Factors affecting the first year non english major students’ participation in oral activities a survey at thai nguyen college of education

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -  - NGUYỄN ANH QUỲNH FACTORS AFFECTING THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN ORAL ACTIVITIES: A SURVEY AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (NHỮNG NHÂN TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN SỰ THAM GIA VÀO CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG NÓI CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT : NGHIÊN CỨU KHẢO SÁT TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM THÁI NGUYÊN) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 HANOI-2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Page DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES viii Part A: INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of problem and rationale Aims of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study Research methods Organization of the study Part B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theoretical background of speaking 1.1.1 Concept of speaking 1.1.2 The role of speaking in foreign language teaching 1.1.3 Approaches in teaching speaking 1.2 Students’ participation in oral activities 1.2.1 Concept of students’ participation 1.2.2 Factors affecting students’ participation in oral activities 1.2.2.1 Students’ factors 1.2.2.1.1 Students’ language proficiency level 1.2.2.1.2 Students’ personally factors 1.2.2.1.3 Students’ attitude and motivation 10 1.2.2.2 Teachers’ factors 11 1.2.2.2.1 Teachers’ teaching method 11 1.2.2.2.2 Teachers’ knowledge and characteristics 12 1.2.2.3 Classroom factors 12 1.2.2.3.1 Classroom size 12 1.2.2.3.2 Classroom atmosphere 13 1.2.2.3.3 Classroom physical conditions 13 1.3 Relevance of this study 14 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 Background of the study 15 2.1.1 An overview of Thai Nguyen College of Education 15 2.1.2 The teachers 15 2.1.3 The students 15 2.1.4 The materials and syllabus 16 2.1.5 Classroom facilities 16 2.2 Research questions 17 2.3 The participants 17 2.4 Data collections instruments 17 2.4.1 Survey questionnaires 17 2.4.2 Interviews 18 2.5 Data collection procedures 18 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 19 3.1 Data analysis 19 3.1.1 Results of students’ survey questionnaire 19 3.1.2 Results of teachers’ survey questionnaire 26 3.1.3 Result from interviews with teachers 31 3.2 Findings and discussion 34 3.1.1 Students’ low level of participation in oral activities 34 3.2.2 Students’ factors 35 3.2.3 Teachers’ factors 35 3.2.4 Classroom factors 36 3.2.5 Material factors 36 3.3 Conclusion 37 CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 38 4.1 The students 38 4.2 The teachers 38 4.3 The classroom 40 Part C: CONCLUSION 41 Summary of the study 41 Limitation and suggestions for further study 42 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TNCE: Thai Nguyen College of Education CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as Foreign Language ESL: English as Second Language LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21 Figure 21 Table 19 Table 22 Table 23 Table 24 Table 24 Table 25 Table 26 Table 27 Table 28 Table 10 29 Table 11 30 Part A: INTRODUCTION Statement of problem and rationale Undeniably, in learning English, the four skills namely reading, writing, speaking, listening are very important but speaking seems to be the most significant Any learners of English want to achieve this skill However, speaking is generally considered the most demanding of the four skills (Bailey and Savage, 1994: vii) For this reason, being aware of the necessity of speaking, English teachers though trying to improve all four skills, always pay much attention on speaking for their students However, the teaching and learning of English speaking skill in Vietnam has encountered many difficulties For Vietnamese learners, speaking is a very difficult skill It takes learners lots of time practicing if they want to be skillful at it In fact although most of Vietnamese learners pay much attention to grammatical structures and vocabulary, they are often reluctant in speaking skill In recent years, English teachers have changed their teaching methods and focused their teaching on speaking to the students One top concern of almost all teachers is students’ ineffective participation in speaking lessons The reasons for that are various Tsui (1996), after carrying a research in Hong Kong, lists five principle factors affecting the reluctance of students’ participation in classroom speaking lessons: students’ perceived low proficiency in English, students’ fear of making mistakes and derision, teachers’ intolerance of silence, uneven allocation of turns, incomprehensible input (as cited in Nunan, 1999: 234) In Vietnam, Phung (2006) conducts an experiment about techniques to overcome factors affecting the participation in classroom oral activities at College of Social Sciences and Humanities The findings shows that factors affecting his students’ participation includes students’ learning styles, motivation, language level, gender differences, teachers’ teaching techniques, characteristics, teachers’ knowledge, implementation of teachers’ role in speaking activities, the available facilities and classroom atmosphere Nguyen (2010) suggests strategies to increase the participation in communicative activities of students at Dong Do high school, Hanoi She also concludes that the factors affecting her students’ participation in communicative activities are students’ poor background knowledge, lack of confidence, lack of motivation and passive learning style Although there have been many studies about factors affecting students’ participation in oral activities, it is considered new in the EFL context of Thai Nguyen College of Education (TNCE) As a teacher at this college, the researcher sees that most of her students not often enjoy speaking period, and they not actively contribute the speaking lessons They always keep quiet, passively take note, some listen to better students speaking but nothing, and some hard-working students discuss in Vietnamese The study entitled “ Factors affecting the first year non-English major students’ participation in oral activities: a survey at Thai Nguyen College of Education” is an attempt to find out the reasons for above problems, and give some suggestions to increase students’ participation in oral activities Objectives of the study The study was conducted to (1) investigate the current teaching and learning of speaking skill of the students at TNCE, (2) identify the factors affecting the first year non-English major students’ participation in oral activities, then (3) give some recommendations for teachers and students to increase students’ participation in oral activities Significance of the study Theoretically, it is hoped that this study can be used as a reference for other researchers who want to conduct the study related to teaching and learning speaking in general and factors affecting students’ participation in oral speaking activities in particular The result of the study can be useful for English teachers to implement suitable teaching method to their students Practically, the study will hopefully better the researcher and her colleagues’ teaching, help the students be aware of their problems in learning and solve these problems The researcher also hopes that this study will benefit both the teaching and learning of English speaking Scope of the study The current research mainly covers the possible factors affecting the students’ participation in oral activities including students’ language proficiency level, attitude and motivation, personality, teacher’ s teaching methods, characteristics, Another factor affecting students’ involvement in oral activities is classroom atmosphere and environment Many students agreed that classroom atmosphere and environment have strong impact on their interests in the subjects Most of students like a pleasant, cooperative environment where they can work in pair or small groups Students can overcome their shyness and inhibitions with ease to talk when they are in pair or small groups with their friends Besides, an encouraging learning makes the learners, particularly the weak ones, more comfortable to express themselves Moreover, large class size also affects students’ participation In short, classroom is one important factor that teachers should pay great attention to in order to improve students’ involvement 3.2.5 Material factors Materials in language learning should be taken into consideration Students often feel interested to speak English in classroom if the topics are interesting, and the tasks are neither too difficult nor too easy Although the course book “ lifelines elementary” was not designed for teaching speaking only, speaking skill is a focus of this book The book contains opportunities for oral activities Speaking practice takes place through the oral presentation and practice of new language items, in dialogue work, role plays, group work, and class activities These pair exercises and role-play activities build on the teaching points and increase the opportunities for individual practice However, the results show that the topics and tasks in the book are quite difficult and boring The unsuitable tasks may demotivate students so that they are unwilling to participate in speaking activities, and keep quiet all the time Therefore, tasks must be adapted by each individual teacher to match their students’ need and abilities 3.3 Conclusion The findings from the questionnaires and interviews reveal many useful facts related to factors affecting students’ participation on oral activities Those factors come from students, teachers, classroom and materials First, students’ factors conclude students’ low level of language proficiency, students’ shyness, nervousness, and fear of making mistakes, students’ low motivation Second, concerning to teachers, the factors are teachers’ teaching method, and teachers’ characteristics Third, classroom factors refer to classroom size and atmosphere Finally, with regard to materials, suitable materials have much impact on students’ participation These findings were important because it would give the researcher the foundation of implications and recommendations to get students actively participate in oral activities CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS From the findings of the study, in order to increase the first year non-English major students’ participation in oral activities, some suggestions have been made with the hope to improve the current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill at TNCE 4.1 The students Firstly, to be successful in learning English, students should take positive attitudes and motivation towards English as well as English speaking They should consider English as important as other subjects in the syllabus and speaking is their goal in learning English By having positive attitudes and motivation, students will have desire to study Therefore, they will actively participate in class activities Secondly, students should try to become less hesitant or nervous and more confident to speak, try to participate more actively and take every opportunity to talk Next, self-study is very important Students should take responsibility to improve their grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and so on Besides, they also can listen to radio or watch television, read newspapers and magazines in English to enrich their vocabulary and knowledge Steps by steps they will get used to spoken English and feel more confident to express their ideas Then, students should set up English speaking habits Having good habits in speaking English is one of the ways to help students improve their speaking In class activities, students should try to talk to teachers and friends in English instead of Vietnamese Finally, ask for help from teacher or friends if necessary When students want to express their ideas, but they not have enough vocabulary, they should ask their teachers or friends for suggestions 4.2 The teachers First of all, teachers should create a pleasant, supportive and co-operative classroom atmosphere, and establish close relationship with the students It is better for teachers to give students more encouragement than criticism to help students overcome the feeling of anxiety, shyness or nervousness Moreover, teachers should allow students to discuss broadly, work co-operatively with their partners in their groups More students work in co-operative groups, the more they understand, retain, and feel better about themselves and their peers Working in a co-operative environment encourages student responsibility for learning Moreover, by having peer support, student motivation is increased Students can overcome their shyness and inhibitions with ease to talk, show their feelings and thoughts when they are in small groups Only in a relaxing teaching atmosphere, can students have happy mood and dare to speak English Next, teachers should apply, adapt suitable teaching methods, and make best use of communicative approach in teaching by creating realistic contexts for students to develop communicative competence so learner-centered approach instead of teacher-centered one ought to be used Teachers should facilitate as much time as possible for students to speak In other words, provide maximum opportunity to students to speak the target language by providing a rich environment that contains collaborative work, authentic materials and tasks When students have more opportunities to speak, their speaking skills will be improved In addition, teachers should use various speaking activities to motivate them to study Teachers can apply many other activities such as game, discussion, role-play, information gap, interview, picture description, brainstorming, etc in stages of a speaking lesson These kinds of activities will avoid students’ boredom and stimulate their interest in learning Then, teachers can organize class in pairs or groups for students to co-operate with each other Most of the students say that they will feel more secure if they work in a safe environment It means that when they are in co-operative learning groups or among friends, their anxiety will be allayed and the fear of making mistakes will be decreased However, when organizing class in pairs or groups, teachers should monitor the activities to avoid students speaking Vietnamese and make sure all students have the equal chance to speak Besides, teachers should play the role of an advisor, or recourse provider to give help when necessary Besides, teachers may personalize the topics and tasks, combine the course book with other materials to be suitable with students’ levels The findings show that many topics and tasks in the book are difficult and unsuitable with students so that some of them are not interested in speaking activities In order to encourage students to speak, teachers should adapt the topics and task to be more suitable, and familiar to the students Besides, teachers should combine book with other materials such as newspaper, magazines to make the lesson more interesting to students Last but not least, teachers should carry out regular tests or examinations on speaking skill In fact, the tests and examinations not include speaking component Therefore, many students ignore this skill Most of them are interested in learning grammar rules, vocabulary, reading comprehension with the hope to pass the written exam Hence, the teachers should test the students’ speaking ability more often so that the students have to take responsibility and put more effort on learning this skill 4.3 The classroom The EFL learning environment has a powerful effect on learning motivation So that improving physical condition in classroom is necessary Multimedia equipment should be added to all classrooms and the language lab should be staffed This will arouse all students’ interest to learn English Moreover, it should be better if the desks are movable The students would feel more comfortable and free to contact with each other It is also very convenient for pair works or group works Part C: CONCLUSION The previous chapters have provided answers to the three research questions In this chapter the researcher will give a summary of the important findings, discusses the limitations of the research Summary of the study The study aims at finding the factor affecting the participation in oral activities of first year non- English major students at TNCE as well as making some suggestions to increase students’ participation in oral activities The study was carried out at four classes: office-management K3, chemistry-biology K17, literature-geography K17, mathematic-physics K17 In this study, two questionnaires for both teachers and students and interviews for teachers were used as research instruments From students and teachers’ responses to the questionnaires and interviews, the researcher has found out the answers to the three research questions For the first question “ How the students participate in oral activities?” the researcher found out that most of students participate passively in oral activities When teachers ask them to some tasks, they often sit quietly, pretend to concentrate on the book, or take note, or nothing They rarely speak, or only speak when they like the topics or when teachers order them to As for the second questions “ What are the factors affecting the first year non-English major students’ participation in oral activities?” the researcher found out the reasons for students’ passive participation in oral activities Those factors include students’ factors (students’ low level of language proficiency, students’ personality), teachers’ factors (teachers’ teaching method and characteristic), classroom factors (classroom size, atmosphere and environment), and material factors (difficult or unsuitable tasks) Based on the findings of this study, a number of suggestions to increase students’ participation in oral activities were given Those suggestions were the answer for the third question “ what should be done to increase students’ participation in oral activities?” By using various communicative activities (games, role-play…), creating a co-operative English learning environment (pair work, group work), combining books with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaptation, designing appropriate speaking tasks to the learners’ abilities and conducting tests or exams on speaking, teachers can help students actively participate in oral activities Limitation and suggestions for further study Limitations of the study Although the study is carefully and clearly designed and based on reliable data, due to the shortage of time, lack of resources and the researcher’ s ability, shortcomings are inevitable Firstly, the study is carried out with only 160 first year non-English major students so to some extent, the results may not be generalized for all students of the college Secondly, the researcher only used survey questionnaires and interviews for the research instrument In order to make obtained result more reliable, different instruments for data collection, such as observation, should be applied Despite the unavoidable limitations, the researcher hopes that this study will be of some value to teachers and students in their language teaching and learning process 2.2 Suggestions for further research This study only concentrates on factor affecting students’ participation in oral activities and makes some suggestions to increase students’ involvement It is likely to affirm that the study has merely mentioned a very small part of teaching and learning English speaking skill There are some suggestions for further researches: - A study on strategies to increase students’ participation in oral activities - Another study with a larger scope should be done (not only with the first year students but also with all students at TNCE) REFERENCES Abbot, G 1981 Approaches to English teaching In Abbot, G & Wingard, P (eds): The Teaching of English as an International Language: A Practical Guide Glasgow: Collins Sons & Co Ltd Bailey, M.K and Savage L (1994) New Ways in Teaching Speaking Illinois, USA Barrett, L., & Connot, R (1986) Knowing student personality can help school, classroom, activity participation NASSP Bulletin, February, 39-45 Barry, K (1993) Beginning Teaching (2nd ed.) Wentworth Falls: Social Science Press Breach, D (2005) Exploring the Vietnamese concept of a “ good teacher” Teacher’ s Edition 16, 30-37 Brown, D (2000) Principles of language learning and teaching White Plains, NY: Longman Brown, G and Yule, G (1983), Teaching the Spoken Language, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Burns, A & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on Speaking Sydney: National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Carskadon, T (1978) Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in psychology courses and discussion groups Teaching of Psychology, 5(3), 140-142 Chaney, A L B., & Burk, T L (1998) Teaching Oral Communication Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 13 Dornyei, Z (2001) Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Gardner, R C (1985) Social Psychology and Language Learning: The Role of Attitude and Motivation London: Edward Arnold, 10 Galvan, J., & Fukada, Y (1997/98) Asian international students’ preferences for learning in American universities The CATESOL Journal, 1, 29-49 Harmer, J (1991) The Practice of Engish Language Teaching London: Longman Hayes, (1997) Helping Teachers to Cope with Large Classes, Retrieved June from ELT Journal Volume 51/2 Oxford University Press Howard, J R., Short, L.B., & Clark, S.M (1996) Students’ participation in the mixed-aged college classroom Teaching Sociology, 24(1), 8-24 Kumaravadivelu, B (1993) Maximizing learning potential in the communicative classroom ELT Journal Volume 4711 January 1993 Oxford University Press Larsen-Freeman, D (1986) Techniques and principles in language teaching Oxford, OUP Le Van Canh, (2000) Language and Vietnamese pedagogical contexts In J Shaw, D Lubelska, & M Noullet (Eds.), Partnership and interaction: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Language and Development Bangkok: Asian Institute of Technology Li, D (1998) It is always more difficult than you plan and imagine: Teachers perceived difficulties in introducing the communicative approach in South Korea TESOL QUATERLY,32, 679 Lightbown, P M., & Spada, N (1999) How Languages are Learned Oxford: Oxford University Press, 56 Mitchell, R (1994) The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching in Aswarbrick (ed) Nguyen Thuy Duong (2010) Strategies for increasing students’ participation in oral activities: a case of Dong Do high school, Ha Noi Unpublished M.A Dissertation University of Languages and international studies -Vietnam National University Nunan, D (1992) Research methods in language learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 234 Oxford, R L and Shearin, J (1994) Language learning motivation: Expanding the theoretical framework The Modern Language Journal, 78, 19 Pattison, P (1992) Developing Communication Skills Cambridge: CUP Phung Van Than (2006) An investigation into techniques to overcome factors affecting the participation in classroom oral activities of the second year tourism students at CSSH Unpublished M.A Dissertation College of Foreign Languages -Vietnam National University Rod, E (1985) Understanding Second Language Acquisition Oxford: Oxford University Press Sass, E J (1989) Motivation in the College Classroom: What Students Tell Us Teaching of Psychology, 16(2), 86-88 Savignon, S J (2000) Communicative language teaching In M Byram (Ed.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning London: Routledge, 126-128 Stern, H (1992) Issues and Options in Language Teaching Oxford: Oxford University Press Sylvelyn Jo A Almanzor, Judith Marianne S.Daguman and Paulin Nicole T Tan (2009) Student’ s Attitude Towards Participation During Class Time (the assessment handbook Vol.2,2009) Tom Hutchinson (2002), Lifelines Elementary, Oxford University Press Underwood, M (1987) Effective Class Management: A practical Approach New York: Longman, 33-34 Ur, P (1996) A course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press APPENDICES APPENDIX Survey questionnaire for students This questionnaire is designed to collect data for the study “ Factors affecting the first year non-English major students’ participation in oral activities: a survey at Thai Nguyen College of Education” It would be extremely helpful if you will truthfully provide the information being asked for and will not leave any items unanswered The data collected are used for the study purpose only Thank you! How is English speaking skill important to you? A very important B important C little important D not important Why you learn English speaking? A because it is a compulsory subject B because it is interesting C because I like it D to have a good job in the future E Others (please specify): ………………………………………………………… How you think about your English speaking ability? A very good B good C acceptable D Bad E very bad How often you participate in speaking activities in the class? A I always take every opportunity to speak English B I only speak if I like the topic C I only speak when teacher orders me D I rarely speak and often keep quiet in speaking lessons How you evaluate your speaking lessons? A Boring Most of students are quiet B Not very interesting Most of students not want to speak C All right Many students are very active and willing to speak D Interesting Most of students participate in speaking lessons How you think about the given speaking tasks in the course book “ lifelines elementary” ? Level of difficulty: Level of interest: No Making conversation when you meet other people Making conversation when you go shopping Making arrangements Offering and accepting Asking about times Asking where something is Responding Making travel arrangements What are your difficulties in speaking English? (You can choose more than one option) A I always feel shy and nervous when speaking in front of other people B I am afraid of making mistakes and being laughed by other students C I want to speak but I not have enough vocabulary and knowledge of the topic D I not have enough time to prepare E I not have chances because the better students talk first F Others (please specify): ……………………………………………………… Which factors affecting your participation in speaking activities? (You can choose more than one option) A Difficult or boring topics and activities B Students’ lack of motivation C Students’ low level of English proficiency D Large class sizes E Others: (please specify)………………………………………………………… What you think about your teacher method? (You can choose more than one option) A Teacher uses appropriate method B Teacher talks more than students C Teacher speaks so quickly that students cannot understand D Teacher does not carry out various speaking activities E Teacher is unfriendly and does not create encouraging learning atmosphere in class F Others: (please specify)………………………………………………………… 10 What should teachers to increase students’ participation in speaking lessons? (You can choose more than one option) A Use various communicative activities (game, information gap, brainstorming…) B Create a co – operative English learning environment (pair work, group work…) C Combine textbooks with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaptation D Personalize topics and tasks to be suitable for students’ level and interests E Others (please specify): ……………………………….………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! APPENDIX Survey questionnaire for teachers This Questionnaire is designed to collect data for the study “ Factors affecting the first year non- English major students’ participation in oral activities: a survey at Thai Nguyen College of Education” It would be extremely helpful if you will truthfully provide the information being asked for and will not leave any item unanswered The data collected are used for the study purpose only Thank you very much! How is teaching speaking important to you? A very important B important C little important D not important How much you feel interested in teaching speaking skills to students? A Very interested B Rather interested C Little interested D Not interested at all How you evaluate your students’ A very good B good speaking ability? C acceptable D Bad E very bad What teaching methods are currently being applied in your speaking lesson? (You can choose more than one option) A Grammar – Translation method B Audio – Lingual method C Communicative Approach D Combination of different methods What kinds of communicative activities you usually use? (You can choose more than one option) Discussion Questions and answers Role- play Games Interviews How often you use pair work and group work? A Always B Often C Somet imes D Never What are the problems you are facing in teaching speaking skills? (You can choose more than one option) A Students’ shyness and nervousness B Students’ low motivation C Students’ low English proficiency G Others: (please specify) …………………………………………………… ……… What should teachers to increase students’ participation in speaking lessons? (You can choose more than one option) A Use various communicative activities (game, information gap, brainstorming…) B Create a co – operative English learning environment (pair work, group work…) C Combine textbooks with other relevant sources of materials for suitable adaptation D Personalize topics and tasks to be suitable for students’ level and interests E Others (please specify): …………………………………………………… …… Thank you for your cooperation! APPENDIX Interviews for teachers Interview questions: How you evaluate speaking topics and tasks in the course book “ lifelines elementary” (in term of difficult level, variety of activities, communicativeness)? In your opinion, which factors affecting your students’ speaking participation in activities? What should teachers to increase students’ participation in speaking lessons? ... discuss in Vietnamese The study entitled “ Factors affecting the first year non- English major students’ participation in oral activities: a survey at Thai Nguyen College of Education? ?? is an attempt... study aims at finding the factor affecting the participation in oral activities of first year non- English major students at TNCE as well as making some suggestions to increase students’ participation. .. further study 2.2 Research questions This study determined the factors affecting the first year non- English major students’ participation in oral activities at Thai Nguyen College of Education and