A survey on internal and external factors influencing students’ English fluency development at grade 11 in an upper secondary school in Vinh Phuc province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES - -KHỔNG THỊ THẢO A SURVEY ON INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH FLUENCY DEVELOPMENT AT GRADE 11 IN AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE Một nghiên cứu khảo sát yếu tố nội ngoại ảnh hưởng đến phát triển độ trôi chảy tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường THPT Vĩnh Phúc M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Hanoi, 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES - -KHỔNG THỊ THẢO A SURVEY ON INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH FLUENCY DEVELOPMENT AT GRADE 11 IN AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE Một nghiên cứu khảo sát yếu tố nội ngoại ảnh hưởng đến phát triển độ trôi chảy tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 11 trường THPT Vĩnh Phúc M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Prof Hoang Van Van Hanoi, 2019 DECLARATION I hereby state that I, Khong Thi Thao, being a candidate for the Degree of Master of Arts (TEFL) accepted the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of M.A Thesis deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis Hanoi, January 2019 Signature Khong Thi Thao i ACKNOWLEGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Prof Hoang Van Van, for his invaluable instructions, helpful suggestions, critical comments, various sources of reference and precious corrections on my writing I also want to would like to express my sincere thanks to lecturers of Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at University of Languages and International studies of Vietnam Nation University, Hanoi for their wonderful and meaningful lectures and suggestions which played an important role in my completion of this thesis I am very grateful to all teachers and students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School who have enthusiastically participated in my research Finally, I wish to thank all my beloved family and all my close friends who always encouraged and supported me in the process of doing this thesis ii ABSTRACT This research aims to investigate the internal and external factors that affect students’ fluency development for grade 11th at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School – Vinh Phuc province and suggest some solutions to the problems The data of the research was collected from both students’ and teachers’ questionnaires and classroom observation before and after treatment The findings revealed that both teachers and students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School are facing many problems in improving fluency for students, specifically speaking skill Through this research, many factors have been listed such as learning styles, students’ habit of using mother tongue, students’ low motivation and low English level accounting for poor vocabulary, structure, and poor pronunciation Some factors from teachers are teaching large and mixed level classes, references, resources and time pressure From the findings, suggestions are given with hope that they may be a reliable and useful source of reference for not only teachers but also students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School to develop students’ fluency in a cooperative learning environment iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii PART A: INTRODUCTION PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theoretical background of speaking 1.1.1 Speaking 1.1.2 Theories of speaking 1.1.3 Concepts of speaking fluency 1.1.4 Concepts of fluency development .5 1.2 CLT in teaching speaking 1.2.1 Concept of CLT 1.2.2 Characteristics of CLT 1.3 Internal and external factors influencing students’ fluency development 1.3.1 Internal factors 1.3.2 External factors .11 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14 2.1 Research context 14 2.1.1 Description for facilities at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School .14 2.1.2 Description of the teachers at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School 14 2.1.3 Description of the students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School 15 2.1.4 Description of the English textbook 15 2.2 The study 16 iv 2.2.1 Kind of the research 16 2.2.2 Participants 17 2.2.3 Data collection instruments .18 2.3.4 Data collection procedures 18 2.3.5 Data analysis 19 2.3.6 Data analysis procedure 19 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS 20 3.1 Results of the survey questionnaires 20 3.1.1 Questionnaires for teachers .20 3.1.2 Questionnaire for students .28 3.2 Results from classroom observations 34 CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 36 4.1 Major findings and discussions 36 4.1.1 Students’ level of fluency development 36 4.1.2 Factors influencing students’ fluency development 36 4.2 Recommendations 39 4.2.1 For teachers .39 4.2.2 For students .40 4.2.3 Finding motivation for improving fluency and taking risks 40 PART C: CONCLUSION 41 REFERENCES .43 APPENDICES I v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Teachers’ experience 17 Table 2: Students’ gender 17 Table 3: Teachers’ attitudes toward speaking skill and teaching this skill .20 Table 4: Teachers’ opinion on students’ participation and interest in speaking lesson 21 Table 5: Factors influencing students’ English fluency development 21 Table 6: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking skill .22 Table 7: Teachers’ teaching English method 23 Table 8: Teachers’ using equipment in teaching speaking skill .24 Table 9: Solution for students’ low motivation in speaking activities 24 Table 10: Teachers’ improvement for students’ low level of spoken English 25 Table 11: Teachers’ current teaching techniques and activities .26 Table 12: Teachers’ solutions to improve students’ English fluency development .27 Table 13: Students’ attitudes toward speaking skill 28 Table 14: Students’ willing ness in developing English fluency 29 Table 15: Students’ evaluation in speaking activities .30 Table 16: Students’ opinion to encourage participation in speaking lesson .31 Table 17: Internal factors influencing students’ fluency development .32 Table 18: Internal factors influencing students’ fluency development .33 Table 19: The level of students’ fluency development before and after having native teacher teaching 35 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study With the development of English all over the world, to keep up with the speed of modernization of society we need to learn from other countries as well as other cultures, so the requirement is that people must use one language to exchange their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and so on through languages The most popular language we use nowadays is English; however, to use English skillfully learners must master at four skills including speaking, reading, writing and listening skills They often find lots of difficulties in using English fluently and effectively, as well as, taking the time and making the effort to master speaking skills Similar to other learners, students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School are quite good at grammar, reading and writing skills, but their exposure to English speaking is very limited They meet many difficulties to communicate in English, sometimes they feel scared when they have speaking tests Several students are so worried that they even burst into tears or can not say anything or express their ideas Therefore, in the hope of helping students improve English speaking skill, we need to find out the reasons why students face with these problems That is why I have chosen the topic entitled A survey on internal and external factors influencing students’ English fluency development at grade 11 in an upper secondary school in Vinh Phuc province Aims of the study This study is to analyze some factors influencing students’ English speaking development at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School in Vinh Phuc province Besides, it also tries to offer some solutions to improving students’ speaking ability The specific objectives of the study include: Investigating the importance of speaking skills in learning foreign language especially in a high school Finding out internal and external factors affecting to the students’ fluency development * Time pressure Another external factor that influences students’ fluency development is the constraint of time due to teachers only having periods a week to work with students and each period is only 45 minutes long However, students must finish lots of tasks, homework and revise for the written tests Therefore, students said that they were under pressure of time for studying not for improving speaking skills 4.2 Recommendations 4.2.1 For teachers To deal with the problems, the research recommends some suggestions for the teachers to help students improve their fluency Designing more interesting topics and tasks to encourage students’ participation Teachers should try their best to enhance their teaching methods by providing interesting topics as well as using topics and activities in the textbook and other references to make students engage in speaking lessons Besides, teachers can adapt the topics to familiarize students with these topics relate them to their interests Teachers can apply various activities such as discussion, role play, storytelling, interview, picture description or games, etc Building a habit using English for every lessons in the class In order to encourage students’ fluency development, teachers should help students form a habit of using English by setting a good example for students so that students will be accustomed to using English during the lessons In addition, teachers should let students have more opportunities to express their ideas and to become familiar with native speakers’ voice Creating cooperative atmosphere Teachers should create a friendly, supportive and comfortable atmosphere to motivate students to be more confident and safe to express their ideas in English They should avoid criticizing when students make mistakes and/or giving negative evaluations Teachers should encourage students to work cooperatively with their partners or groups instead of making tension for students And, they should try their best to attract students’ interest by giving nice comments, offering small gifts, organizing clubs for students to join in, etc 39 4.2.2 For students Finding out effective ways to learn English Students should try their best to find out the best suitable way to improve their fluency development They should learn English actively by using many technologies available around them such as watching English films without using subtitle They should also learn English positively through communicating with their friends or native speakers as long as they have chance Therefore, they need to train themselves to be harder – working in learning English In addition, they should try to build up their vocabulary resources, improve pronunciation, have a thorough grasp of structures and use them in speaking by taking part in English clubs, exchanging with their friends Cooperating with teachers and friends In order to develop fluency, students should work well with the teacher as well as getting on with their friends by participating in pair work and group work, answering questions Furthermore, they should make use of the teachers’ aid when meeting difficult words, pronunciation problems Preparation for lessons should be careful and effective 4.2.3 Finding motivation for improving fluency and taking risks In addition to cooperation with teachers and friends, students should think for themselves and find their real motivation for studying English because motivation plays an important role in improving students’ speaking Moreover, embarrassed students should try their best to get over their fear of making mistakes or being laughed at by other friends They should consider making mistakes to be acceptable and inevitable in the English learning process Summary Chapter has presented some major findings, discussions of findings and suggested some recommendations to improve students’ fluency development for 11th grade students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School The researcher hopes that the implications will be beneficial to all language teachers and learners 40 PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusion This study aims at investigating the internal and external factors influencing students’ fluency development The author has provided some main characteristics of current situation of learning and teaching English speaking skills for students of grade 11 at her school, and has set the aim, the objectives and raised questions for exploration In response, the author has employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, using questionnaire and observation as the main research instruments From the results of the survey questionnaires and observation, it can be seen that both teachers and students have faced a lot of difficulties to improve this skill for students The findings are divided into parts as finding out factors and suggesting solutions to deal with them In fact, the new teaching approach – CLT – has been put into the new textbook; however, students’ communicative competence is still at low level It is really essential to find out and solve these problems so that students’ fluency will be developed and improved This work will demand much effort and passion as well as financial investment Everyone should work close together to change this situation After doing this research, the researcher wants to find out the internal and external factors affecting to students’ English speaking development and give out some suggestions to improve students’ speaking so that they can communicate successfully in English After conducting research, it is now possible to reach the answers to these three research questions (1) In terms of internal factors, the reasons why 11 graders at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School not speak English well are motivation, anxiety, habit using Vietnamese (mother-tongue), and poor speaking ability Besides, there are external factors that seem to impede the students’ English speaking ability such as poor speaking environment and infrequent practice out of the class To be more specific, most of the students spoke very little English, and some of them not speak the language at all; (2) they find 41 it difficult to think of anything to say; (3) they used Vietnamese instead of English when they discuss in groups or in pairs if the teacher did not monitor the activities carefully; (4) their participation in discussions or conversations is very modest and uneven: some speak much, some others not much, and quite a few others not speak at all; (5) they not have motivation to express themselves and give out their opinion; (6) they are fearful of criticism or ridicule from their classmate; (7) they have a habit of translating the information from Vietnamese into English before they speak; (8) they look at their textbook when they speak Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies Although the researcher has made an effort in finding out the internal and external factor influencing students’ fluency development at her school, the study reveals some limitations Firstly, due to the small group of teachers and students involved in the study, the researcher cannot cover all students at the school and the other schools Secondly, this study only suggests some activities for students which could help them improve their fluency development As a result, an action or experimental research on the effectiveness of suggested activities mentioned in this research’s call for further studies 42 REFERENCES Aftat, Mokhtar (2008) Motivation and Genuine learning http://www.englishteacher1.com/motivation.html Brand, C., Götz, S (2011) Fluency versus accuracy in advanced spoken learner language: A multi-method approach International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 16, 255-275 doi:10.1075/ijcl.16.2.05bra British Broadcasting Corporation, (2003) Better Speaking a Guide to improving your Spoken English Learning London Bouma, G D and Atkinson, G B J (1995) A handbook of Science Social Research 2nd.ed London: Oxford University Press Brown, H D (1994) Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents Brown, S and Nation, I.S.P (1997) Teaching speaking: suggestions for the classroom The Language Teacher 21,1: 11 – 15,18 Brown, H D (2007) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (5th ed.) San Francisco: Pearson Longman Bruns, A., & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on Speaking Sydney: NCELTR Bygate (1987) Speaking Oxford, OUP 10 Byrne, D (1986) Teaching Oral English: Longman 11 Clement, R., Baker, S C., & MacIntyre, P D (2003) Willingness to communicate in a second language; the effects of context, norms, and vitality Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 22(2), 190-209 12 Crockes G, Schmidt RW Motivation reopening the research agenda, Language Learning, 1991, vol.414 (pg.469 -512) 13 Crowther, D., Trofimovich, P., Isaacs, T., Saito, K (2015) Does a speaking task affect second language comprehensibility?Modern Language Journal, 99, 8095 doi:10.1111/modl.12185 14 Dornyei, Z (2001) Motivational strategies in the language classroom Cambridge University Press 43 15 Dornyei, Z (1994a) Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom Modern Language Journal, 78,273-8 16 Ellis, R (1998) Understanding second language acquisition Oxford University Press 17 Gardner, R.C & Lambert, W.E (1972) Attitudes and motivation in second language learning Newbury House: Rowley, MA 18 Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of English Language Teaching Malaysia: Longman 19 Harmer, J (2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman 20 Harmer, J (2004) How to Teach English Malaysia: Longman 21 Harmer, J (2007) The practice of English language teaching (4th ed.) Edinburgh, UK: Pearson 22 Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom Oxford: Oxford University Press 23 Keefe, J W (1979) Learning style: An overview In J W Keefe (Ed.) Student Learning Styles: Diagnosing And Prescribing Programs Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals 24 Kutus, R (2001) Overcome the Fear of Speaking to Group [Online] Available: http://www.school –for-champions.com/speaking/fear.htm 25 Le Van Canh (2004) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology Hanoi: Hanoi National University Publishing House 26 Nation & Newton, J.(2009) Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking New York: Routledge 27 Nunan, D (1989) Designing tasks for the communicative classroom Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 28 Nunan, D (2003) Practical English Language Teaching Singapore: Mc Graw - Hill Company 29 Richards, J C., & Rodgers, T S (2001) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 44 30 Robby, S (2010), Conquer Your Fear of Making Mistakes when Speaking English [Online] Available: http://englishharmony.com/conquer-fear-of-makingmistakes-when-speaking-english/(March 15.2011) 31 Williams, M and R L Burden (1997) Psychology for Language Teachers: A Social Constructive Approach Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 32 Willing, K (1987) Learning Styles in Adult Migrant Education Programme, Adelaide, In Intergerst, A C., DeCapua, A and Itzen, R C The construct validity of one learning styles instrument System 29: 385-403 45 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This survey questionnaire is designed for my research on internal and external factors infuencing students’ English speaking development at grade 11 in a high school in Vinh Phuc province The results will be used for the purpose of data analysis Your assistance in responding to the survey is highly aprreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please choose your answer by circling the letter, scaling items or expressing your ideas in the blanks Thank you very much for your cooperation! Part I: General information Personal information: Sex: male/ female Age: How important is the speaking skill to you? A Very important B Quite important C Important D Not important at all What are reasons you studied English speaking? A To communicate fluently with foreigners B To get a chance to attend a university or receive a good job after graduating school C To pursuit passion in speaking D To express with friends when learning speaking lesson Are you afraid of speaking English in class? A Usually B Sometimes C Rarely D Never Are you willing to take part in speaking English lesson? A Definitely, I like to speak so much B Sometimes C Rarely D I am under pressure when my teacher asked me I How you feel about speaking topics in the textbook “English”? A Very interesting B Normal C Boring D Not suitable How you think about speaking activities in the class? A Very interesting B Interesting C Normal D Not interesting Do your fiends find speaking lesson interesting? A All of students feel happy and willing to speak B Some students feel like to speak C Several students are willing to speak and others find shy to speak D No one wants to speak when teacher asks What should teachers to encourage students to participate in speaking lesson? A Use more interesting communicative activities such as games, contests and so on B Encourage students’ speaking by giving good comments, prizes, high marks C Combine textbooks with other relevant sources to make abundant materials D Personalize topics and tasks to be suitable for students’ interests E Others (please specify): ………………………………………………………… Part II: Specific information about factors influencing students’ fluency development 10 Tick your appropriate choice Internal factors Agree I feel my ability in using English is not good at all I prefer doing exercise to speaking in the classroom I always have motivation to take part in an English conversation I want to improve my fluency and pronunciation I am afraid when teacher asks me to tell something When speaking, I often find it difficult to find the suitable word to express my idea because It takes me lot of time to change Vietnamese into English when speaking I want to speak English but I don’t know enough vocabulary II Disagree External factors Agree I realize that time for speaking lesson is too short I don’t have a lot of chances to speak because better students are always the first to give their ideas Teacher talks too much and we rarely cooperate when have speaking lesson The teacher’s teaching methodology is not interesting Class size is too large Teacher gives boring topics and activities THANK YOU! III Disagree APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS This survey questionnaire is designed for the study of internal and external factors infuencing students’ English fluency development at grade 11 in a high school in Vinh Phuc province Your assistance in completing the following questions is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is of great use and sloly for the study purpose Thank you! I Personal information - Gender: Male/ Female - Your age: …………………… - Years of teaching: II Related questions Please circle the appropriate choices(s) for following questions Is it important to teach speaking skill at your school? A Very important B important C Not very important D Not important at all How you like teaching speaking skill? A Very much B So so C Not very much D Not at all In your opinion, which skill is the most difficult for your students? A Listening B Reading C Writing D Speaking What you think of your students’ participation and interest in your speaking class? A High level of participation and interest B Average level of participation and interest C Low level of participation and interest D No participation and interest In your opinion, what are factors influencing students’ English speaking development? A Students’ low level of English proficiency IV B Boring topics and activities C Teachers’ inappropriate teaching methodology D Students’ lack of motivation E Lack of environment for speaking F Large class size G Others (please specify)……………………………………… Which aspects you find difficult in teaching speaking skill to the students? A Lack of students’ motivation in learning B Boring materials and resources C Limitation of time D The equipment for teaching are not abundant E Others (please specify)……………………………………………………… How you think about CLT? A CLT emphasizes on accuracy more than fluency B CLT is learner – centered method C CLT helps students have opportunities to communicate with others D CLT is a method which teachers often create comfortable atmosphere for students to express their English ability E I don’t know about this approach Which method you often apply in your speaking lesson? A Grammar-Translation method B Audio-Lingual method C Communicative Approach D Combine of different methods How often you use modern equipment for teaching speaking skill? A Very often B Sometimes C Rarely D Never 10 How you when students have low motivation in speaking activities? A Encourage them by giving marks, prizes, wonderful comment V B Still call students reluctantly C Support them with vocabulary, structures and ideas D Ignore them E Others (please specify)…………………………………… 11 How you to improve students’ low level of spoken English? A Plan and choose simpler topics B Encourage students to speak anytime C Translate instruction into Vietnamese D Ask them to give their ideas in Vietnamese and indicate the English equivalents for them practice E Criticize them for their low level F Ignore them G Others (please specify)…………………………………… 12 How you when students make mistakes continuously? A Keep silent and encourage them to continue B Interrupt them and correct their mistake whenever they make C Wait until students finish then correct all mistakes they made D Get angry and ask them to stop E Others (please specify)…………………………………………… 13 How often you use the following activities in speaking lessons? Very often Questions and answers Discussion Games Interview Story telling 10 Reporting 11 Picture description 12 Brainstorming 13 Re – ordering 14 Matching VI Often Sometimes Never 14 What you to improve students’ speaking? A Ask students to learn by heart vocabulary and grammar B Ask students to learn by heart model conversations C Ask students to practice English every day D Advice students to communicate more with foreigners E Others (please specify)………………………………………………… Thank you so much for your cooperation! VII APPENDIX 3: CHECKLISTS FOR CLASSROOM OBSERVATION Instructor: Course Title/Section _ Date: _ Time Before having native teacher teaching CRITERIA Students’ level of participation in speaking lessons Students’ interest in speaking activities Students’ interaction with teacher and their friends Atmosphere in classroom speaking lessons Students’ English fluency development Teacher’s teaching techniques and speaking activities VIII After having native teacher teaching