The 8th graders’ perspectives on english speaking problems in EFL classroom a study at the asian high school – cao thang campus (1)

Besides, possible solutions are proposed to tackle such challenges in helping teachers and students in order to teach and learn English speaking skill more effectively.. Although student

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the Bachelor’s Thesis submitted today entitled:

ENGLISH SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN EFL CLASSROOM: A STUDY AT THE ASIAN HIGH

SCHOOL – CAO THANG CAMPUS”

In terms of the statement of requirements for Thesis in Bachelor’s programs issued by The Saigon International University

Ho Chi Minh City

LE TRAN HANH PHUC

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, LE TRAN HANH PHUC, being a candidate for the degree of

Bachelor (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Thesis deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Bachelor’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses

Ho Chi Minh City

LE TRAN HANH PHUC

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr Nguyen Thanh Tuan, my supervisor, for his patience, guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement through the whole research process Without his enthusiastic support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed

Additionally, the task of writing this thesis is much easier by the support of my lecturers at The Saigon International University (SIU) for their useful lessons from which I could learn a lot of for the accomplishment of the study It is equally important to send my sincere gratitude the Management of SIU for giving me the best help to complete this paper

Besides SIU, I am grateful to the managers and teachers at Asian High School (AHS) for allowing me to conduct my study In addition, I would also like to send my heartfelt thanks to of the 8th graders at Asian High School who provided me a great deal of valuable information for analysis of this study

Last but not least, I extend my special thanks to my beloved family and my friends for their love, belief, inspiration, care, support, and continuous encouragements during the time I conducted this study There are many more acknowledgements I wish to make Unfortunately, it is impossible to mention all of them, but they are all in my heart

I truly hope this thesis can place some value to the 8th graders and teachers of English especially in developing speaking skill

INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS

Mark : ………

Signed: ……….

ABSTRACT

Speaking is considered one of the most significant macro skills in the process of language acquisition In ELF classrooms, however, this skill is likely to be ignored, which may cause ELF learners confusion and problems when learning it The present study aimed

to explore English speaking problems perceived by the 8th graders at Asian High School (AHS) and suggest some solutions to the investigated problems The quantitative study was conducted with the participation of 80 students who are in grade 8 In addition, the quantitative data collected from the questionnaire were processed by SPSS (19.0) The findings showed that most of students “agreed” that they faced some speaking problems Specifically, the most dominant problems included vocabulary limitation, motivation, mispronunciation, uninteresting topics, the curriculum limitation, class size and layout of tables and chairs Besides, possible solutions are proposed to tackle such challenges in helping teachers and students in order to teach and learn English speaking skill more effectively Finally, it is recommended that further research should assess the speaking problems by means of observation and interview, investigate the speaking strategies that the students have unconsciously used to deal with the speaking problems, explore the differences in terms of speaking problems and strategies used between proficient speakers and non-proficient speakers, and elaborately examine the links between the specific

speaking problems and the specific speaking strategies (240 words)

Keywords: English speaking skill, problems, suggested solutions, Vietnamese EFL

context

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY……… i

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS……… ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

INSTRUCTOR'S COMMENTS……….…… iv

ABSTRACT v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF TABLES ixi

LIST OF FIGURES xi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xix

CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for the study 1

1.2 Aims and objective of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the study 4

1.6 Definition of the key terms 4

1.7 Organization of the thesis 4

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Nature of speaking skill 6

2.1.1 Definition of speaking skill 6

2.1.2 The importance of speaking skill in English language learning 6

2.2 Speaking competence of English as a foreign language 7

2.3 Characteristics of English speaking 8

2.4 Factors that make learning speaking difficult 9

2.4.1 Lack of motivation 9

2.4.2 Lack of confidence 9

2.4.3 Lack of vocabulary 10

2.4.4 Teaching curriculum 11

2.4.5 Learning environment 11

2.5.2 Possible solutions to lack of motivation 13

2.5.3 Solutions to problems related to teaching methods 14

2.5.4 Solutions to problems related to in-class learning environment 15

2.6 Previous studies 15

2.7 Conceptual Framework 17

2.8 Chapter Summary 18

CHAPTER 3:METHODOLOGY 19

3.1 Research questions 19

3.2 Research Design 19

3.3 Research setting 20

3.4 Sample and Sampling Procedures 20

3.5 Research Instruments 21

3.6 Data Collection and Analysis Procedure 22

3.7 Validity and Reliability 23

3.8 Ethical Issues 24

3.9 Summary 24

CHAPTER 4:ANALYSIS, DISCUSSION AND RESULT 25

4.1 Time that students have spent on speaking after school 25

4.2 Research question 1 26

4.2.1 Problems related to the Speaker 26

4.2.2 Problems related to the Teaching methods 28

4.2.3 Problems related to the Curriculum/ Syllabus 30

4.2.4 Problems related to the In- class Learning Environment 31

4.3 Research Question 2 33

4.3.1 Solutions to problems related to the speakers 33

4.3.2 Solutions to Problems Related to the Teaching Methods 34

4.3.3 Solutions to Problems Related to the Curriculum/ Syllabus 35

4.3.4 Solutions to Problems Related to the In-class learning environment 35

4.4 Summary 36

CHAPTER 5:CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 37

5.1 Conclusion 37

5.2 Recommendations for Further Research 37

REFERENCES 39

APPENDIXES 44

APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) 44 APPENDIX B: QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 46

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1Reliability Statistics on the Items Regarding Speaking Difficulties 24

Table 4.1Results of Problems Related to the Speaker (n=80) 27

Table 4.2Results of Problems Related to the Teaching Methods (n=80) 29

Table 4.3Results of Problems Related to the Curriculum/Syllabus (n=80) 30

Table 4.4Results of Problems Related to the In-class Learning Environment(n=80) 32

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework of the study……… ……….18 Figure 3.1 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures 22 Figure 4.1 Time Spent on Speaking after School 25

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AHS: The Asian High School

ELF: English as a Foreign Language

MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

SIU: The Saigon International University

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale for the study

English is one of the important subjects in Vietnamese education system Students are required to study all English courses stipulated by the Ministry of Education and Training (hereafter MOET) from primary to tertiary level After completing general English courses, students will be able to be good at four English skills including listening, speaking, reading and writing Next, when entering university, students will learn more intensively and master vocabulary and academic English Accordingly, students will be able to understand, analyze and apply Basic English grammar and acquire at least 2500 words In addition, students will be able to gain a lot of extensive knowledge of cultures, ethnicities, and people’s lives in the United Kingdom and United States when they learn English Hence, students can communicate better in many cases and can introduce the history, culture and special features of Vietnam to the world (MOET, 2007)

In 2008, Decision N0 1400/QD-TTg on approving the project entitled (tentatively translated) “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in National Education System within the period of 2008-2020” was passed by The Prime Minister of Vietnam The project includes three periods In the first period (2008 -2010), English program has paid much attention to improving and bettering the 10- year foreign language curricula,

designing foreign language course books and testing the 10- year English syllabus In the second period (2011- 2015), MOET has begun to apply the new English program which has been improved for the whole education system in Vietnam In the third period (2016 -

Although the decisions and polices have been established in order to improve the quality of English teaching and learning, not many considerable changes have been made

so far In fact, students have been facing a lot of difficulties while learning speaking in the classrooms In the past, teachers only needed students to remember as many words as possible and master grammar in order to pass the English tests with flying colors

However, according to the current trend, when the foreigners immigrate to Vietnam more and more, the target of learning English not only to read and write, but also to

communicate verbally To (2006) defines that in order for students to achieve the purpose

of listening and speaking in the process of studying English, the teaching of teachers is very influential But some teachers still remain to teach the old methods such as grammar- translation, teacher-centered, book-based, and driven-exam (Le & Barnard, 2009;

Tomlision & Bao, 2004; Le, 2002; Liu & Littlewood, 1997) This means that speaking is excluded from the lessons as well as tests With this way of teaching, students will

successfully complete their curriculum but fail to communicate effectively in real- life conversations (To, 2006)

As for the 8th graders at AIS, it is not an exception Although students have been studying in an international environment, they have still got some difficulties while learning English skills, specially speaking Being aware of the situation, the author wanted

to conduct this study to learn about speaking difficulties encountered by 8th graders at The Asian High School (AHS)

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

Based on the aforementioned reasons and the reality of teaching and learning English speaking at The Asian High School (hereafter AHS), the author conducted a study with the aim of allowing AHS students at Cao Thang Campus to share what English

speaking problems they have faced while learning speaking in the classroom

With the above aims, the two objectives were established as follows

- To investigate the 8th graders’ perspectives on speaking problems in EFL

classrooms, at AHS, Cao Thang Campus

- To suggest some useful solutions in order to help teachers improve their teaching methods, and help students overcome the current speaking problems and better their speaking skill

1.4 Scope of the study

Because the time was limited, the present study concentrated on investigating the

8th graders’ perspectives on the speaking problems, and suggesting some solutions to the problems found in this study Additionally, this study would not be generalized to all the eighth graders at AHS The present study was conducted with the participation of eighty students who are in grade 8 at AHS – Cao Thang Campus

1.5 Significance of the study

The study is significant due to the following reasons There have not been many studies conducted at The Asian High School regarding students’ speaking problems Therefore, this study was carried out with the hope of enriching the source of data for the further research at AHS In addition, that the study finds out the speaking problems of the

8th graders helps the students recognize their own weaknesses in speaking, and helps AHS teachers to comprehend the current situation From that, students can choose suitable strategies to better their learning and teachers can improve their teaching methods Finally, this study is hoped to be the theoretical background to the future studies which are

associated with the focus of this study

1.6 Definition of the key terms

The following terms communicate the following meaning whenever they appear

in this study as follows

- Speaking: the way of conveying ideas, information or expressing someone's

thoughts and feelings in spoken language

- Problems: difficulties/challenges in speaking and factors making speaking difficult

- The 8th graders: all students who are in grade 8 at Cao Thang campus - The Asian High School

1.7 Organization of the thesis

This thesis is divided into five chapters as follows

Chapter 1 is introduction This chapter concerns background of the study,

statement of the problems, aims and objective of the study, research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study and definition of key terms

Chapter 2 summarizes the theoretical background concerning the focus of the study Specifically, the definitions and role of speaking skill are first presented Next,

factors causing speaking problems are summarized More importantly, a summary of the previous studies is presented next The chapter ends with the conceptual framework of the study

Chapter 3 presents the methodology of the study In particular, the research design is first introduced, followed by the research setting In the next section, a brief description of the research instruments employed in the study is provided Following that, the procedures of collecting and analyzing the data are presented Finally, the chapter ends with the sections regarding the reliability and validity, and the ethical issues

In Chapter 4, Analysis, Discussion and Result, the results of the study based on the data obtained from the questionnaire are comprehensively presented What is more, a comparison between the findings of the present study and those of previous studies is made

in the Discussion section In addition, some useful solutions to the problems found in this study are suggested at the end of the chapter

Chapter 5 first presents a summary of the findings In the next section, limitations

of the study are provided Last but not least, the study ends with some recommendations for the further research

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapteris concerned with the theoretical background in relation to the focus of the study In particular, definitions and significance of speaking are first presented,

followed by characteristics of speaking, factors negatively affecting speaking skill and

previous studies This chapter ends with the conceptual framework of the study

2.1 Nature of speaking skill

2.1.1 Definition of speaking skill

There are a lot of definitions of the word “speaking” suggested by the researchers

in language learning Brown and Yule (1994) defines speaking as an process of

constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information In a same vein, Chaney (1998) states that speaking is the process of sharing the ideas by using verbal and non-verbal symbols in various contexts

Bygate (1987) defines speaking as a creation of auditory signals to produce

different verbal reactions to listeners It is regardedas combining sounds in a systematic way, for forming meaningful speeches Adopting this view, Eckard and Kearny (1981), Florez (1999), and Howarth (2001) define speaking as a two-way process including a true communication of meaning, information or emotions This view shows that the spoken texts are considered the participation of two or more people in the shared time and

context

2.1.2 The importance of speaking skill in English language learning

Speaking is one of the most important skills in English language learning because it plays an essential role in making connection among people Being good at speaking is not easy because it requires learners to be good at other skills and aspects of English including

pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension Efrizal (2012) says that speaking is a means of communication that helps people interact and understand one another through daily conversations As the same concern on this view, Ur (1996) suggests that among the four language skills including such as listening, speaking, reading and writing, speaking is the most major one because it is the best means of communication that effectively connects people together Speaking is considered a contributing factor that help students develop other skills including vocabulary, grammar and writing (Ur, 1996) Students can express their ideas, talk together in daily conversations, discuss, show the different functions of language In brief, good English speaking learners will have many chances for good education, seeking for jobs or gaining promotion (Baker & Westrup, 2003)

2.2 Speaking competence of English as a foreign language

Speaking competence in English as a foreign language has been raised in different views Nunan (1999) claims that being competence in English speaking is the ability to use words adequately and utter the correct sentences Moreover, Nunan (1999) also

emphasizes that the speakers’ communicative competence not only includes linguistic competence, but also concerns sociolinguistic and conversation skills which help them express the meaning Sharing the same concern, Bachman and Palmer (1990) state that a person’s language ability is demonstrated by his linguistic competence, knowledge of language communication difficulties, as well as language emotional responses Concerning the ability to speak from another aspect, Johnson (1995) argues that communicative competence helps students to get involved in their class activities and learn from those activities

2.3 Characteristics of English speaking

According to Mazouzi (2013), speaking activities are created based on four criteria including fluency, accuracy, grammar structures, vocabulary and pronunciation These criteria play the significant role in the process of earning high proficiency in speaking

Regarding fluency in speaking English, it is the objective that students need to achieve Hughes (2002) defines fluency as the ability to speak in an intelligible way in order not to lead to unexpected interruptions that may make listeners lose concentration

Accuracy is considered the second characteristic of speaking performance Most people always focus on speaking fluently in the process of learning English and forgetting about being accurate When talking, if the speech structure is incorrect, the speaker will not

be able to express what they want to say and the listeners will lose interest in the

conversation (Maozouzi, 2013) Thus, leaners should pay more attention to the correctnessand the completeness of language form, mainly focusing on grammatical structures,

vocabulary and pronunciation (Maozouzi, 2013)

According to Thornbury (2005), when speaking, learners are required to use

accurate grammar structures such as long and complex sentence structures Moreover, grammar used in speaking is different from grammar used in writing

Vocabulary accuracy refers to choosing the right word while speaking Learners’ often face difficulties when they try to express what they want to say They use words incorrectly in all contexts which do not mean similar meaning Therefore, students should use the words and utterances correctly (Thornbury, 2005)

In addition, Thornbury (2005) also states that pronunciation is one of the hardest aspects to achieve in learning English and it is the major factor leading to effective

communication Therefore, English learners have to improve their pronunciation ifthey want to succeed in speaking English (Thornbury, 2005) For example, they should have an

awareness of the stress, intonation and pitch All these components will help learners to achieve effectiveness in English speaking skills

2.4 Factors that make learning speaking difficult

There are some factors which determine the success in learning of speaking

2.4.1 Lack of motivation

Littlewood (1984) defines that lack of motivation from teachers is one of the important factors negatively of affecting students’ speaking performance In the same vein, Garnder (1985, p.10) suggests that motivation plays a very important role in teaching and learning as “positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language teaching” He also defines that motivation refers to the combination of effort and desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language (Garnder, 1985).It means that if learners need to speak a second language in the wide range of social situations or to fulfill professional ambitions, they will perceive the communicative value of the second language and will therefore be motivated to acquire proficiency in it (Garnder, 1985).In response to this part, Babu (2010) argues that lack of motivation in learning is the cause leading to unwillingness to speak in classroom He says that the teachers’ demotivating behavior and attitude and unsupportive management also contribute to reduce students’ motivation to speak up

2.4.2 Lack of confidence

Harmer (2004) states that students are often unconfident when they convey, share

or express their ideas in front of their teachers and classmates They prefer to keep silent because they are afraid of losing face in front of the class when speaking

incorrectly Tsui (as cited in Nunan, 1999)says that students who suffer from a lack of

Learners are often hesitant to speak because they are afraid of mispronouncing the words or the students feel really shy about speaking in front of other students (Tsui as cited

in Nunan, 1999) In addition, it is understood that English learners always feel unconfident because they do not know how to convey their own ideas to the listeners, listeners;

therefore, do not understandwhat they mean (Saurik, 2011) According to Zhang (2006), students are often afraid of making mistakes in the process of learning to speak English because of laughing and receiving negative evaluation fromclassmates As a result, the passive classes always exist because students are not willing to share their positions

(Zhang, 2006)

2.4.3 Lack of vocabulary

Vocabulary refers to “the words that people use when they are talking about a particular subject” (The online Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries) It is divided into 2 forms including speaking and printing Oral vocabulary consists of words that we can get the meaning through speaking or reading, while the printed vocabulary will be use for writing (Hiebert & Kamil, 2005)

According to Schmitt (2010), vocabulary is considered on indispensible

component in the process of learning speaking skill Therefore, some researchers have put forward to discuss this issue and find out relationship between vocabulary and speaking skills (Stehr, 2009) For example, Khan (2005) defines that the problems of using the words when communicating is a common matter for students who learn new languages In addition, in the real communication, attention is much pay to the contents instead of grammar It is very easy for students to express their idea using the mother tongue;

however, they get confuse when they are asked to convey their opinion using the target language Since they not know how to choose and combine the word properly ( Doris & Jessica, 2007)

2.4.4 Teaching curriculum

Another factor related to speaking skills of learners is the content of the teaching syllabus and the curriculum Olson (1997) suggests that trainingprograms and materials are theimportant parts to attract the student’s interests in learning Moreover, the

programs need to satisfy students’ needs such as make students feel that they are making progress, they have chances to orally interact with the classmates and they can control their language pace According to the context in Vietnam, speaking activities are not enough provided in English textbooks and curriculum while there are too many exercises referring

to grammar, reading and writing Sharing this view, Gan (2012) indicates that one of causes inhibiting learners from being proficient in speaking English is that communicative skills are not much focus in the curriculum Furthermore, Al-Abri (2008) considers this concern that not only time distribution is not reasonable, but also the program does not focus on communicative Therefore, this researcher has proposed a few activities which are suitable for speaking skills such as discussing about a society, hobbies, poetry or films with the aim of creating opportunities for learners to develop English communicative skill (Al-Abri, 2008)

2.4.5 Learning environment

The environmental constraint is also the contributing factor that negatively affects language learners Concerning the mother tongue, Harmer (1991) and Ur (1996) suggest that language learners who share the same native language have a tendency to use their mother tongue to communicate in English classroom because it is more convenience for them to exchange ideas, especially when discussing new speaking topics Furthermore, learners would like teachers to use mother tongue to teach and explain rather than English

use mother tongue in English class too much, students will automatically use mother tongue to speak with teachers or classmates (Harmer, 1991)

Additionally, class size is considered a major factor that can positively and

negatively affect students’ learning outcomes for speaking Furthermore, class’s design with the row of desk affected teachers to organize communicative lesson Thus, teachers can not cover all of students and ask them to speak in front of the class ( Vo, Pham & Ho, 2018)

2.4.6 Teaching method

According to Harmer (2004), teachers are considered an important part of students They are not only lecturers and knowledge transmitters, but also models for students to learn and follow, particularly in speaking skill Therefore, in an educational environment, there are a few factors related to teachers that may affect students’ speaking performances

in the classroom such as teaching strategies, teachers’ language skills, understanding students and helping them to improve their strengths, evaluating, and building relationship, etc (Williams, 2011) As a result, of all the aforementioned components, teachers’

teaching methods exert the considerable influences on the students’ learning outcomes (Williams, 2011) However, grammar and writing points are concentrated on rather than speaking A survey showed that teachers often blame on lack of time and lack of speaking activities on English program Thus, they skipped speaking activities even they are given

in the lessons (Rababa’ah, 2005)

Another reason related to teaching methods is that teachers do not have interesting topics for students to practice speaking The topics for discussion must be authentic and interesting enough to catch the student interest to speak (Bachman and Palmer, 1990)

The last one related to feedback during the speaking activities According to Harmer (1991), during the process of speaking learning, students will encounter errors

Thus, they expect their teachers to give feedback on the mistakes they make However, this method does not apply to all students (Harmer, 1991) While students are practicing

speaking with their classmates, teachers should not interrupt in their conversational flows

It is appropriate to give comments after they finish Because of having been interrupted and corrected many times, students may feel pressured and become afraid of speaking In conclusion, teachers should correct students’ errors in a positive way and with

encouragement ( Baker & Westrup, 2003)

2.5 Some solutions to solve possible problems

2.5.1 Possible solutions to lack of confidence

There are some solutions helping students to overcome the lack of confidence when they learn speaking skills Chinmoy (2007) suggests that in order to help students to be more confident in speaking that teachers should convince them to look upon shyness and not to be afraid of making mistakes According to Htwe (2007), teachers should develop a strategy to improve students’ confidence such as creating an environment for students to speak English more In the same vein, Kubo (2009) suggests that teaching pronunciation and intonation to students when learning language is an important solution in order to help students build confidence in communicative skills The reason is that once students are good at pronouncing words, they may not be apprehensive of speaking in front of their friends

2.5.2 Possible solutions to lack of motivation

It is very important that teachers should motivate and support students during their learning process because this will help students feel comfortable in their learning (Aftat, 2008) As shared by Liu and Huang (2010), students lack their motivation to learn English

interested and motivated in learning English, and develop their confidence as well

Additionally, the teacher as an instructor should coordinate and create as many reasonable opportunities as possible so that all students could get involved in order to develop their speaking skill (Ur, 1996) Similarly, Rivers (1968) states that teachers must be able to know how to create activities to motivate students to learn English

2.5.3 Solutions to problems related to teaching methods

Suitable speaking strategies help teachers and students to be successful in teaching and learning speaking English Therefore, some strategies have been proposed by Bashir (2011) The first strategy is to deal with students who are constantly silent and not willing

to participate in class activities Teachers must recognize students’ weaknesses and create conditions for them to participate in conversations with their classmates (Bashir, 2011) The second strategy is giving the model speech before letting students practice since students are able to get to know what they are going to do and feel easy to practice (Bashir, 2011) The third strategy is for students who often do not understand their partners’

opinions and that leads to a fear of making mistakes in expressing ideas To solve this problems, teachers should help and encourage students to listen for the partners’ main ideas or give clarification of what their partners have spoken in order to make everything clear enough to the weak students (Bashir, 2011) Moreover, when students make mistakes

in speaking, teachers should give gentle, appropriate and motivational feedback On the other hand, teacher should build good rapports among teachers and students as well as

students and students (Bashir, 2011)

Most students use their mother tongue to exchange information in English class, because they do not understand the teacher’s instructions (Nunan, 1999) To solve this issue, teachers should create a variety of activities and situations to attract and improve

students’ communication fluency including topics for discussion, interviews and guessing games (Tam, 1997)

According to Richard (2008), in the process of learning speaking, students hope their teachers to be motivators, assessors, facilitators and correctors In the same vein, Killian (2015) defines that teachers’ feedback is compared to an important breakfast for students Put it simply, students expect to listen to their teacher’s feedback since they want

to know how well they have done the speaking task and what aspects they should improve more

2.5.4 Solutions to problems related to in-class learning environment

Teachers should organize many activities to create a dynamic, exciting, and

interesting learning environment a such as talking about hobbies, songs, poems or

interested topics Besides, students can improve their speaking skills throughout topics close to real life (Ambu & Saidi, 1997; Al-Abri, 2008) Moreover, structure is very

important in any classroom, especially in a classroom with lots of students According to Nguyen (2015), for large classes, teachers should have the rules of the classroom, organize the tables to be appropriate for the teaching and learning purposes, and assign some

students to be the leaders in group discussions

2.6 Previous studies

There are some studies which have investigated speaking difficulties encountered

by EFL learners as follows

MacIntyre, Clement, Dornyei and Noels (1998) studied the effects of lack of confidence on speaking performance The result of their study showed that self- confidence

is an essential component for learners to communicate effectively Park and Lee (2005)

including anxiety and self-confidence on oral performance Therefore, if they concluded that language learners want to communicate better, they need to be more confident

A study by Gan (2012) on speaking difficulties that English majored students in Hong Kong have encountered reported other deciding factors causing speaking difficulties including lacking of vocabulary, focusing on grammar points, having limited in-class speaking opportunities and out of class English speaking environment

In additional, another study has been conducted at six Jordanian public universities about the limitations that students face in speaking classes The study found some

problems includinglack of time to speak, lack of opportunities to practice and especially crowded classes (Al- Jamal, 2014)

According to Izadi (2015), mother tongue, linguistic problems, negative emotions and opportunities to speak English were the key factors making speaking difficult for Iranian learners of English

In the context of Vietnam, Le (2011) concentrated on challenges that students faced

in speaking skills The main factors emerged from the findings were learning styles, worries and language proficiency, lecturers’ issues namely teaching methodology and teaching facilities Moreover, Ngo (2011) also found that speaking difficulties might be resulted from the factors regarding psychology, linguistic features and social- culture

Lack of speaking activities in textbooks, insufficiency of the English teaching periods and the syllabus which does not satisfy the learners’ communicative needs are significant reasons that negatively affect students’ improvement in speaking skills ( Ambu

& Saidi, 1997)

According to Ali and Savas (2013) found that students always felt negative about themselves in learning speaking English They were in lack of motivation Besides, many students thought that they were incapable of learning languages Only few students felt that

they had ability to learn English In the same vein, Elisa, Misbah and Najat (1988)

surveyed Kuwait University students and concluded that most students lacked the basic knowledge of English Therefore students faced difficulties in the process of learning such

as inappropriate English textbooks; teachers who use completely English to teach and deliver contents These issues have made difficult for students to understand the lectures

Vo, Pham, and Ho (2018) conducted to study in order to investigate the challenges

to speaking skills encountered by English majored students at one university in Mekong Delta Region The study was carried out with the participation of 113 students answering the questionnaire The findings revealed that speaking challenges resulted from both external and internal factors Internal factors included lack of vocabulary, basic

knowledge, speaking strategies, speaking anxiety, and motivation External factors

regarding speaking environment, and extracurricular activities were identified the

dominant reasons for speaking challenges

2.7 Conceptual Framework

The objectives of the present study are to investigate into the 8th graders English speaking problems that they have encountered Based on previous studies the author has reviewed so far, the main problems of English speaking have concerned the speaker, the curriculum, the teaching methods, and the learning environment Therefore, the author learned about the problems of English speaking and suggested solutions to problems relied

on the theoretical framework of the previous studies and literature

The conceptual framework of the present study is presented in Figure 2.1 as follows

Figure 2.1 Conceptual Framework of the study

2.8 Chapter Summary

This chapter has discussed the related literature including the nature of speaking skill, speaking competence of English, characteristics of English speaking, factors that make learning speaking difficulties, some solutions to solve the problems, previous studies, which shed light on the content of the next chapters The chapter ended with the conceptual framework of the current study The research methodology will be reported in the next chapter

Speaking problems

The Speaker (Al- Abri, 2008Curriculum ) environmentLearning

(Harmer, 1991)

Teaching method (William, 2011))

Lack of vocabulary (Doris &

Jessica, 2007)

- Do not focus on speaking skill

- Speaking activities provided

in textbook

- Regular assessment

- Speaking separately taught from other skills

- Teachers do not focus on speaking

- Teachers introduce uninteresting topics

- Teachers do not correct speaking mistakes

- Teachers use Vietnamese

- International learning environment with native teachers

- Large class size inappropriate

- Arrangements

of tables and chairs