge my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Ngo Dinh Phuong for his support in doing this thesis Without his help, the thesis would have never finished

Additionally, I wish to express my deep gratitude to the teachers in the Foreign Languages Department for advising me a lot of reference books related to my graduation thesis

I am also grateful to my friends and colleagues due to their constructive comments and criticisms Besides, I would like to express my thankfulness to all the students Nghe An college of Culture and Arts for their active participation into my study

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ABSTRACT

It is true that motivation has profound effects on students’ language learning However, students’ motivation in learning English listening is rather low at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts Many students are not interested and do not invest enough time and effort in learning it, also their perceived aptitude to learn and ability to use it in the future are low As a result, they feel bored with speaking lessons and find it hard to learn this skill With the hope that my study will be useful in finding out the way to motivate students as well as improve their speaking learning quality, I have decided to investigate this issue

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TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER 1: NTRODUCTION - 2 222 22221222221 1221115E 2xx sk 1 1 Rationale „1 1 Aims oŸthe StUdy 2 2 21201112 21112211 1521 1151111121151 11 E1 1x rty 2 2 Research qu€S(IO'S - - 2 2222111210 11521 11521 1151111111151 11x 3 3 The scope of the S(udyy S22 3322111221 1321 1151111111115 111 81112 3 A Data collecflon - - c5: 2S 12131112511 55152111 1118111111511 1011 E11 e2 3 5 The organization of the study - - ¿5 22 2 22 3122211235125 czxxx 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW c2 322tr rae 5

2.1 Theoretical background of motivation 5

2.1.1 Conceptions o0 mofIVafIOI - - - 2 22221222221 1321 3231112111155 xE2 5 2.1.2 Types of motivation in foreign language learning - 7 2.1.2.1 Integrative motivation and instrumental motivation - 7 2.1.2.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic motIvafIon 5: +52 + s2 * +2 +2 svsesrsxss 8 2.1.3 Factors that Affect Students” Motivation -:++sccsc>s+sxs+ 9 Phone 9

PP SA I 9 ll

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2.3.1 Defnition of speakKing - - 5 - 22 3222212211122 12511 11111111 rxe 18 2.3.2 Elements of SpeakIng -: + - 2 3321312211152 1251 111111151 ke rye 19 2.3.3 The roles of the teacher in different stages of teaching speaking 20

2.3.4 Motivation in speaking 1m cÏassrooim ¿+5 2222222 *2szxs+sz>x 22 2.3.4.1 Motivation In the classroom sefting - + + +52 5+2 s*s+s>>s 22 2.3.4.2 Some condiflons for effecfive mofivation 1n speaking 22 Vi an 23

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .24

ENNini on e 24

3.2 Situation anaÏYSIS c2 2 2211222111221 1 1251112111181 1118111281 xey 24 3.2.1 The setting of the study - - 2 222 22212211121 11511 1555522 xx2 24 “` 25 2.2.3 SpeakIng maf€r1al - c2 21 32211122111 121 3155111551 11511 11111188 ke 26 3.3 PaTLICIDATIẨS Q20 02221112211 12211 11211112211 12211 1211111011118 11 151111 ket 27

EU i0 on e5 27

3.4.1 Questionnaires for stud€n(s - c5 2c 3222 E22 SE Srsxssrsxes 28 3.4.2 Questionnaire for teacl€rS - ¿2 2 22 22223252 £szzxcsrxss 28 3.4.3 ÏnE€TVIGWS Q Q21 1 1221112211221 1 1211112111111 11 111111011111 KE g1 xa 3.4.4 Class observation

3.4.5 Data collection proc€dUre - + - 22+ 222 3223122511221 2zxk2 30 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION . 5 5-52 31 4.1 Results from students° pre-task questionnaIre - s+- +5 +++s 31 4.1.1 Students’ motivation and opinions on learning speaking English 31 4.1.2 Students’ opinions on learning speaking English 33 4.1.3 Factors de-motivating students in learning speaking? 36 4.1.4 Students” evaluation towards the textbook +s- c5 s25 s+s + 39 4.2 Results from students’ post-treatment questIonnaIre - 40 4.2.1 The changes of students’ motivation on speaking English 40 4.2.2 Factors de-motivating students in learning speaking 43

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4.2.3 The change of students’ evaluation towards the textbook 45 4.2.4 Factors increase students’ motivation in speaking English 46 4.3 Results from teacher”s survey questionnaIre - ¿+ ++s-ss+ 5z + 52 4.3.1 Teacher’s opinions towards students’ motivation in speaking English 52 4.3.2 Techniques and activities applied by teachers - + 54 4.3.3 Teacher’s evaluation on Life line- Elementary textbook 57 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

5.1 Summary of the study

5.1.1 Types of motivation possessed by second year non-major English

students at Nghe An college of Culture and Arts - :-: +5: 59 5.1.2 Factors affecting students in learning speaking English 59 5.1.3 Speaking motivational activities and techniques employed by teachers

Eu$030020)1 802i NA 6]

5.1.4 Factors de-motivating students to speak English - 62 5.1.5 Teachers and students’ comments on speaking activities in Life line —

[u20 1a015‹4i00 2 -‹- 63

5.2 ImplicatIOTS .- c 2 2c 2222121112211 1251155115151 1110111151 118111111 63 5.2.1 Teacher”s role in a speaking Ïesson - 555 225222322232 sxx>s+ 63

5.2.2 Providing a variety of activities 64

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LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS 1 List of tables

Table 1: Types of motIVafIOI - 2c 222 2222211223 1221 11211111511 1555E52xxx2 31 Table 2: Factors cause difficulties for students in English speaking learning 36

Table 3: factors de-motivating students’ speaking learning 38

Table 4: The changes f students’ perceived importance of English learning 40 Table 5: The changes of students’ interest in learning English 41

Table 6: Changes of students’ frequency of speaking English in class time 42 Table 7: Changes of factors causes difficulties for students in speaking learning Table 8: Changes of factors de-motivating students’ speaking learning 44

Table 9: Changes of students’ evaluation towards the textbook 46

Table 10: Factors encourage students to speak English 47

Table 11: Activities applied by the teachers and students’ preference 49

Table 12: ActivifIes enJoyed most by studenfs - 5 225 +52 s+ 5s s52 51 Table 13: Teachers’ opinions towards students’ motivation in speaking 321 2225 ` 52

Table 14: Teacher’s opinions on students’ motivation of the speaking stages — 53 Table 15: The frequency of teachers’ techniques to motivate students 54

Table 16: Techniques used by teachers to help students to be more active and interested in speaking ÏeSSONS + 2 2 2 223322212223 E225E 1225325 Ezxx2 55 Table 17: The frequency of teachers’ using communicative activities 56

Table 18: Teacher’s evaluation on speaking skill of Life line-Elementary 2 List of charts Chart 1: Students” percerved importance of English - - 33

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale

In recent decades, English has been more and more important in Vietnam The importance of English is not only in how people speak it but also in what it is used for Most countries in the world use English as medium of communication in many aspects of life Meanwhile, in Vietnam, English is considered as a foreign language It also has been introduced to educational institutions, which is learnt from Junior High School up to university as a compulsory subject The need to enhance their language skills is becoming a matter of great urgency In order to meet the need of the learners, teachers are constantly challenged by the matter how to make English teaching and learning more communicative and effective

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and some fear of making mistakes, however a lot of students frankly admit they are not motivated to speak.Thus, one of the challenges to the teacher is to find out the answer to the question: “Why don’t many students of English get involved actively in speaking lesson?” To find out the answer to this question it is necessary to investigate what motivates and de-motivates students in learning speaking English

In the process of teaching and learning English, there are many factors affecting the success of language learners such as aptitude, age, personality, motivation and so on, among which motivation is one of the key factors that determine students’ success or failure in language learning Researchers on motivation have pointed out that learners who are highly motivated can learn a foreign language better than those who are not and vice versa Without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals, and there are no appropriate curricula and good teaching to ensure students’ achievement This is true both for children and adult learners

This is the reason why I choose studying on factors affecting motivation in speaking English of students at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts The study is to investigate types of motivation that students have in speaking and point out some factors that motivate and de-motivate student in learning speaking It also investigates the activities and techniques applied by teachers, students’ preference and demands, and some difficulties teachers faced in teaching speaking The researcher hopes that this study will be a help for teachers who want to increase students’ motivation in speaking English learning

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- to identify types of motivation possessed by the students at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts

- to point out some factors affecting students’ motivation in speaking English

- to examine some activities and techniques applied by teachers and students’ preferences

- to suggest motivational strategies and techniques, which can applied to stimulate learners in teaching speaking skill

2 Research questions

In order to meet the aims of the study, the following research questions are generated:

(1) What are the types of motivation possessed by students at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts in learning speaking?

(2) What are the factors affecting students in learning speaking English? (3) What have teachers done to motivate students in learning speaking

learning?

(4) What motivational strategies and techniques can be applied to speaking lesson?

3 The scope of the study

The study mainly deals with the factors affecting motivation in speaking English of students at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts, identifies some factors de-motivating students in learning speaking and examine some activities and techniques used by teaches and student’ preference and demand; then suggest some recommendations for teachers to encourage students to speak English and overcome difficulties in teaching speaking

4 Data collection

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Interview is used as an instrument for data collection in this study in order to gather students’ responses flexibly

Added to that, classroom observation will be also employed to support for the study

The documents will be taken from the main book Life Lines — Elementary - Student’s book (2010) Tom Hutchinson Oxford University Press

5 The organization of the study The study will consist of the following parts: Chapter 1: Introduction

This part will introduce the rationale, aims, scope, research questions and organization of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review

This chapter presents the background of motivation and speaking teaching And de-motivation in foreign language teaching is also discussed Chapter 3: The study

This part presents the methodology performed in the study The chapter also deals with situation analysis, participants, data collection and data analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and discussions

The part deals with the findings and discussions and offers some recommendations for teacher to motivate students to speak and overcome some difficulties teachers meet in teaching speaking

Chapter 5: Conclusion

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Theoretical background of motivation 2.1.1 Conceptions of motivation

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activities” (2000:7) According to Woolfolk, motivation is “an internal state that arouses directs and maintains behavior” (Woolfolk, 2001:366) Brown also claimed that “motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something” Burden (1997:119) assumed that “from a cognitive perspective, motivation is concerned with such issues as why people decide to act in certain ways and what factors influence the choice they make It also involves decisions as to the amount of effect people are prepared to expand in attempting to achieve their goals The role of the teacher thus becomes one of helping and enabling learners to make suitable decisions” About this issue, Oxford and Shearin (1996:121-122) also argue: “Motivation is important because it directly influences how often students use second language learning strategies, how much students interact with native speakers, how much input they receive in the language being learned (the target language), how well they do on curriculum-related achievement tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they persevere and maintain second language skills after language study is over Therefore, motivation is crucial for second language learning, and it is essential to understand what our students’ motivations are” As a result, motivation should be paid attention in teaching and learning second languages

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Desire indicates how much the learner wants to become proficient in the language, and affect illustrates the learner’s emotional reactions with regard to language study

2.1.2 Types of motivation in foreign language learning 2.1.2.1 Integrative motivation and instrumental motivation

e Integrative motivation

Integrative motivation is characterised by the learner's positive attitudes towards the target language group and the desire to integrate into the target language community Motivation has been identified as the learner's orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language (Crookes and Schmidt 1991) It is thought 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 the language is used (Falk 1978) This form of motivation is known as integrative motivation When someone becomes a resident in a new community that uses the target language in its social interactions, integrative motivation is a key component in assisting the learner to develop some level of proficiency in the language It becomes a necessity, in order to operate socially in the community and become one of its members It is also theorised that "integrative motivation typically underlies successful acquisition of a wide range of registers and a nativelike pronunciation" (Finegan 1999:568)

e Instrumental motivation

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acquisition is more utilitarian, such as meeting the requirements for school or university graduation, applying for a job, requesting higher pay based on language ability, reading technical material, translation work or achieving higher social status Instrumental motivation is often characteristic of second language acquisition, where little or no social integration of the learner into a community using the target language takes place, or in some instances is even desired

e Integrative motivation vs instrumental motivation

Motivation is an important factor in L2 achievement For this reason it is important to identify both the type and combination of motivation that assists in the successful acquisition of a second language While both integrative and instrumental motivation are essential elements of success, it is integrative motivation which has been found to sustain long-term success when learning a second language (Taylor, Meynard and Rheault 1977; Ellis 1997; Crookes et al 1991) Those who do support an integrative approach to language study are usually more highly motivated and overall more successful in language learning However, other researchers such as Lukmani (1972) found that an instrumental orientation was more important than an integrative orientation Braj Kachru (1977, cited in Brown 2000) also points out that in India, where English has become an international language, it is not uncommon for second language learners to be successful with instrumental purposes being the underlying reason for study

2.1.2.2 Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation

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intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation pertains to a wide variety of behaviors that are engaged in as a means to an end and not for their own sake (Deci and Ryan, 1985)

Extrinsic motivation can be regarded as the opposite of intrinsic motivation The goal connected with intrinsic motivation is a positive learning effect that lasts a long time, but the goal of an extrinsic motivated student is completely different Deci and Ryan state that learners will lose motivation and reason to do something when rewards are no longer available and that giving external rewards to them previously with intrinsic motivation can harm the good effect in it However, some researchers show that extrinsic motivation is effective for those with no motivation, and when it is a positive feedback

2.1.3 Factors that Affect Students’ Motivation

Basing on Dornyei’s study, factors affecting students’ motivation can be classified into learner’s factors, teacher’s factors, environment factors, and teaching and learning conditions

2.1.3.1 Learner’s factors a Intelligence:

Intelligence is a term referring to performance on certain kinds of test (Lightbown & Spada, 1999:52) Through tests, teachers are able to classify successful or unsuccessful students in the class performance While some studies have reported that there is a link between intelligence measured by IQ tests and second language learning, some students, in fact, whose academic performance is weak, are successful in second language learning

b Aptitude:

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identify and memorize new sounds, the ability to understand the function of particular words in sentences, the ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples and the ability to memorize new words (1999)

An important point regarding aptitude and second language learning is that successful learners may not be strong in all the components of aptitude and can still succeed at learning a second language

c Personality

In the eyes of many teachers the personality of the students constitutes a major factor contributing to success or failure in language learning Ellis(1997) pointed that extroverted learners are advantaged in the development of the kind of language associated with basis interpersonal communication skills and that extroverted learners may also be more likely to participate actively in oral communication(1997) Lightbown and Spada list a number of personality characteristics that have a great influence on the success of second language learners: inhibition, self-esteem, extroversion, empathy, dominance, talkativeness and responsiveness (1999)

d Learner’s age

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e Learning style

Learning styles might be thought as “cognitive, affective, and physiological traits that are relatively stable environment” (Keefe, 1979: 4) Or more simply, Skehan (1991) defined learning styles as “a general predisposition, voluntary or not, toward processing information in a particular way.” People’s styles are determined by the way they internalize their total environment, and since that internalization process is not strictly cognitive, we find that physical, effective, and cognitive domains merge in learning styles Learning style is a consistent way of functioning that reflects underlying causes of behavior” (citied in Ellis)

Sf Learners’ belief

Most learners have strong beliefs about how languages are learnt, how their instruction should be delivered Little, Singleton and Silvius found out “past experience, both of education in general and of language learning in particular, played a major role in shaping attitudes to language learning” (citied in Ellis, 1997: 478-479)

2.1.3.2 Teacher’s factors

Teacher plays an important role in students’ learning motivation Dornyei (2001) point out some teacher’s factors affecting students’ motivation: appropriate teacher behavior, teacher’s enthusiasm and a good relationship with the students

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or criticized if they make a mistake” (Good and Brophy, 1994- citied in Dornyei, 2001:121)

Teacher’s good relationship with the student is a also a key element of motivation is student learning Teacher should have ability to listen and pay attention to students Wlodkowski also stated that listing a person is the single most powerful transaction that occurs between ourselves and another person The teacher should establish the relationship of mutual trust and respect with students

Enthusiasm is teachers’ love; dedication and passion together will commitment toward the subject matter that instills in students a willingness to pursue knowledge Also, teachers should clearly identify their reasons for loving and being interested in the subject matter or second language, and then share these reasons with their students

The last factor is teacher's commitment to the students’ academic progress Teachers should show commitment towards their students! learning and progress, at the same time they should care for what their students have learnt and succeeded In order to express commitment towards the students, teachers should offer concrete assistance, offer to meet students individually to explain things, respond immediately when help is requested, correct tests and papers promptly, send learners copies of relevant interesting articles, arrange extra-curricular instructional programs, encourage extra- assignments and offer to assist with these, show concern when things are not going on and so on

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therefore, they cannot lack their responsibility for maintaining their own commitment to the teaching process because the lack of this responsibility will cause ‘psychological absence’ from teaching process, which is the fastest way to undermine the motivational base of the learners

2.1.3.3 Teaching and learning condition

Teaching and learning condition involves classroom atmosphere and physical condition A pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere will create motivation, it encourages students to their opinions and thinking It is very important to make students that mistakes are a natural part of learning, and to ensure that they will not be criticized if they make mistakes MacIntyre (1999) and Young (1999) pointed out that students’ anxiety created by a tense classroom climate was one of the most potent factors that undermined learning effectiveness and L2 motivation (citied in Dornyei)

Physical conditions in the classroom refer to the classroom size, chairs, desks, tables, boards and even bulletin boards Physical condition had great impact on students’ learning as well as their attitude towards the subject matter These affect students' motivation either positively or negatively The second language teachers should be reminded that the classroom is not only a psychological but also physical environment The decoration: posters, flowers, funny objects influence strongly the atmosphere More importantly, teachers should create the ownership of the class among students

2.1.4 Charactreristics of motivated learners

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opportunities afforded to him and to others; supplement the learning that derives from the direct contact with speakers of the L2 ; learning derived from the use of study techniques; be an adolescent or an adult; possesses sufficient analytic skills to perceive, categorize, and store the linguistic features of the L2; possesses a strong reason for learning the L2; be prepared to experiment by taking risks and be capable of adapting to different learning conditions

2.1.5 De-motivation

2.1.5.1 Conceptions of De-motivation

Dornyei (2005 :143) defined de-motivation as “ specific external forces that reduce or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention or an ongoing action”

Deci and Ryan (1985) used a similar term “a-motivation”, which means “the relative absence of motivation that is not caused by a lack of initial interest but rather by the individual’s experiencing feelings of incompetence and helplessness when faced with the activity”

2.1.5.2 De-motivating Factors that Affect Motivation in Learning Foreign Language

According to Dornyei, factors de-motivating students’ learning are as follows 1 The teacher (personality, commitment, competence, teaching method); 2 Inadequate school facilities (group is too big or not the right level,

frequent change of teachers);

Reduced self-confidence (experience of failure or lack of success); Negative attitude towards the second language;

Compulsory nature of second language study;

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9 Course-book

2.2 COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING (CLT) 2.2.1 Definitions of CLT

Richards defines that CLT can be understood as a set of principles about the goal of language teaching, how learners learn a language, the kind of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the role of teachers and learners in the classroom

The term CLT, in fact, covers a variety of approaches that all focus on helping learners to communicate meaningfully in a target language rather than a single methodology These approaches parade under the general label “communicative”, all of which characterize language teaching as the development of communicative skills (Nunan, 1991) CLT sets its goal to teach the learners the communicative competence and this approach does a lot to expand on the goal of creating communicative competence compared to earlier method that focused on the same objective Teaching students how to use the language can be seen as important as learning the language itself

According to Brown “We are exploring pedagogical means for ‘real life’ communication in the classroom” and “We are concerned with how to facilitate lifelong language learning among our students, not just with the

immediate classroom task’( 1994: 77)

There are many interpretations of what CLT actually means and involves, however there are still some misconceptions about CLT “Many teachers of English believe that CLT means not teaching grammar, or CLT means teaching only speaking not writing, listening and reading” (Thompson,

1996) As a result, this approach may be applied inappropriately

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communicative competence which involves the ability to use the language appropriately to a social context These components can be seen as linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence In order to help readers see what CLT means deeply and completely, some characteristics of CLT would be addressed in the next section

2.2.2 Characteristics of CLT

Four interconnected characteristics of CLT were offered by Brown (2000) as follows:

- Classroom goals focus on all of the components of communicative competence and not restricted to grammatical or linguistic competence

- Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes Organizational language forms are not the central focus but rather aspects of language that enable the learner to accomplish those purposes

- Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying communicative techniques At times fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use

- In the communicative classroom, students ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed contexts

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- The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself

- An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning

- An attempt to link classroom language learning to language activation outside the classroom

2.2.3 Teacher’s and Learner’s Roles in CLT a Teacher’s roles

CLT focuses on the important of providing learners with activities which give them the opportunity to use target language for their communicative purpose

The type of classroom activities in CLT, therefore, requires teachers new roles in the classroom Rather than being a model for correct speech, teachers have responsibility to facilitate the communication among learners, they establish the CAs in order to supply their students the chance to share their ideas and opinions on a regular basis In another word, this involves students in realistic communication

According to Harmer (2001) teachers performs multi-roles which vary for different activities such as controller, organizer, prompter, counselor,

informants, assessor, participant, observer, tutor, performer, and as a

resource

Additionally, some other authors view teacher’s role as facilitator (Nunan,1991), need analyst (Richards and Rogers, 1994), instructor, co- communicator (Littlewood, 1991), researcher (Breen and Candlin, 1980), manager (Freeman, 1986)

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a Learner’s roles

A great deal of use of authentic language is implied in CLT CLT employs learner-centered approach in which students are communicators It is supposed that learners now participate in classroom activities that base on a cooperative rather than individualistic approach to learning They should feel comfortable with listening to their peer in pair work or group work tasks

Furthermore, Breen and Cardlin (1980) describe learner’s role in CLT as “negotiator — between the self and learning process, and the object of learning — emerges from and interacts with the role of joint negotiator within the group and within the classroom procedures and activities which the group undertakes’

In order to achieve the aim of communication successfully, learners are supposed to work as communicators and negotiators They are also claimed to take on more responsible for their own learning

2.3 Theoretical background of speaking in language learning 2.3.1 Definition of speaking

Speaking can be seen as the key to human communication It is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching There are many definitions of speaking

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typified as an activity involving two or more people in which the participants are both hearers and speakers having to react to what they hear and make their contribution.” The communication purpose can be broken when both participant do not have intention to make their contribution to the conversation

Byrne (1976) describes speaking as “a two-way process between the speaker(s) and the listener(s) involving the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding.” It can be transferred from his idea that both speaker and listener have the function in the interaction The message has to be encoded by the speaker in order to convey it in appropriate language, while the listener has to decode the message

2.3.2 Elements of Speaking

According to Harmer (2001), in spoken language some elements should be included: the first one is being connected speech This means that a good speaker should have ability to sound words correctly and connect the sounds to words to each other The second element is an expressive device We can use pitch change, intonation, and stress to convey different meanings The third is Lexis and grammar This reflects the speaker’s ability of using phrases in appropriate way depending on the language function The last is negotiation language It means that the speaker can make clarification and display good talking structure by creating effective speaking

Brown (2001) also indicates that rhythm and intonation, fluency, and accuracy are three aspects of speaking The speaker’s ability to articulate the words clearly shows his or her fluency while accuracy reflects the speaker’s ability in using the word naturally

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claims that language learners need to recognize these three aspects in speaking

- Mechanics involves pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary which shows the ability of using of right words in the right order with the correct pronunciation

- Functions involves transaction and interaction which shows the ability of knowing when clarity of message is essential ( transaction/ information exchange) and when precise understanding is not required ( interaction/ relationship building)

- Social and cultural rules and norms involves turn-taking, rate of speech, length of pauses between speakers and relative roles of participants which shows the ability of understanding how to take into account who is speaking to whom, in what circumstances, about what, and for what reason

Finally, Burkat (1998) states that in the communicative model of teaching speaking, teachers need help their students raise their awareness of this knowledge by providing authentic practice that prepares students for real- life communication situations and help their students develop the ability to produce grammatically correct, logically connected sentences that are appropriate to specific contexts, and to do so using acceptable pronunciation 2.3.3 The roles of the teacher in different stages of teaching speaking

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the teacher is at the center of the stage Therefore, teacher’s time spending should be sensible so that students get enough time to practice themselves

At the practice stage, it is the students’ turn to do most of the talking while teacher’s main task is to devise and provide the maximum amount of practice, which must be the same time be both meaningful and memorable The teacher’s role is completely different from that in the presentation one The teacher is like the skilful conductor of an orchestra, giving each of the performers a chance to participate and monitoring their performance to see that it is satisfactory

At the final stage, the production one, the teacher takes on the role of manager and guide Students are given opportunities to use language freely Sometimes students can make mistakes at this stage, but mistakes are unimportant The more important is that students have chance to use language as they wish, to try to express their own ideas Furthermore, they become aware that they have learnt something useful for them, and are encouraged to learning However, students will probably seem to the teachers to lurch backwards and forwards rather than make steady progress It will not be so easy for the teacher to measure students’ performance as it was at practice stage So, what is needed is flexibility, tolerance, patience on teacher’s part- and, above all, all understanding of students’ difficulties

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own personality, which in language teaching, must be flexible enough to allow the teacher to be both authoritative and friendly at the same time

2.3.4 Motivation in speaking in classroom 2.3.4.1 Motivation in the classroom setting

Lightbown and Spada (1999) stated that if the teacher could make classrooms places where students enjoy coming because the content is interesting and relevant to their age and level of ability, where the learning goals was challenging yet manageable and clear, and where the atmosphere was supportive and non-threatening, teachers could make a_ positive contribution to students’ motivation to learn These researchers replicated findings from studies by Graham Crookes and Richard Schmit (1991) and pointed out some pedagogical practices for teachers to motivate students in classroom setting:

e Motivating students into the lesson: At the opening stages of lessons, remark teachers make about forthcoming activities can lead to higher levels of interest on the part of the students

e Redesigning the activities, tasks, and materials: Lessons usually consist of the same forms, pattern often lead to the boredom Redesigning the activities, tasks, and materials can increase the students’ interest and attract them to pay attention to the lessons

e Using co-operative rather than competitive goals: Co-operative learning activities are those in which students must work together in order to complete a task or solve problem These techniques will increase the self-confidence of students

2.3.4.2 Some conditions for effective motivation in speaking

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e Supportive environment: including orderly classroom, teacher is skilled in classroom management, students are non-anxious and feel comfortable taking risks, feedback is positive

e Appropriate level of difficulty: tasks are neither too easy nor too difficult, students know what they have to do criteria for success are clear

e Meaningful learning: students know what and why they learn; activities are meaningful The relationship between activities and objectives is clear, tasks are sequenced so that new tasks build on and extend ones that come before.; students are given a reason to be in class

e Strategies: motivational strategy is matched to instructional need, particular strategies are not overused, teacher use a range of strategies; there is a learning —how-to-learn dimension to instruction

e Content: students can relate content to own experience, topics are interesting

(Nunan, D 1999) 2.4 Summary

In summary, the chapter has reviewed different view points on motivation in general and particularly focused on foreign language learning motivation Besides, some different aspects related to speaking were also discussed, especially some aspects related to factors affecting students’ speaking motivation

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction

On the basis of the theories presented in the Theoretical Background, the investigation into the current situation of learning and teaching speaking skill at Nghe An college of Culture and Arts was carried out The survey was conducted on the students and teachers of Nghe An college of Culture and Arts to find out the factors affecting motivation in learning speaking English of students Therefore, it required choosing descriptive statistics as the main research method and questionnaires for both teachers and students as the main instruments to collect data In addition, students’ interviews and class observations were used as supporting methods to supply extra information 3.2 Situation analysis

3.2.1 The setting of the study

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most students are not familiar with teaching in English They say they do not understand if all English lessons are taught in English They also feel quite uncomfortable and stressed when using English to express themselves The last is the lack of materials Materials for reference and self-study are not available There is a library at school but there are not many books for English learning English newspapers and magazine, which are good sources of current target language, are not available There are no language labs and library Internet for students, too

3.2.2 Subjects

The study was carried out to investigate factors affecting motivation in speaking English of students Thus, the subjects of the study are 125 students of three classes These students are the second year non-major English students Four teachers of English at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts are also invited into the investigation

e Students

Students at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts, both male and female, had similar backgrounds, that is, all of them finished high school with at least three years of learning English

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used by teacher and good students, the others are lazy or reluctant to talk because they have no effort and aim to learn Some are afraid of talking as they fear to make mistakes and lose face, and sometimes they fear to get bad marks and be paid bad attention from teachers By the large, students have few chances to practice English and speak it out As a result, English is very bad, especially their English speaking

e Teachers

Nghe An College of Culture and Arts now has four teachers of English aged from 27 to 38 All of them have been teaching at school for at least two years One teacher has finished M.A degree and the two others are learning for it and one hold a B.A degree in English language teaching They are helpful, friendly, and dedicated teachers Most of them want to devote their whole lives for teaching They all have great desire to acquire knowledge of how to teach English as well as how to widen their English background Also they are always willing to help their students tackle with difficulties in learning

2.2.3 Speaking material

The main material for students in the first two years of learning is Life Lines — Elementary — student’s book (2010) Tom Hutchinson Oxford University Press

The content of the main material is arranged according to themes Each unit mentions one theme relating to everyday life, which is useful and practical However, it makes both students and teachers face with deal of challenges such as inappropriate facilities for teaching and learning, students’ low proficiency, teacher’s passive , which require both teachers and students to

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3.3 Participants

The participants for the survey questionnaires were 125 students and four teachers of English These students have learnt English at least three years in high school When participating in the study they were in the second term of the school year In researcher’s observation, their English proficiency and level of motivation was quite equal Four teachers of the school were selected to get the objective data They have at least five years of teaching The results from these teachers will give objective view on students’ motivation in speaking

All participants took part in the survey by responding to the three kinds of questionnaires, two for students and one for teachers

3.4 Data collection

The data collected for the study comes from two sources: the second year students and all the teachers of English at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts

The quantitative method with survey questionnaires, two for students (pre- and post-questionnaire) and one for the teachers, were used to gather information and evidence for the study In addition, to make the data collected more reliable and authentic, the qualitative method was applied with class observation All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the study were based on the data analysis of the study

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standardization of questions (but true of structured interview); can provide suggestive data for testing an hypothesis

The questions for students and teachers were designed in both close and open-ended forms Among them, some questions have more than one answer which can be accepted so that respondents can have more freedom to express their own ideas The questions for students were written in Vietnamese to assure that respondents did not have any language problems in understanding the questionnaire items The questions for teachers were prepared in both Vietnamese and English

The detailed questionnaires which were used in the survey for teachers and students are shown in the Appendix part

3.4.1 Questionnaires for students e Pre-treatment questionnaire

The pre-questions were designed with two main parts:

Part 1 was designed to elicit students’ opinions about their motivation in learning speaking English Part 2 would collect some information relating to factors affecting students’ motivation in learning English

e Post- treatment questionnaire

Post-treatment questionnaire encompassed 12 questions which were divided into two parts Part 1 included 7 questions which would gather information about students’ motivation changed after applying some new teaching techniques in speaking English Part 2 aimed at collecting information about teacher’s applying activities in teaching speaking English and students’ preference

3.4.2 Questionnaire for teachers

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The first part is designed with 5 questions about things need to be done to motivate students

The second part is to get teacher’s comment on the textbook 3.4.3 Interviews

Despite the above mentioned advantages, questionnaire method also has some unavoidable disadvantages Its reliability and data quality may be low Sometimes, it is impossible to check seriousness or honesty of the answers This is especially true of studies of motivation, which is an abstract, attitudinal concept Therefore, it is advisable to incorporate more than one method in a study That is the reason why the follow-up interviews were also adopted in this study This was semi-structured interview, which aimed to provide an insight into the responses made in the questionnaires

In other words, this interview was intended to gather in-depth information and make the data obtained from the questionnaires more reliable and convincing The participants were invited to answer the questions

In other words, this interview was intended to gather in-depth information and make the data obtained from the questionnaires more reliable and convincing The participants were invited to answer the questions with the researcher explaining the questions and clarifying unclear answers

All the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese, noted-down, and lasted around one hour The data collected from the interview were used for the purpose of analysis

3.4.4 Class observation

To support and to check the reliability of the data collected with the survey questionnaires, the class observations were chosen in the study

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This instrument was very important for teachers to realize their students’ fluctuations in motivation Then there could be prompt action

3.4.5 Data collection procedure

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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This part of the thesis presents the findings that arise from the specific questions in order to answer the research questions

The findings resulted from the analysis of the three sources of collected data: questionnaires (for both teachers and students), interviews and classroom observations The results were tabulated and converted to percentages for the convenience of analysis

Along with interviews, information gained via the class observations helped to assist interpretation

4.1 Results from students’ pre-task questionnaire

4.1.1 Students’ motivation and opinions on learning speaking English Question 1: Why do you want to learn English speaking?

Reasons Students | Percentage

To get goods mark in the exam 60/125 | 48% I want to live and study abroad 15/125 12%

To communicate to foreigners 28/125 | 22%

To get a job in the future 110/125 | 88%

To sing and listen to English songs 45/125 | 36% To study the people, culture of English speaking | 28/125 | 22% countries

English is a compulsory subject in the syllabus 90/125 72%

Table 1: Types of motivation

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from this college English is necessary when they apply for a job especially for tourism students A compulsory subject in the syllabus was also the thing that most students (72%) concerned About 22% of the respondents answered that they were interested in English especially English people and culture As students in musical faculty and tourism they were much interested in music, 36% of the students want to listen and sing English songs The table also reveals that students were much concerned about marks, 48% of them want to get high marks in English Whereas the others (22%) wanted to learn English because they would like to communicate with foreigners Clearly, most of the students knew the role of English in the modern life when foreign language was considered the main means of communication The lowest percentage of the students affirmed they wanted to live and study abroad in the future though so far they had not known whether they could achieve their wishes or not; and that was the reason they tried to learn English