The effects of mother tongue on english majored students of department of foreign languages at ha tinh university in learning speaking skill

ABSTRACT The topic of this study is “The effects of mother tongue on English majored students of Department of Foreign Languages at Ha Tinh University in learning speaking skill” The aim is to know how the mother tongue affects to Vietnamese students in general and HaTinh students in particular and propose solutions to help the students to overcome difficulties relate to mother tongue issue as well as take full advantage of benefits of mother tongue when learning speaking skill Mother tongue largely refers to not only the language one learns from one’s mother but also the speaker’s dominant and home language It’s also called native language This study was conducted to find whether mother tongue interferences in second-language learning, and if so; whether it affects the learners’ performance in speaking skill Data collection tool included a questionnaire by which participants were asked to rate the questions and tick-circle or write in the correct blank The questionnaire was based on quantitative approaches with the help of 4-point Likert-scale questions and one open-ended question at the last part The participants of the study were 50 students of Department of Foreign Languages at Ha Tinh University.They are first-year students Their mother tongue was Vietnamese, and they knew English as a foreign language.The questionnaire shows that mother tongue interferes with second language learning in some way In English language, the most challenging part were pronunciation and grammar, while the most difficult and influenced skills was speaking The results indicated the interference of mother tongue in almost all aspects 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to send sincere thanks for teachers of Vietnam University of commerce especially in the teachers of English faculty during all the time was school Thank for creating convenient and efficient learning environment for all students Especially, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my advisory teacher Bich Hong Nguyen, for her passionate enthusiasm and insightful guidance that she was given me in the process of doing my thesis She is always willing to answer every question of mine and help me to find the most effective ways to complete my tasks successfully Secondly, I am deeply grateful to teachers and students in Department of Foreign Languages at Ha Tinh University for cooperating and helping me at all time, creating good conditions for me to complete my study Although only my name is written on this researching paper, I know I myself would be impossible to make it without help of contributors During the process of doing my thesis, although i was careful, mistake is unavoidable thing, i hope that teachers can sympathize with us In addition, because of the limitation of theoretical level and practical experience, I look forward to receiving recommendations from teachers so that i can improve my knowledge I sincerely thank you! Student Nguyen Thị Minh Anh 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS 4 CHAPTER : OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 RATIONALE Language is our primary source of communication It's the method through which we share our ideas and thoughts with others Some people even say that language is what separates us from animals and makes us human There are thousands of languages in this world Countries have their own national languages in addition to a variety of local languages spoken and understood by their people in different regions Some languages are spoken by millions of people, others by only a few thousand In the trend of global integration, English is one of the most important tools in communication and business of people English is also essential to the field of education In many countries, children are taught and encouraged to learn English as a second language Even in countries where it is not an official language The same as any country in the world, Vietnam is developing English as inevitable demand English learners nowadays can not count on the fingers of one hand and we can only count on the fingers people who not learn English There is a fact that about 1,500,000,000 people in the world speak English, while another 1,000,000,000 are still learning English.Therefore, English is considered as a crucial tool to approach to the world’s advantageous opportunities If people are able to communicate in English, they can connect themselves to the world More importantly, the purpose of using English in diplomacy, trade, science and technology and so on is also another obvious proof of its significant role Vietnam is not an exception; as a developing country, Vietnam currently has a urgent need for the international language English to attract foreign investment as well as promote the economy, especially we have joined many organizations such as APECT, WTO, ASIAN and many other international groups English, previously included in the curriculum from the first year of middle school, is now officially taught for children from six years old To this point, it is essential for 5 Vietnamese students to learn English because if they have a good understanding and communication skill in English, it is more likely that they might have many communication chances to find a high-quality job as well as communicate with people from different nations all over the world Although English has become an important demand for schooling and job opportunities, Vietnamese people cannot pronounce English property Like some others languages, Vietnamese has some aspects that keep native learners from pronouncing English like native speaker, one of them is mother tongue effect When it comes to learning English: speaking, listening, reading and writing are basic skills While the three other skills are prominent in obtaining a wholesome English competence, speaking skill is always regarded as one of the most important skills It goes without saying that, in terms of learning any language, the central purpose of every learner mainly is to communicate Thus, it is undeniable that speaking skill should be made priority for English learners because it seems that if they are productive communicators, there will be a high possibility for them to get settled and well-paid jobs However, to master this skill is still an issue for almost students in Vietnam It's no secret that Vietnamese students struggle with speaking English Like many other Asian countries, Vietnamese people begin their English education very early at school, yet they find themselves helpless when it comes to speaking English Words not come out Many Vietnamese students have the words, they either heard them or read them but they can't say them At HaTinh University, for instance, a large number of students encounter many difficulties with their speaking skills such as lack of motivation and environment, fear of speaking, fear of making mistakes, language transfer issues and so on In these difficulties mention above, mother tongue issue or language transfer is named as one of the main reasons that affects significantly to learning English process in general and to learning speaking English in particular There are some significant differences between Vietnamese and English, not only in language but also in many aspects such as culture and habit and so on, therefore it leads to some difficulties for student when learning speaking The students usually keep 6 quiet in speaking lessons; they mind speaking English There are many students who have good knowledge of grammar which works wonderfully at reading and writing exercises but they can not express themselves in English What is more, in real-life situations, students find it hard to communicate with English speaking people; it is hard for them to response spontaneously and naturally Certainly, there are many reasons for this If those difficulties are not found out and no solutions can be given, the speaking classes cannot be successful and students will be fed up with learning English if they find it worthless to study the subject It is easy to see the fact that students still have some mistakes related to mother tongue such as : wrong pronunciation , word order, word meaning, word expression and so on People sometime underestimate the importance of effects of mother tongue which makes mistakes prolong and difficult to correct Once a person speaks a language in a wrong way over a long period of time, he or she will always speak it wrong, it becomes a habit, a nasty habit, like smoking or drinking As a result of this, students seem to solve the problem related to mother tongue or language transfer All of the above reasons have inspired me to the research on “The effects of mother tongue on English majored students of Department of Foreign Languages at Ha Tinh University in learning speaking skill” with the hope to make a small contribution to the quality of teaching and learning speaking skills of Vietnamese Hopefully, this graduation paper might be useful for anyone who is interested in speaking skill 1.2 PREVIOUS STUDIES 1.2.1 International studies Mother tongue interference can be seen as a transfer that affects learning both negatively and positively There are some studies about this topic however the results still have some differences and have not united together Learners of English often expect to be able to speak that language like a native speaker However, they encounter many factors to gain their desire One of the common factors that they find difficult is the pronunciation of another sound system Learners find that their mother tongue influences their pronunciation of 7 English Avery and Ehrich argued that, "the native language affects both the ability to produce English sounds and the ability to hear sounds" (Avery and Ehrich, XV) According to Mede, Tutal, Ayaz, Çalışır and Akın (2014) there is high probability of cross-linguistic influence in second language acquisition and this influence may cause some errors, which are caused by negative transfer Manrique (2013) stated that mispronunciation and grammatical errors are the most common types of interference between the mother tongue and the target language Furthermore, according to Maros, Kim and Salehuddin (2007), omission and the use of wrong forms are the two most common types of errors in all categories; although not all the errors are due to mother tongue interference, a large number of errors identified in the use of determiners, subject verb agreement ‘’be’’ reflected the interference of mother tongue Additionally, Cartes (20050) explained the subject with an enhanced disclosure and listed some other errors like semantic, syntactic, morphological, spelling, vocabulary mistakes and also phonological errors Additionally, Ashari and Munir (2015) advocated that the interference occurred in sixteen terms of grammatical errors The grammatical interference involved word order, number, countability, personal pronouns, genitive and possessive pronouns, it and there, past time, to be, non– finite forms, modal auxiliary verbs, active and passive, negatives, complex sentences, range and choice of vocabulary, transfer, and confusions However, they claimed that the interference occurred because students did not receive input that facilitated them to speak It also occurred because of the lack of students’ knowledge in second language acquisition Nevertheless, there are dissenters who thought that mother tongue not always interferes but also help learners in second language learning For instance Bhela (1999) indicated that adopting L1 structures in L2 texts provide convenience to second language learners while understanding the whole text Moreover, according to Cole (1998), monolingual English language classes can benefit from appropriate use of L1 so L1 may be used from introductory to upper-intermediate levels on a decreasing scale but in lower levels, translating individuals words, explaining grammar use and 8 facilitating complex instructions, since it can save time and anguish especially for mature learners Finally, Kavaliauskiene (2009) expressed different results First, all the learners customarily rely on their mother tongue in learning English and also the students’ autonomously generated back-translation activities help raise learners’ awareness of differences between English and the mother tongue, and facilitate linguistic development 1.2.2 National studies In Vietnam, there are some studies about the topic “Mother tongue effects” and have had some remarkable results in finding out effects of Vietnamese on learning English or other languages However, most of them still inherit the results of international previous studies Vo Thi Kieu Oanh, a English teacher of Vo Nguyen Giap high school conducted a study about “ Positive effects of mother tongue and languages in teaching foreign languages” ( 2016) In this research, she study about the positive transfer and positive effects of mother tongue in learning second languages through examples about the similarities between Vietnamese and English, Vietnamese and French in terms of grammar, speech act, structure of sentence, passive voice in Vietnamese and English, etc A English teacher of Hung Vuong University, Nguyen Thi To Loan also studied about “native language interference in the writing of english major fir st – year students of foreign language department, Hung Vuong University” This study aimed to analyse and describe features of L1 interference in the writing by 46 first-year English-major students who enrolled in the Writing course in semester at Foreign Language Department – Hung Vuong University Three levels of L1 interference, namely lexis, syntax and discourse, were analyzed from samples of the students’ writing in three types: writing a friendly letter, narrative and describing people and discussed by considering two approaches: contrastive analysis, and error analysis It was found that literal translation of Vietnamese words into English mainly represented features of L1 lexical interference in the students’ written English Moreover, structural borrowing from Vietnamese 9 language such as word order, subject-verb agreement, and coherence indicated features of L1 syntactic interference In addition, levels of language style and Vietnamese cultural knowledge in written discourse presented features of L1 discourse interference Moreover, the level of interference differs in each specific type of writing Six main causes were also pointed out by teachers and students They were lacking of vocabulary, translating from Vietnamese into English habit of students, differences between Vietnamese and English, using Vietnamese to teach English of teachers, lacking opportunity to speak English Ph.D Nguyen Huy Ky ( 2015) of Hanoi University conducted a study “The influence of Vietnamese on English acquisition and use by the Hanoians” which pointed out the common problems of Hanoians in learning English because of Vietnamese effects and some particular problems that Hanoians have to cope with Ha Tam Cam ( 2005) wrote “Common pronunciation problems of Vietnamese learners of English” This study was the foundation and reference for many linguistics when study about pronunciation problems 1.3 AIMS OF THE STUDY Learning a new language when the mother tongue system has been completed is not an easy task Learners of English often expect to be able to speak that language like a native speaker However, they encounter many factors to gain their desire One of the common factors that they find difficult is the pronunciation of another sound system Learners find that their mother tongue influences their pronunciation of English Nowadays, there are lots of articles about mother tongue interference and each of them reveals different aspects of the subject Therefore, this study was done to clarify the issue The present study aimed at finding the answers of the following questions: What are negative and positive effects of mother tongue on learning speaking skill? 10 10 ... focused on mother tongue effects only 17 17 2.2 GENERAL THEORIES OF MOTHER TONGUE EFFECTS ON LEARNING SPEAKING SECOND LANGUAGE 2.2.1 Definition of mother tongue There are several definitions of the. .. to gain their desire One of the common factors that they find difficult is the pronunciation of another sound system Learners find that their mother tongue influences their pronunciation of English. .. students of Department of Foreign Languages at Ha Tinh University in learning speaking English ? How can students overcome difficulties and make use of advantages of mother tongue in learning speaking