Improving the speaking skills for elementary adult learners at the center for foreign studies, nong lam university

Given the findings, the study will end up with practical solutions to improve the teaching and learning of spoken English for Vietnamese learners, especially those in elementary level..

IMPROVING THE SPEAKING SKILLS FOR ELEMENTARY ADULT LEARNERS

AT THE CENTER FOR FOREIGN STUDIES,

NONG LAM UNIVERSITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL)

Supervisor: DO HUY THINH, Ph.D

Student: DO CHAU CUC PHUONG

I owe a great debt of gratitude His sympathy and invaluable comments have given

me confidence and motivation to overcome the family and personal difficulties that

I faced in the two years 2004 & 2005

I am greatly indebted to the organizers of the Master course, the Department of English Linguistics and Literature, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the staff members, and all my instructors who have assisted me during the course

I would like to thank the teachers at the Center for Foreign Studies, Nông Lâm University who have offered favorable conditions for my thesis data collection and all the learners of classes of 100A, 100A1, 100A2 at the two annexes Chu Văn An and Tôn Đức Thắng for their helpful responses to the survey questionnaires

My sincere thanks go to my colleagues and my friends, especially Ms Võ Thị Phương Oanh, Ms Phạm Thị Thắm, Ms Lương Ngọc Phương Anh, Ms Lê Nguyễn Hồng Vân, Ms Võ Phước Như Hảo, Ms Nguyễn Thị Lan Hương, Mr Đinh Trường Sinh, Ms Ngô Phan Lan Dung for their support and encouragement in

my fulfillment of the thesis

Finally, I would like to show my deep gratitude to my dear father and mother, my sisters and brothers for their love, sacrifice and support Also I wish to send my thanks to you, the one who is always by my side Your encouragement, understanding and great care have lifted me up when I am down

existing problems and current methodologies in teaching English nowadays, and suggest improvements in methodology The research is conducted and aimed for teaching English speaking skills for adults at elementary level in the Center for Foreign Studies, Nong Lam University

1.1 Rationale

English has been the international language for hundreds of years In Vietnam, although French and Russian are also popular, English has been the dominant foreign language taught in high schools for long However, it was not much in use until the country opened up to do business in the world market, marked by the “Doi Moi” policy (Reform policy) in 1986 Since then, Vietnam saw big growths in economy and cultural exchange activities Vietnam becomes one of the biggest exporters of rice, coffee, pepper, and aqua products Up to now, foreign investors have put about USD 34 billion investment in many industries More and more tourists are visiting Vietnam Moreover, the country has been exposing itself to the integration and globalization Vietnam becomes ASEAN member since 1995, APEC member since 1998, and hopefully WTO member in

2006 or early 2007 Vietnam is the host of many ASEAN events, and 2006 APEC Summit

The economic and cultural integration set a great demand of English communication People with intermediate English who can understand and communicate basic issues used to be highly appreciated back to ten years ago Many people landed good jobs because they could speak English Nowadays, however, English competence is almost mandatory for anyone who wishes to

one concern for students who wish to go to international schools or study abroad Working people use English in all kinds of communication, including emails, contracts, documents, meetings, training courses, business trips… Since communication is the most important to management and business, people with better English definitely get more chances to success

Since the need for English communication just came up and the demanding level has been going up so fast in recent years, a lot of adults find themselves in trouble to keep up with this rapid pace Compared to young learners, adults face

a lot of difficulties in learning a foreign language

Most adults do not have continuous learning When they go to an English class, they find themselves among many other people with different backgrounds and different pieces of English they pick from work, some books, or some teachers

To put things together is just as hard as to fix a broken picture

Another problem faced by adult learners is that pronunciation is harder to learn when people get older Back to their high school time, they did not have good opportunities to study pronunciation in a standard lab like young and teenage learners nowadays During their school years, they could be provided with a fairly good knowledge of vocabulary, grammar structures and writing but their pronunciation skill seemed to be ignored due to the teaching criteria and system

at that time When the age is up, it is more and more difficult for them to improve pronunciation because the articulation parts are becoming “hard” and not as “flexible”

or writes, usually the sentences come in their native language, and then the sentences are translated to English With this method of reproduction, adult learners cannot really use the English language

Adult learners are also reported to have psychological problem They do not have confidence and tend to pull them backwards These learners find themselves quite embarrassed in participating in English conversations They cannot respond readily as they wish When they are to speak, they cannot associate words with thought or they react very slowly At the end of the day, most learners passively sit and keep quiet in a corner

More or less, adult learners are bound by time and energy limit Unlike young children, they have to work and more things to care for in life This is blamed to

be the reason for a larger number of learners who start so many times but never pass beginners’ level

Since the above mentioned difficulties are known and some of them, e.g “hard” articulation, are hard to improve, a lot of hope is put in finding the right programs at the right language schools In recent years, learners have more and more options to choose, from low cost to high quality While common courses offers as low cost as 700.000 VND, premium courses are facilitated with modern projector and lab, comfortable air-conditioned room, where they learn

to speak with native speaking teachers and in small groups

For the language schools and centers that choose to offer common courses, course syllabus and teaching methodology are put on more weight to make up

for the facility shortcoming Most common language centers are set up by universities and high schools, which serve students and working people Although the courses are open for all ages, most learners are from 20 to 40 years old Among these centers, Nong Lam University’s Center for Foreign Studies has been known in the past few years for its innovative methodology and diversified syllabus, which is appealing to be chosen for this thesis

1.2 Aims of the study

The thesis aims to identify problems arising in oral English class built for adult learners at the CFS, Nong Lam University In order to do this, a survey will be carried out to explore learners’ experience in learning English, their expectations as well as their personal characteristics Given the findings, the study will end up with practical solutions to improve the teaching and learning

of spoken English for Vietnamese learners, especially those in elementary level

While there are a lot of studies for English-majored issues carried out, it appears that not much consideration has been taken into the field of non-majored English Also, all the time spending in CFS to teach speaking skills for adult learners, having an empathy with them, the researcher finds it urgent to do something for them By investigating the current teaching and learning situation

at CFS, the thesis aims to suggest possibilities to improve oral skills for elementary adult learners at Nong Lam University’s Center for Foreign Studies.

1.3 Overview of the study

The thesis includes six main chapters

Chapter 1 serves as the introduction of the study, which identifies the problems

and provides an overview of the thesis

Chapter 2 provides the background of the study It describes the learning

environment and situation of the adult learners, the learners’ and teachers’ characteristics for an understanding of what to be addressed in later parts

Chapter 3 reviews the relevant literature

Chapter 4 presents the methodology of the study involving data collection

from learners and how the study conducted

Chapter 5 processes, analyzes the data collected and discusses the findings

Chapter 6 draws a conclusion and provides solutions with recommended

techniques, strategies and suggests areas for further research

CHAPTER TWO

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Chapter 2 presents the background information which is essential for an understanding of the problems mentioned in the thesis The first part is to give an overview on the English course at the Center for Foreign Studies (CFS), Nong Lam University The second part is the reflection of the situation of teaching and teaching staff at CFS The third one provides learners’ profiles, their background knowledge and learning experience

2.1 A description of the English course at CFS, Nong Lam university:

This section aims at providing sufficient information about the learning condition as well as the state of being of the English course at CFS, so that the study can be tracked with ease The English training program at CFS consists of many levels from elementary to advance Each course lasts 12 weeks, in which the four skills listening, speaking, reading and writing are taught The objective of the course is to help learners get familiar with all the skills to do the Pre-Toefl and Toefl tests Also, learners are trained to get the English certificates level A, B In this thesis, the elementary level is focused because it is the first step to help learners with the right background to get to the advanced level Spoken English is one among other 3 compulsory skills which are designed in the teaching syllabus at the center to build the background knowledge of English and to develop the ability to use it in communication

At CFS, the classes at elementary levels are named 100A, 100B During 12 weeks, learners at the first level have to take 5 consecutive periods of spoken English per week, which means 60 periods of the whole course

By the end of the course, learners of these two classes are expected to be able to carry on daily conversations in simple English, such as how to introduce to each other, how to start or end a conversation, to make offers and request, to call and answer the phone, how to make an invitation They are hoped to build more confidence in pronunciation as well to have a background and move on to the next level Also, learners are required to take the midterm test and final test to check their progress

2.2 Teaching Material

The main course book to teach spoken English for the 100A and 100B classes is KnowHow by Therese Naber, and Angela Blackwell, Oxford University Press In fact, this is not the book for the real purpose of teaching speaking skill because it is

an integrated book, in which the four skills listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed However, it is chosen for the speaking period at the elementary level

at CF because it has the following features:

• It is for young adults and adults It covers the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing with particular emphasis on listening and speaking

• The primary goal of the course book is to teach communicative competence, that is, the ability to communicate in English according to the situation, purpose, and roles of the participants Throughout the course, learners have the opportunity to personalize the language they learn, to make use of their own world knowledge and to express their ideas and opinions

• The course book (level one) takes learners from false beginner to intermediate level It also prepares them to make the transition from the classroom to the real world

low-• Speaking skills are a focus of KnowHow Many elements in the course book (e.g., grammar, functions, topics, listening, pronunciation, vocabulary) provide support for oral communication The pronunciation

is treated as one integral part of oral proficiency in this book The pronunciation exercises focus on important features of spoken English, including stress, rhythm, intonation, reductions, linking sounds, and sound contrasts These help learners to produce natural-sounding speech

• The whole book (level one) consists of 16 units, each presents two main topics

2.3 Learners’ profile:

English is not only a compulsory subject for pupils and students but it is also a necessity for most people in life The needs and demands for studying English are increasing more and more Thus, a lot of people rush to foreign language centers to study English

Learners in most foreign language centers are from various backgrounds and different ages But the majority of them are young adults and adults Some from the central and southern provinces, some from big cities but most of them want

to stay in Ho Chi Minh City permanently to live and work

• Young adults aged between 18 and 29 Most of them are students and working people They all have a basic background in English Students have already studied English at high schools for 7 years However, English was not taught as a primary subject in high schools and furthermore, under Grammar-Translation Methodology, all EFL classrooms were teacher-directed, students passively received the lessons English seemed to be taught for reading and writing purpose not for verbal communication and therefore, speaking and listening were

ignored Now they have to come to foreign language centers to improve their speaking skill Some young adults report they have learned English

in many foreign language centers, but they still need more practice in pronunciation and speaking

• Adults aged between 30 and 40 There are a small number of adults in CFS These are working people or housewives, retired people who come

to the center to study English and make use of the free time in the best way Some of them do not have much knowledge of English Some are very excellent because they are working in a foreign company They have

a wide vocabulary and their writing or reading is acceptable but they find

it hard to express themselves in English For these learners, they come to the center with the hope that they can achieve a certain efficiency level in using English communicatively and naturally for their future career Some merely wish to be able to use English in daily life as a means of communication

2.4 Teacher’s profile:

Teachers at the center for foreign studies of Nong Lam University are those of Vietnamese teachers who obtained a Bachelor’s or even a Master’s degree in TESOL Half of the teachers have a lot of experience in teaching, the other half are young teachers There are also about 8 foreign teachers who come from the United States, the United Kingdom, Holland, the Philippines

Young teachers and foreigners are preferred to be assigned to teach spoken English for their activeness Apparently, they are able to conduct a spoken English class with the proficiency level they achieved However, the lack of real exposure to English-speaking communities and little knowledge of English culture and customs result in their uncertainty in teaching sometimes

2.5 The physical setting:

“Setting” refers to the classroom arrangements specified or implied in the task At CFS, instructions, learning and teaching activities are mostly carried out in the classrooms Most of the lessons are developed in such a fixed condition that the teachers find it difficult to make a change

• The class size: Most of English classes in the CFS have the total of 30 students; the others extend from 25 to 40 students

• An audio-visual laboratory is well-equipped with a system of communication consists of 48 cabins, an overhead projector, television, VCR, cassette However, learners at other annexes can not study in the lab because it is located in Thu Duc head office, 18 kilometers far from

Ho Chi Minh City

• All of the classrooms were designed for lecture lessons It means that the seating is arranged orderly in front of the teacher And classroom equipment is just chalkboard, and a cassette for listening classes

CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter will cover main issues that involve the teaching and learning of spoken English in EFL classroom It is also necessary to review the principles of adult learning for designing relevant speaking techniques This chapter includes three main parts, the first part is about principles of adult learning; the second part is about some aspects in teaching spoken English, which deal with the nature of speaking and some factors affecting adult learners’ oral communication; and the third is the review on approaches which have been in use for teaching spoken English so far This literature review is to provide a theoretical base for the study reported in this thesis

3.1 Principles of adult learning:

3.1.1 Characteristics of adult learners:

Part of being an effective instructor involves understanding how adults learn best This section provides an overview on the characteristics of adult learners, which helps to reinforce the understanding of their learning styles

Adults differ from “typical” or “traditional” students or schoolchildren in that they bring a great deal of life experience and cognitive maturity to the classroom In many cases, they have borne and reared children, earned a living Adult students have a maturity and an understanding of priorities that many younger students do not According to Knowles (1975:181), “a prime characteristic of adultness is the need and capacity to be self-directing” In other words, adults will “direct” their own learning agendas, to some extent Once the learning environment does not match their expectations and perceived needs, the self-direction may take the form

of challenging the teacher or syllabus on class, of simply leaving the class and seeking some other ways of learning

In addition to being mature and self-directed, adult learners are psychologically vulnerable since they are adults and have already formed a strong sense of who they are In Trosset’s study, she found that “the process of learning a new language temporarily takes away people’s ability to talk, and the resultant sense of inadequacy leads them to experience shame” (Trosset, 1986:183) She further notes that many of the adult learners she observed experience not only a sense of adequacy, but also a fear of failure as well as fear of success, all of which seemed to

be intimately associated with feelings of shame

The characteristics of adult learners are described more specifically in the principles

of adult learning theories Malcolm Knowles (1975) identified the following characteristics of adult learners in his study First, adults are autonomous and self-directed They need to be free to direct themselves Second, they have accumulated

a foundation of life experience and knowledge that may include work-related activities, family responsibilities, and previous education They need to connect learning to this knowledge/experience base Third, adults are goal-oriented Upon rolling in a course, they usually know what goal they want to attain Next, adults are relevancy-oriented They must see a reason for learning something Learning has to

be applicable to their work or other responsibilities to be of value to them Adults are practical, focusing on the aspects of a lesson most useful to them in their work They may not be interested in knowledge for its own sake Finally, as do all learners, adults need to be shown respect

Brundage and MacKeracher (1980: 21-31), two specialists in adult learning theory whose work has been influential in language teaching circles identified adult learners’ characteristics as follows:

Adults who value their own experience as a resource for further learning or whose experience is valued by other are better learners They learn best when they are involved in developing learning objectives for themselves which are congruent with their current and idealized self concept Adults have already developed

organized ways of focusing on, taking in and processing information These are referred to as cognitive style The learner reacts to all experience as he perceives it, not as the teacher presents it Adults enter into learning activities with an organized set of descriptions and feelings about themselves which influence the learning process Adults are more concerned with whether they are changing in direction of their own idealized self-concept that whether they are meeting standards and objectives set for them by others Adults do not learn when over-stimulated or when experiencing extreme stress or anxiety Those adults who can process information through multiple channels and have learnt “how to learn” are the most productive learners Adults learn best when the content is personally relevant to past experience or present concerns and the learning process is relevant to life experiences Adults learn best when novel information is presented through a variety of sensory modes and experiences, with sufficient repetitions and variations

on themes to allow distinctions in patterns to emerge

(Brundage and MacKeracher 1980: 21-31)

3.1.2 Some aspects of adult learning

This part presents some aspects of adult learning in general These are the aspects that affect their learning effectiveness

advancement acts as the fourth factor to motivate adult learning They desire to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional advancement and stay abreast of competitors Moreover, learning is a means to escape for some adult learners To say it more specifically, they learn to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or work, and provide a contrast to other exacting details of life Finally, cognitive interest serves as one important motivation Adults learn for the sake of learning, they seek knowledge for its own sake, and satisfy an inquiring mind

Brown (1994: 152) thought of motivation as an “inner drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that moves from one to a particular action” Gardner and Lambert (cited in Littlewood, 1991: 57) identify two types of motivation: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation A learner with integrative motivation has a sincere and personal interest in the second language community in order to communicate with them more satisfactorily and to gain closer contact with them and their culture A learner with instrumental motivation, on the other hand, is interested in how the second language can be a useful instrument towards furthering other goals, such as gaining a necessary qualification or improving employment prospect

Therefore, integrative motivation is responsible for long-term success in language learning (Taylor, Meynard and Rheault 1997; Crookes et al 1991; Ellis 1997) According to Allwright and Bailey (1996), learners with integrative motivation are often more active in class, volunteer more, make more correct responses Littlewood (1981) points out that in EFL settings, learners’ level of integrative motivation is rather slow because English is used mostly to communicate with outsiders rather than with people inside the learner’s community, hence learners are less likely to be aware of a communicative need for it As they may have little or no interest in the target language culture and few or no opportunities to interact with its members, instrumental motivation, on the other hand, can be much more powerful

in these contexts (Ellis 1994)

In summary, learners with a mixture of both motivations will manifest greater effort and determination in learning

There is also intrinsic and resultative motivation Resultative motivation is defined

as a possible result of learning When learners experience successful learning, they may become more motivated to learn Thus there is an interactive tie between motivation and achievement Ellis (1997) describes the case of intrinsic motivation

as learners’ unclear attitudes, whether positive or negative, towards the target language group that lead to general reasons for learning an L2 Instead, learners may be intrinsically interested in specific learning activities McNamara (1973, quoted in Ellis, 1994) shares the same opinion with Ellis on that “the really important part of motivation lies in the act of communication”

3.1.2.2 Barriers:

Unlike children and teenagers, adults have many responsibilities that they must balance against the demands of learning Because of these responsibilities, adults have barriers against participating in learning Some of these barriers include lack

of time, money, confidence, or interest, lack of information about opportunities to learn, scheduling problems, and problems with child care and transportation Motivation factors can also be a barrier, when they are forced to learn on terms other than their own The barriers to adult learners’ speaking ability will be explained more in the followings

3.2 Some aspects of teaching spoken English:

3 2.1.The nature of speaking:

In order to speak in another language, one needs to know how to articulate sounds

in a comprehensible manner, one needs an adequate vocabulary, and one needs to have mastery of syntax These elements add up to linguistic competence However, linguistic competence is not sufficient for someone who wants to communicate

competently in another language Communicative competence includes linguistic competence, but also includes a range of other sociolinguistic and conversational skills that enable the speaker to know how to say what to whom, when

Richards, Platt and Weber (1985) define the characteristics of communicative competence as:

Communicative competence includes knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of the language; knowledge of rules of speaking (e.g., knowing how to begin and end conversations, knowing what topics can

be talked about in different types of speech events, knowing which address forms should be used with different persons one speaks to and in different situations; knowing how to use and respond to different types

of speech acts such as requests, apologies, thanks, and invitations; and knowing how to use language appropriately.

Richards, Platt and Weber (1985: 49)

Also, Canale and Swain proposed a modular framework of four components (Canale & Swain, 1980; Canale, 1983; Swain, 1984 cited in Xu Li-sheng 2000) for describing communicative competence:

a) Grammatical competence, including vocabulary, word formation, sentence formation, pronunciation, spelling and linguistic semantics;

b) Sociolinguistic competence, addressing the extent to which utterances are produced and understood appropriately in different sociolinguistic contexts depending on contextual factors such as status of participants, purposes of the interaction, and norms or conventions of interaction;

c) Discourse competence, concerning mastery of how to combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text in different genres;

d) Strategic competence, composed of mastery of verbal and non-verbal

breakdowns in communication due to limiting conditions in actual situations or to insufficient competence in one or more of the other areas of communicative competence and to enhance the effectiveness of communication

Their most valuable contribution to communicative competence theory is that they integrated into their model communication strategies that people often employ to cope with the problems arising in the course of communication They pointed out that such strategies should be considered as an essential aspect of communicative competence, which is no less important than grammatical or sociolinguistic competence

3.2.2 Factors Affecting Adult EFL Learners’ Oral Communication

3.2.2.1 Age or Maturational Constraints

The communicative competence of adult EFL learners is influenced by a number of factors Adult learners do not seem to have the same innate language-specific endowment or propensity as children for acquiring fluency and naturalness in spoken language Age is one of the most commonly cited determinant factors of success or failure in L2 or foreign language learning Oyama’s study (1976) shows that many adults fail to reach native like proficiency in a second language Studies conclude that adult learners cannot attain perfect pronunciation in L2 or a foreign language because of a phenomenon called “fossilization” – the permanent cessation

of second language development Wahba (cited in Rababah, 2003: 16) summarizes the problems facing EFL Egyptian learners in oral communication:

Egyptian learners face certain problems related to pronunciation Some of these problems are related to stress, others are related to intonation However, most of these problems can be attributed to the differences in pronunciation between English and Arabic

Bailey (2006) explains the reason why the spoken English of ESOL learners often sound ungrammatical to native speakers She reports a specific case of Vietnamese learners:

Learners whose native language is Vietnamese, for instance, may omit final consonants, thereby eliminating the sounds that convey important linguistic information, such as plurality, possession, or tense

Bailey (2006: 123)

In brief, the aging progress itself may affect or limit adult learners’ ability to pronounce the target language fluently with native like pronunciation Shumin (1997; cited in Krashen, Long and Scarcella 1982: 175-201) reports that acquirers who begin learning a second language in early childhood through natural exposure achieve higher proficiency than those beginning as adults Even if adult learners can utter words and sentences with perfect pronunciation, problems with prosodic features such as intonation, stress, and other phonological nuances still cause

misunderstandings or lead to communication breakdown

3.2.2.2 Aural Medium

In his study, Shumin asserted the central role of listening comprehension in the L2

or foreign language acquisition process He said that there is little doubt about the significant role of listening in the development of speaking abilities

Speaking feeds on listening, which precedes it Usually, one person speaks, and the other responds through attending by means of the listening process In fact, during interaction, every speaker plays a double role – both as a listener and as a speaker

(Kang Shumin, 1997: 205)

While listening, learners must comprehend the text by retaining information in memory, integrate it with what follows, and continually adjust their understanding

of what they hear in the light of prior knowledge and of incoming information

(Mendelsohn & Rubin, 1995:35)

In a word, there is a close relationship between listening and speaking Speaking is interwoven with listening, which is the basic mechanism through which the rules of language are internalized The fleetingness of speech, together with the features of spoken English – loosely organized syntax, incomplete forms, false starts, and the use of filters- undoubtedly hinders EFL learners’ comprehension and affects the development of their speaking abilities (Kang Shumin, 1997:205)

3.2.2.3 Sociocultural Factors

Cultural characteristics of a language also affect foreign language learning Carrasquillo stated that “shared values and beliefs create the traditions and social structures that bind a community together and are expressed in their language” (Carrasquillo, 1994: 55) Therefore to speak a language, one must know how the language is used in a social context It is well known that each language has its own rules of usage as to when, how, and to what degree a speaker may impose a given verbal behavior on his or her conversational partner (Berns, 1990) Because the influence of their own cultural norms, it is hard for nonnative speakers to choose the forms appropriate to certain situations

In addition, oral communication involves a very powerful nonverbal communication system, which sometimes contradicts the messages provided through the verbal listening channel EFL learners usually do not know how to pick

up nonverbal cues because of a lack of familiarity with the nonverbal communication system of the target language As a result, ignorance of the nonverbal message often leads to misunderstanding

Reluctance to speak can also derive from expectations about the roles that teachers and students should play during classroom instruction Tsui (1996) mentions that Asian students may be anxious not to show verbal success in front their peers, due

to a cultural feature of modesty In Asian cultures, teachers and students assume very strict roles that are rarely violated In Japan, in light of Confucian, the norms of

classroom participation require students to accept with gratitude what is taught and keep silent except when explicitly asked to speak by the teacher (Scollon & Scollon

1990, reported in Johnson 1995) The non-Western style classrooms are depicted by the teacher adopting a lecture style of teaching and the learner listening and taking notes in silence Few class discussions are conducted, and students are not expected

to interrupt the teacher to ask a question because that is considered rude

3.2.2.4 Affective Factors

One of the most important influences on language learning success or failure is the affective side of the learner The affective factors related to L2 or foreign language learning are emotion, self-esteem, empathy, anxiety, attitude and motivation

Self-esteem

Krasen (cited in Phillips, 1999: 126) says that learners with low self-esteem are more likely to be concerned with what their classmates think about them and this fear of making a mistake or appearing foolish add to their anxiety Self-esteem is defined by Coppersmith (1967:4-5) as a personal judgement of worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes that the individual holds toward himself There would be

no successful cognitive or affective activity that can be carried out without some degree of self-esteem, self-confidence, knowledge of yourself, and belief in your own capabilities for that activity (Brown, 1994:136) A “strongly passive” self-conceit learner will resist verbal interaction more than someone who sees herself/himself as an “outgoing” type If someone always tells himself or herself,

“I’m no good at language” he or she will be always threatened by any effort to speak up, even in a very common situation Or someone usually keeps in mind that

“I feel confident enough to speak to a native speaker”; he or she will strive to make more degrees of exposure to language learning

Anxiety

Anxiety is described as “feeling of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension

or worry” (Brown, 1994:141) Anxiety plays an important role in oral interaction of adult learners It is associated with different kinds of fear such as fear of looking ridiculous, fear of the frustration coming from a listener’s blank look showing that they have failed to communicate, fear of the danger of not being able to communicate… (Beebe, 1983: 40) Shumin (1997) deduces that speaking a foreign language in public, especially in front of native speakers, is often anxiety-provoking Extreme anxiety sometimes occurs when EFL learners become tongue-tied or lost for words in an unexpected situation which often leads to discouragement and a general sense of failure She also concludes that adults are concerned with how they are judged by other people They are very cautious about making errors in what they say, for making errors would be a public display of ignorance, which would be an obvious occasion of “losing face” in some cultures Clearly, the sensitivity of adult learners to making mistakes, or fear of “losing face”, has been the explanation for their inability to speak English

Motivation and concern for good speaking skill

The intrinsic motivation of learners is perhaps the strongest influence that propels learners toward improvement Some learners are not willing to study pronunciation

or they are reluctant to participate in communicative activities in class They are also not particularly concerned about their pronunciation while others are If that motivation is high, then the necessary effort will be expended in pursuit of goals

3.2.2.5 The amount of exposure to the target language:

Whatever the language learner brings to the task, whether innate ability, a language acquisition device, attitudes, previous knowledge, and experience of

languages and language learning, the outcome in language learning depends in large measure on the amount and kind of exposure to the target language

(Spolsky, B 1998: 166)

In other terms, exposure to the target language is called language environment Spolsky (1998:170-171) made a clear distinction between formal and informal learning, which accords with educational settings and natural language environment, respectively In natural language learning, the language is being used for communication, the learner is surrounded by fluent speakers of the target language, the context is the real outside world, open and stimulating and the language used is free and normal In formal classroom, the language is used to teach; only the teacher

is fluent, the context is inside the classroom with the four closed walls and language used is carefully controlled and simplified As a matter of fact, it is assumed that educational settings are not likely to provide higher level of L2 proficiency than natural settings Nevertheless, learners receiving formal instruction in education settings are proved to become more grammatically accurate than those who do not (Ellis 1997: 216) In brief, the natural setting and educational treatment should complement each other Yet in practice, is is very difficult to build such an ideal setting for learners don’t live and study in the natural language environment Moreover, the EFL settings provide few chances to practice speaking with native speakers Is is the teachers who have to ponder ways to create an effective classroom environment by exploiting appropriate teaching methods and resource materials

3.2.2.6 Organizational impediments

The organizational impediments here include poor-conditioned language classroom settings, lack of premises, books or audio equipment, multimedia labs or absenteeism of suitable and capable teachers is yet another way in which fault in organization can reduce the effectiveness of learning

Brinton stated in his study that “such video cameras and computer assist teacher in their jobs, bringing the outside world into the classroom, and, in short, making the task of language learning a more meaningful and exciting one” (Brinton, 2001:460) Many benefits in teaching and learning languages can be gained from the use of Internet and the emergence of computer network technology The Internet can help language teachers generate motivation in the students as stated by Chun & Brandl,

1992, “the interactive and multimedia capabilities of the Internet make it a motivational learning tool” It also provides students with a multimedia mirror on the target culture in that it can bring sounds, words, and images of the foreign language, embedded in their culture, into the classroom and thus, can help expose students to international communication and new cultures as well as break down stereotypes

3.3 Approaches applied in teaching spoken English

3.3.1 Teacher-centered approach

This approach has been in use for a very long time It has been underpinning in several traditional learning and teaching methods such as Audio-Lingual, Grammar-Translation, where the teacher always obtains a primary role as a classroom core

On the chessboard of academic-style education, the most powerful single piece is the teacher Society invests him with authority, which is the right to exercise power (Stervick, 1976:91)

Classroom language learning focuses on form and structure rather than the meaning Teacher is trying to make sure their students produce good grammatical patterns by getting them to memorize the essential patterns and structures

As for the activities, the use of drills and pattern practice is a distinctive feature of this approach Various kinds of drills are used including choral repetition in which the teacher asks the whole class to repeat the model together, learners practice with the teacher controlling the speed and stress; individual repetition in which the

teacher nominates a learner, the learner responds, and the teacher gives feedback; cue-response drills which are done after the above two have been presented (Harmer, 1991: 65-7)

In this approach, the type of language and materials used tends to be formal and bookish Also, as the primary goal is accuracy, one of the teacher’s most important functions here is error correction All types of errors have to be corrected right away

to avoid a “bad habit”

Regarding classroom talks, the communication flow is from teacher to learners Teachers initiate the classroom talk and manipulate it Interaction is only expected between teacher-learner not yet between learner-learner since they are believed to learn bad language from their peers

Learners are acting as passive recipients and play a rather passive role They are expected simply to listen and repeat what the teacher says and to respond to the questions and commands (Richards & Rogers, 1986:38) They have little or no control over the content, pace or style of learning Learners are treated as children who are always in need of the Parents’ (the Teacher’s) protect and control Teacher’s roles are extremely active and central in the classroom He models the target language, initiates, controls the direction and pace of classroom interaction, monitors and corrects the learners’ performance In teacher-centered class, teacher

is a controller who controls not only what learners do, but also when they should talk and what language they should use Wright (1997) summarized tasks teacher has to carry out in class are

providing knowledge for learners, choosing learning material, making rules

of behaviour in class, imposing discipline on learners, punishing students’

misbehaviour, deciding seating arrangements in the classroom, deciding on the procedure for learning, setting work for students, marking work done by students

(Wright, 1987:16)

To some extent, the teacher-centered approach has achieved success in promoting language accuracy and in managing learning situation in the way that the school syllabus and curriculum has designed However, numbers of weak points have been reported, which need serious consideration

Firstly, this type of teaching does not encourage creative thinking or promote peers’ co-operation The learners are passive, rely very much on the teacher and expect every detail to be fed by the teacher As a result, their self-confidence, anxiety and inhibition are not able to be removed in the process

Secondly, the learners are often found to be unable to transfer what they are taught

in classroom to genuine communications in the real world The teacher-centered approach leaves learners in passivity and being handicapped with unproductiveness

in communication

3.3.2 Learner-centered approach

Lately, language theorists have found out the new approach: the learner-centered approach, which is based on the needs and controls of learners There are two main bases for this change on perception, the theory and practice of adult learning and the development of communicative language learning and teaching

The learning is focused on communication fluency rather than accuracy Its purpose

is to cover only what the learners need and see as important for an effective communication with outside world The range of classroom tasks and activities in learner-directed orientation is not limited to a certain type of drills or pattern practice They are topic discussions, dialogues and role-plays, simulations, games,

etc at learners’ choice Language and materials used in classroom are authenticated and related to learners’ experience and emphasized on genuine daily language

As to error treatment, mistakes are often ignored or corrected at a later stage, except errors that cause communication breakdown, misunderstanding or misleading The communication fluency and efficiency that help to bring the message across is considered more important Self-correction or peers’ correction is always encouraged Regarding classroom talks, data flow is effective in all directions, teacher-learners, learner-learner with peers’ interaction is prioritized

The teacher has two main roles that are to facilitate the communication process among all learners and to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group (Richards & Rodgers, 1986:77) Other roles assumed for teachers are needs analyst, counselor and group process manager As a need analyst, teacher

is expected to know and to respond to learners’ language needs He is also expected

to give consultation to learners when and where needed Also, he has to lead in the debriefing of the activity, pointing out alternatives and extensions and assisting groups in self-correction discussion (1986:78-9) Learners are committing more active and more responsible roles in their own learning process and learning progress Wright (1987) also listed students’ behaviors in group work and class work as follows:

Student encourages others to keep working, student refuses to accept majority decision, student willingly agrees to change role in group, student brainstorms ideas about tasks, student accepts group’s decision, student converses on task solution, student refuses to divulge personal feelings, student agrees to take a break from work, student takes on a new role which is accepted by the group

(Wright, 1987:37)

As compared with teacher-centered approach, the learner-centered classroom has been received with more positive feedback Learners are released from a traditional

passive role and are now taking a more interesting, alive and creative role This approach succeeds in building learners’ responsibility in learning and giving them a sense of independence It also helps learners become more confident in an atmosphere of relaxation, openness, thoughtfulness and respect for the students’ own values, opinions and ideas

Moreover, since the bulk of classroom time is reserved for learners’ talk and doing oral practice in groups and pairs, they will definitely make progress in communicative competence In this learning environment, learners feel more motivated to make efforts in learning

Learner-centered Approach also includes Communicative Language Teaching and some other humanistic approaches such as the Learner-based Teaching

During the 1970s and 1980s, researchers found out that people do not learn the pieces of the language and then put them together to make conversations Instead, infants acquiring their first language learn the components of language through interaction with other people This realization has several important implications, the most central of which is that if people learn languages by interacting, then learners should interact during the lessons As a result, Communicative Language Teaching arose This kind of teaching method features more interaction-based activities, such as role-plays and information gap tasks (activities in which learners must use English to convey information known to them but not to other classmates) Pair work and group work are typical organizational features of interaction-based lessons in communicative language teaching In this method, teachers often downplay accuracy and emphasize students’ ability to convey their messages (Hammerly, 1991) Accuracy is the extent to which the adult ESOL learners’ speech matches the native speaker norms (in terms of their speech being free of notable errors)

3.3.3 Discussion

Teacher-centered and learner-centered approach are mentioned in the above section

In terms of accuracy and fluency, some items should be considered Byrne (1986) proposes priorities in teaching spoken language as follows:

ELEMENTARY ADVANCED

Focus on accuracy fluency

Priority in teaching spoken language

accuracy Focus on fluency

Given accuracy and fluency terms, there are two approaches to speaking: based and fluency-based which are summarized below:

accuracy-Accuracy-based approach to speaking Fluency-based approach to speaking

• Focus is on language form

• Errors need to be corrected

• Learners mainly speak English to the teacher/ speak in unison

• Learners are often told what to say and how to say it

• Speaking often limited to practice

• Speaking replicates ‘real life’ communication

• Many types of interaction

Accuracy-based approach to speaking Fluency-based approach to speaking

• Group problem solving

As far as it may concern, there appear to be learners who take writing as speech written down and speech is spoken writing This results in their careful plan for the speech by preparing what they intend to speak in written form in order that they can exploit their vocabulary range and construct long, complex sentence Therefore unnatural and stylistically inappropriate speech is produced First language is also

an important factor that matters because it is usually an utterance initiator when learners are forced to speak Studies into the first language interference have shown that this negative influence is one of the causes of unintelligible speech

In short, at different stages in the teaching/ learning sequence, language accuracy and fluency should share with one another their varying priority to have a good impact on the natural development of language learning

3.4 The roles of teachers and learners

Given the underlined communicative approach, the objectives and principles for teaching and learning a foreign language have implied the important roles of teachers and learners

To begin with, teachers are responsible for facilitating the learners’ learning through the organization of tasks and activities that really motivate them to communicate in

foreign language On the other hand, teachers need to present and have the learners develop these activities which will have to be checked as to degree of performance

Breen and Candlin (1980) express some roles of the teacher in the following way:

Teacher has two main roles: the first role is to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and various activities and texts The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group […] A third role for the teacher is that of researcher and learner, with much to contribute in terms of appropriate knowledge and abilities, actual and observed experience of nature of learning and organizational capabilities.

(cited in Richards and Rodgers, 1992: 77)

In this approach, first of all, learners’ role is as a manager of their own learning process They make decisions about what they want from the language, how they can learn from it, when to develop some aspects and not others, and to what extent they may get in language performance Secondly, learners have the capacity to monitor their learning and help classmates to do the same And because learners are expected to interact primarily with each other rather than with the teacher, error corrections may be absent or infrequent Thirdly, once learner assumes the role of negotiator, they should be aware of the sort of language to be used, the kind of relationship to be established, and the social context to be considered

3 5 The role of teaching materials

For long teaching materials’ role has been largely recognized among language teachers and learners Brown (1994) asserts that:

What would language classes be without books, pictures, maps, charts, visuals, and realia? Yes, you could have conversations, role plays, discussions, and blackboard work, but much of the richness of language instruction is derived from supporting materials

Brown (1994: 144)

Candlin and Keobke (cited in Nguyen Thi My Ngoc, 2000: 72) say that good materials are defined by authenticity, appropriateness, relevance, practicability of content and tasks and attuning to learners’ levels of competence, both linguistic and cognitive

There are a lot of materials which have been recommended to support communicative approaches to language teaching, namely textbooks, task-based materials, and realia

All CLT textbooks are underpinned by the notional-functional syllabus (Brown, 1994: 67) Task-based materials are exercise handbooks, cue cards, activity cards, pair-communication practice materials, and learner-interaction practice booklets which serve a variety of games, role-plays, simulations and task-based communication activities Realia consists of language-based realia, such as signs, magazines, advertisements, and newspapers or graphic and visual sources around which communicative activities can be built, such as maps, symbols, graphs, and charts In brief, as proponents of CLT call, realia can be considered “authentic” or

“from-life” materials

3 6 Summary

This chapter has discussed the some aspects of adult learning It has given a look at the characteristics of adult learners and some factors affecting adult learner’s oral communication It has also discussed the nature of speaking, mentioned communicative competence, reviewed some approaches applied in teaching spoken English and explored the importance of teaching materials In order to stimulate a

communicative classroom where adult learners are learning English and really using

it, teacher has to pay attention to psychological aspects of these learners Teachers’ roles have changed from full responsibility and authority to instruments to set up and see that learning takes place Learners then become the center of the classroom which the teacher has constructed The discussion in this chapter has been planned

to be the theoretical base for the study of the oral English learning situation of elementary language adult learners In addition, it is the background reinforcing suggestions that follow

formulated through the following research questions:

(1) What are some common problems the adult learners at CFS have when speaking English inside and outside the classroom?

(2) What teaching techniques and methodology are currently applied in the speaking class at CFS?

(3) What should the teachers do to enhance the adult learners’ English speaking skills at CFS, Nong Lam University?

4.2 Research design

In order to give answers to the above research questions, both qualitative and quantitative research methods were employed Kumar stated the difference between qualitative and quantitative research as

The study is classified as qualitative if the purpose of the study is primarily to describe a situation, phenomenon, problem or event; the information is gathered through the use of variables measured on nominal or ordinal scales On the other hand, if you want to quantify the variation in a phenomenon, situation, problem or

issue, if information is gathered using predominantly quantitative variables, and if the analysis is geared to ascertain the magnitude of the variation, the study is classified as quantitative study

(Kumar, 1996:10)

In this study, survey questionnaires for learners are the best choice because of the large number of subjects (113 respondents) In addition, the study population is scattered over 2 annexes of CFS As compared with interviews, this type of data collection can help to make the learners feel straightforward and not reluctant to give responses It can also help to make their fear and embarrassment resulting from direct contact be avoided Also, according to Neuman (2000), researchers use surveys for basic research in universities, schools and also in language education which brings about exploration, description, or explanation of people’s characteristics, attitudes, opinions and expectations

Meanwhile, I used interviews for teachers because in-depth information can be collected in this person-to-person interaction Moreover, interviewing can be very flexible, when the interviewer can explain ambiguous questions or provide supplementary information around the issue being investigated (Kumar, 1996)

This section describes the design of the study in three parts: (1) the subjects, (2) the instruments and (3) the data collection procedures

adult learners So the number of respondents was 113 They were from different age groups: 102 were from 18 to 29 (90.3%), the predominant group of the survey, 11 were from 30 to 39 (9, 7%), and none was over 40 (0%) Figure 1 presents the age ranges of the learner subjects

18-29 30-39

Respondent's age groups

18-29

90.27%

n=102

30-39 9.73%

n=11

Figure 3.1: Respondent’s age group

Of the 113 respondents, 61 learners (54 %) have studied English from 7 to 10 years,

21 learners (19 %) from 3 to 6 years, 7 (6 %) got familiar with it less than 3 years ago, and only 5 (4 %) have learned it for over 10 years Some missed this category Also, 59 (52 %) are students, 46 (41 %) are employees, and 8 (7%) refused to talk about their occupation

The second group consists of 8 Vietnamese teachers of English Their ages range from 25 to 34 years Their English-teaching experience is from 2 to 17 years Five

of them get Master of Arts degrees, two get Bachelor of Arts and the other one gets

a Diploma in TESOL At the time of the data collection, all of them were working

as teachers of English at CFS, University of Agriculture and Forestry and at some other universities in Ho Chi Minh City Their background information is as follow

in table 2 In this table, they were named as Teacher 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8

Table 3.1 Background information about Interview Informants

Teachers Age Years of teaching experience Highest Degree completed

class and outside (3) what their expectations have been during the speaking period (4) what teachers should do to cope with the problems to improve learners’ speaking ability

Questionnaire for the learners

The questionnaire consists of 22 questions divided in four parts It is written in Vietnamese to ensure learners’ comprehension The first part of the survey asked the learners about their personal background and their studying English The second part involved 12 questions about the learners’ motivational factors, their current problems, practices, expectations, suggestions on the learning of spoken English, and also their evaluation on the present speaking material The third one consisted

of 4 questions to deal with the learners’ problems as well as their frequency, habit when communicating in English outside the classroom The last question in part 4 made it possible for us to improve the teaching and learning English at CFS based

on the learners’ suggestions

Interview for the teachers

According to Kumar (1996), there are two kinds of interviews: structured and unstructured The structured interview is a pre-determined set of questions which are prepared for use by an interviewer, in a person-to-person interaction The advantage of the structured interview is that it provides uniform information which assures the comparability of the data The unstructured one is known as an in-depth interview, the interviewer develops a framework, called an interview guide, within which to conduct the interview This approach to data collection is helpful in situations where either in-depth information is needed or little is known about the area Also, the flexibility allows the interviewer to elicit extremely rich information

Both the structured and unstructured interviews were used for the uniform and rich information, with which the most accurate comparability and helpful suggestion can

be reached

The questions in the structured interviews are as follows:

(1) What are some of the problems adult learners may have in learning spoken English?

(2) What are the difficulties you have faced when conducting an English-speaking class?

(3) What are some effective strategies or methods you have used to develop the Vietnamese learners’ spoken English?

4.2.3 Data collection procedures

The questionnaires were sent to the learners (the first group of the subject learner)

in the classroom at their break time, so that the learners could answer the questions independently After having finished the questionnaires, the learners were asked to hand in them to the class monitor who helped to distribute, collect and gave them back to me As the multiple-choice questionnaire was written in Vietnamese and the purpose of the study was informed carefully, all the learners were happy to help their teacher The survey questionnaire was conducted in 2005 at the two annexes Chu Van An and Ton Duc Thang of CFS, University of Agriculture and Forestry in

Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

The interviews for the teachers (the second group of the subjects) were conducted informally and individually The questions were asked in Vietnamese so that the informants were easy to catch the core of the issue Each interview was about thirty minutes, two were tape-recorded and the others were carefully note-taken Most interviews were carried out in 2005 at CFS