An investigation into factors that hinder the participation of Univeristy students in English speaking lessons = khảo sát các yếu tố hạn chế sự tham gia của sin.PDF

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ MAI AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS THAT HINDER THE PARTICIPATION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ MAI

AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS THAT HINDER THE PARTICIPATION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN

ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS

(KHẢO SÁT CÁC YẾU TỐ HẠN CHẾ SỰ THAM GIA CỦA SINH VIÊN TRONG GIỜ HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC)

MINOR M.A THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 601410

HÀ NỘI, 2011

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ MAI

AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS THAT HINDER THE PARTICIPATION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN

ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS

(KHẢO SÁT CÁC YẾU TỐ HẠN CHẾ SỰ THAM GIA CỦA SINH VIÊN TRONG GIỜ HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC)

MINOR M.A THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410

SUPERVISOR: LÊ THẾ NGHIỆP, M.A

HÀ NỘI, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF TABLES iv

LIST OF FIGURES iv

TABLE OF CONTENT v

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Objectives of the study 1

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Methods of the Study 2

6 Design of the study 2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Theoretical background of speaking 4

1.1.1 Definition of speaking 4

1.1.2 The importance of speaking skill 4

1.1.3 Nature of speaking 4

1.1.4 Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity 5

1.1.5 Learners’ participation 6

1.2 Factors hinder students’ participation in speaking activities 7

1.2.1 Students’ factors 7

1.2.1.1 Students’ learning styles 7

1.2.1.2 Students’ attitude and motivation 8

1.2.1.3 Students’ second language level 9

1.2.1.4 Personality 9

1.2.1.5 Students’ anxiety 10

1.2.1.6 Gender differences 11

1.2.2 Teachers’ factors 12

1.2.2.1 Teachers’ teaching methods 12

1.2.2.2 Teachers’ knowledge 13

1.2.2.3 Teachers’ characteristics 14

1.2.2.4 Teachers’ roles in speaking activities 15

1.2.3 Teaching and learning conditions 17

1.2.3.1 Physical conditions 17

1.2.3.2 Classroom climate 18

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 19

2.1 An overview of the current situation of learning and teaching speaking at English department, Ba Ria – Vung Tau University 19

2.1.1 Introduction of English section, Ba Ria – Vung Tau University 19

2.1.2 The Syllabus and Materials for Speaking 19

2.2 Methodology 20

2.2.1 The subjects 20

2.2.2 Data collection instruments 21

2.2.3 Data collection procedures 22

2.3 Results and Analysis of Data 22

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36

3.1 Major findings and discussion 36

3.2 Recommendations for increasing students’ participation in speaking activities 38

3.2.4 Building a cooperative atmosphere in class 39

3.2.5 Helping students to be confident 40

3.2.6 Being enthusiastic, friendly, helpful and tolerant 40

3.2.7 Creating interesting and appropriate topics 40

3.2.8 Forming a habit of speaking English in the class 41

PART C: CONCLUSION 42

1 Conclusion 42

2 Limitations and suggestions for further research 43

REFERENCES I APPENDIXES III

AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS THAT HINDER THE

PARTICIPATION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SPEAKING LESSONS

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

No one can deny the importance of English in life English has become the vital device for communication in all fields The final goal of study English is to master this language in communicating The Communicative Approach teaching requires developing language learners‟ four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing However, speaking is seen as the center skill and the most demanding of the four skills (Bailey and Savage (1994:7))

There is a fact that many Vietnamese students can write and read English well but they cannot speak fluently and correctly Most of the students find speaking difficult, even uninteresting After several years of teaching English, we have found that the university students are quite passive in speaking English They do not actively participate in speaking activities Certainly, students‟ participation can be affected by a variety of factors coming from teachers‟ side, students‟ side and others including classroom environment, types and contents of activities, etc Unfortunately, this is not only the situation in my university but also the case for many other universities in Vietnam

This has given me the desire to conduct a research to identify the factors that hinder students‟ participation as well as to find out the techniques and activities to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University

2 Objectives of the study

The study is carried out to find out the factors hindering the university students‟ participation

in speaking lessons, and why these factors have negative effect on university students‟ participation in classroom speaking activities Based on the findings, the researcher will analyze activities and techniques often used by the teacher to increase students‟ participation Furthermore, the researcher will give some suggestions for teachers to stimulate students in speaking English and overcome the difficulties they have to face with in teaching speaking English for university students

3 Research questions

The study will answer the following questions:

1 What are the factors affecting university students‟ participation in speaking lessons?

2 What should teachers do to increase students‟ participation in class speaking activities?

4 Scope of the study

First, the subjects of this study are second - major students of English at Ba Ria - Vung Tau University Second, the study only covers the speaking skill Third, the study focuses on finding out the factors including teachers‟ factors, students‟ factors and learning – teaching conditions hindering students‟ participation in classroom activities

5 Methods of the Study

In the study, both qualitative and quantitative methods are used The data will be collected by means of questionnaire, interview and classroom observations After the data is collected, analyzed and discussed, some conclusions will be drawn and some suggestions will be made in the thesis

6 Design of the study

The research consists of the following parts:

Part A: Introduction

This part deals with the rationale, objectives, significance, research questions, methods, scope and the design of the study

Part B: Development

This part includes 3 chapters

 Chapter 1: Literature Review

The first chapter provides a theoretical background of speaking including definition of speaking, the importance of speaking, nature of speaking, characteristics of a successful speaking activity and learners‟ participation In addition, this chapter also provides factors affecting students‟ participation

in classroom speaking activities including teacher‟s factors such as teaching techniques, teachers‟ knowledge, teachers‟ characteristics, and teachers‟ roles in speaking activities, students‟ factors such

as personality, learning style, attitude and motivation, different genders of students and students‟ anxiety, and learning and teaching conditions such as physical conditions and classroom climate This

is viewed as the theoretical framework for the investigation in the next chapter

 Chapter 2: The study

This chapter will present methodology adopted to collect data for the research, which consists of descriptions of setting, research questions, data collection, data procedures, data analysis and participants involved in the study

 Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion

The data of this chapter will be collected form questionnaire, interview and observation, which reveals (1) how these factors hinder students‟ participation, (2) techniques used for speaking lessons, (3) some suggested solutions

Part C: Conclusion

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Theoretical background of speaking

1.1.1 Definition of speaking

Speaking is a skill which language teachers, quite rightly, believe is particularly important By speaking, individuals can express needs, opinions and feelings, understand and ask questions

According to Donough and Shaw (1993), speaking is a skill which enables people to produce utterances when communicating to achieve a particular end This may involve expressing ideas, wishes or opinions, negotiating or solving problems, or establishing or maintaining social relationships

Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non – verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts” (Chaney, 1998:13)

Thus, speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving, and processing information Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment and the purpose of speaking

1.1.2 The importance of speaking skill

It is difficult to say which skill is the most important among four language skills However, speaking seems the most important and the closest to the goal of language teaching: communicative competence Pattison (1992) confirms that when people know or learn a language, they mean being able to speak the language Besides that, Ur (1996:120) states, “of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking seems intuitively the most important.”

1.1.3 Nature of speaking

The nature of speaking has been discussed by many researchers Byrne (1976:8) clarifies,

“speaking is a two-way process between speakers and listeners involving the productive skills of understanding” Byrne (1995: 10) gives a diagram to show what happens in a speech situation

Another author- Bygate (1987) shows that in order to be able to speak a foreign language, learners not only need to understand some grammar, vocabulary but also know how to use knowledge

as well as language on deciding what to say and how to say

One more thing concerning the ability to speak is that of fluency and accuracy

1.1.4 Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity

According to Ur (1996: 120), there are four characteristics for a successful speaking activity First, students talk a lot Secondly, participation is even Thirdly, motivation is high Finally, language is of an acceptable level

1.1.5 Learners’ participation

1.2 Factors hinder students’ participation in speaking activities

1.2.1 Students’ factors

1.2.1.1 Students’ learning styles

1.2.1.2 Students’ attitude and motivation

1.2.1.3 Students’ second language level

1.2.1.4 Personality

1.2.1.5 Students’ anxiety

1.2.2 Teachers’ factors

1.2.2.1 Teachers’ teaching methods

1.2.2.2 Teachers’ knowledge

1.2.2.3 Teachers’ characteristics

1.2.2.4 Teachers’ roles in speaking activities

1.2.3 Teaching and learning conditions

1.2.3.1 Physical conditions

Physical conditions in the classroom such as the classroom size, chairs, tables, lights and boards affect students‟ participation either positively or negatively

Hammer (1992) emphasized that physical conditions had great impact on students‟ learning as well as their attitude towards the subject matter Physical condition affects students‟ motivation The large class, the poor facilities will decrease the relationship between teacher and students, and their motivation Thus, arranging the physical conditions in classroom is a need if we want to increase students‟ participation in classroom activities

1.2.3.2 Classroom climate

Classroom climate is referred to as the learning environment, or by a term such as atmosphere The impact of classroom climate on students and staff can be beneficial for or a barrier to learning Classroom climate is a perceived quality of the setting It emerges from the complex transaction of many immediate environmental factors (e.g, physical, material, organizational, operational, and social variables), as a major determiner of classroom behavior and learning

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

2.1 An overview of the current situation of learning and teaching speaking at English department, Ba Ria – Vung Tau University

2.1.1 Introduction of English section, Ba Ria – Vung Tau University

2.1.2 The Syllabus and Materials for Speaking

At Ba Ria – Vung Tau University, English majors have to study four skills in seven semesters Each semester contains 15 weeks, the students have 3 speaking periods peer week and each period lasts for forty-five minutes Speaking syllabus is designed to help students develop English-speaking skill both accuracy and fluency By the end of the course, the students must be able to communicative effectively in job-related situations as well as daily life, establish, and maintain relationships with members of the target community They will be able to present their ideas about personal and social issues in English The main topics include getting acquainted, communication, education, healthy, money and technology

In term of methodology, teachers usually use the communicative method of teaching Students often play the key role in the lesson, being the main speakers Teacher only acts as an advisor during communication activities

The testing-assessment includes assessment on two mid-term tests during the course of study, a final oral test, assessment on attendance and class participation It can be specified as follows: class attendance and participation (10%), mid-terms test (30%) and final examination (60%) The final test

is often designed with two parts and lasts about 10 – 12 minutes In part 1, students are given a topic

or issue and prepared it for 5-7 minutes The second part is the presentation or discussion on the topic The chosen textbooks are Let Talk 3 by Leo Jones & Mosaic 1 - speaking by Brenda Wegmann

& Miki Knezevic The books are laid out with plenty of authentic models of spoken language, and communicative activities to help students practice using the language in the classroom Most importantly, there are many pairwork and groupwork activities in the books However, the activities are not well-structured enough and some topics are uninteresting, which cause problems during class activities such as not even participation, students are inhibited to speak, students have nothing to say

or they use mother tongue, act

2.2 Methodology

2.2.1 The subjects

The subjects of this study were students and teachers at Ba Ria-Vung Tau University There were 50 students who took part in this study They were second-year-English majors, studying for their Bachelor of Arts Degrees

There were 9 teachers involved in this study

2.2.2 Data collection instruments

2.2.2.2 Questionnaire for teachers

2.2.2.3 Class observation

The researcher observed 10 speaking periods

2.2.2.4 Interview

The researcher interviewed 5 teachers and 10 students to get their ideas about the research issues beyond the questionnaires

2.2.3 Data collection procedures

The questionnaires were handed out to 9 English teachers and 50 learners at Ba Ria-Vung Tau University to collect information The researcher observed ten speaking lessons lasting 135 minutes

2.3 Results

2.3.1 Teachers and students’ perception on learning speaking English

2.3.1.1 The importance of speaking skill in English classes

The questionnaire‟s results showed that most students and teachers admitted the importance of speaking skill Surprisingly enough, 94% of the students and 100% of the teachers gave speaking skill much importance in learning English.

2.3.1.2 Students’ interest in speaking English in class

Most students did not like to speak English in class 40% of the students answered that they had no interest in speaking English, 30% of the students had little interest in speaking English In contrast, only 10% enjoyed speaking in class In general, students‟ interest at Ba Ria-Vung Tau

University in speaking English was low

2.3.1.3 The frequency of students’ speaking English in class

14%, 20%, 36% and 30% of the students always, usually, sometimes and rarely respectively spoke English in class

2.3.1.4 Students’ evaluation on the topics of speaking activities in class

Half of the respondents stated that topics of speaking in class were boring 30% of the students thought that the speaking topics in class were difficult for them Only 10% claimed that the topics

were interesting

2.3.2 Factors that hinder students’ participation in speaking activities

2.3.2.1 Students’ confidence when speaking English

20 % of them felt unconfident and twenty students (50%) felt a little nervous when they have

to speak English in front of the class

2.3.2.2 Factors hinder students’ participation in speaking activities