A relatively large number of researchers have conducted empirical studies to examine the actual situation of learning and teaching English speaking skills and then how to improve students’ speaking skills. Some of these studies are as follows.
Tsui A (1996) carried out a study to find out the challenges facing the teaching and learning of speaking skills. The result of their research shows that learners’ low motivation is the big problem. In the study, they also suggest some actions that teachers should take to improve their learners’ motivation. Some very effective solutions may be cited as follows: making instructional goals explicit to learners; breaking learning down into different achievable steps; linking learning to the needs and interests of learners;
allowing learners to bring their own knowledge and perspectives into the learning process.
Other studies were concerned about techniques of teaching speaking, for example Hamzah & Ting (2009) conducted a qualitative and action research study on success of using group work in teaching speaking in English classroom in a school called “SMK Damai Jaya” in Malaysia. The participants in this study were 33 students and 3 English teachers. Questionnaires, observations and interviews were used as data collection instruments. The researchers carried out a series of questionnaires in Malay language where students could provide their opinions about the group work activities to improve speech skills and their consciousness of participation in those activities. The
observations were analyzed to understand the participation and the behavior of students during the lessons, and the interviews were carried out with three English teachers. The findings were that the participants expressed enthusiasm in group work activities and proficiency in spoken language because they were secure of expressing themselves in small groups which avoided anxiety to speak in another language.
Also, Hamzah & Ting (2009) suggested that “In order to get every student participating in the group work, it is essential that the activities should be appropriate to students’ level and could interest them to participate. Therefore, making the students interested in the activity was the first step to conduct a successful language learning activity.
Another technique named language games was mentioned in Urrutia & Vega (2006) research study. The data suggested that speaking was the most difficult skill to develop because students usually presented lack of vocabulary, shyness and fear of being humiliated. Besides, the authors explained that students showed evidence about the importance of implementing games in classroom for improving the speaking skills.
In Rama, Ying, lee & Luei Luei’s (2007) study, the participants expressed that games allowed more than a half of students to improve communication in the second language.
Other techniques to improve students’ English speaking skills can be seen in a great deal of research. Some outstanding examples are Nugroho (2011) with animated video, Khomah (2009) with jigsaw, Hanim (2011) with U-shape seating arrangement, Awaliaturrahmawati (2012) with outdoor activities, Hartati (2012) with games, Ristyawati (2012) with telling short story, Wijayani (2012) with stimulation, Salam (2011) with Role Play and Sulistyatini (2011) with semantic mapping.
In Vietnam, a study entitled Teaching Speaking Skill(s) to non-majored MA Students at VNUH was carried out by Nguyen Thi Thu Huong (2010) with the purposes of finding out the current situations of learning and teaching of speaking skills to non- English-majored MA students at Vietnam National University Hanoi and the reasons for students’ unwillingness to speak English as well as teachers’ problems in teaching
speaking skill. The subjects of the study were non-English-majored MA students at School of Graduate Studies and their teachers. The data collection instruments were questionnaires and interviews. The findings showed that due to various reasons such as variety in students’ level of language proficiency, lack of interesting topics, prior experience in learning speaking, and fear of losing face, more than two thirds of the students remained reluctant to respond to the teacher and kept quiet until they were singled out to answer questions.
From the above studies, several conclusions can be drawn out. Firstly, these studies were implemented with a view to having better insight into the teaching and learning of English speaking skills. Secondly, students and teachers’ difficulties were investigated and recommendations were made to improve learners’ speaking skills.
Lastly, the instruments employed in these studies were mainly questionnaires, observations and interviews; therefore, the author also takes advantage of two of these instruments to obtain data.
Summary
In conclusion, chapter 1 has presented some theoretical background knowledge related to the topic of the study. It has discussed a definition of speaking skills, theory of speaking skills in learning and teaching and presented a review of previous studies related to the research area. The following chapter will display the detailed description of the methodology, the procedures and the results of the study in the light of the above discussed theories.
Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY