Some benefits of using smartphones to enhance the english speaking skill of university students in viet nam graduation paper

For this reason, a common question that whether or not students should apply smartphones to their English speaking learning and it will be clarified in this research, the following chapt

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Ho Chi Minh City, June 18 th , 2019

Full name: Ha Thi Thuy Linh

Student’s code: 15DH710341

Email address: halinhlinh97@gmail.com Phone number: 0359498381

Subject: Graduation Paper

Date submitted: June 18, 2019

Acknowledgments

For this study, I have received a lot of precious help to complete it

Firstly, I would like to thank Mr La Thanh Triet for his guidance during the writing of this paper with invaluable instructions, comments, enthusiastic support, and spiritual encouragement I could not finish my research without his assistance

Secondly, I would like to thank my friends as well as those who contributed to

my survey, helped me to complete the data and shared the questionnaires to others whom

I have never met before I could not finish my research without your assistance Nextly,

a special word of thanks is reserved for my fellow-friend, Pham Thi Nhu Quynh, who is doing another research together with me in this final semester

Especially, I am so grateful to my parents with their support and encouragement for giving me an advantageous condition to carry out the research smoothly

Last but not least, I would like to send my faithful thanks to my colleges and managers in JAVI Coffee Company and Galaxy Robot Education for creating a convenient condition for me to finish my paper

I did the research all by my best; however, the shortcomings and mistakes in this research are unavoidable, so I would like to receive valuable comments from readers

Again, I am sincerely appreciated your support and want to thank all of you much

Advisor’s assessment

List of table contents

Nowadays, the smartphone has become more widespread in daily life Most of the students are smartphone users and use a smartphone to communicate primarily Besides, communication becomes more important than ever when the integration among countries is growing, English is the common language which has been used to exchange information For this reason, the writer made a decision of studying the advantages of the smartphone in applying it to enhance students’ English speaking skill Furthermore, with the trend of technology recently, especially, industry 4.0, technology devices are capable of transferring the method of conventional studying in the future The research aims to illustrate the benefits of learning English speaking through a smartphone This current research was conducted by students from many different colleges and university

in Vietnam, with sixty respondents Additionally, both qualitative and quantitative method was applied in this research through questionnaires and displayed the data in pie and bar chart The results revealed that most of the students evaluated the significant development in their communication by English thanks to the support of the smartphone

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

There was a saying that “Speaking is an indispensable action to exchange the information in daily life” People can express their meanings in many different ways through gestures, feelings, actions to interact mutually; however, oral speaking is still the most mode using words to communicate Indeed, speaking plays a vital role in exchange information clearly Nowadays, the smartphone has become more widespread,

as the statistic report of Nielsen Vietnam (2017) stated there was 84 percent of Vietnamese using a smartphone, especially, this number is including young Vietnamese who are studying in colleges/universities This growing number of students using the smartphone in Vietnam is increasing day by day and there is no signal for the unstoppable of smartphone users because there are a lot of remarkable functions supporting to users’ demanding For this reason, a common question that whether or not students should apply smartphones to their English speaking learning and it will be clarified in this research, the following chapters

In the literature review, the chapter refers to the relevant study for this research The detailed aspect relating the research also is exploited specifically There are some keywords such as smartphone and speaking and its other concerning aspects are defined clearly in this part In this research, the large segment of the survey objective is students from various colleges/ universities located in Vietnam The writer uses quantitative and qualitative method to collect data for research through a questionnaire with 60 respondents while people’ majoring who participating in this survey are languages

1.1 The purpose of the study

The current study aims at achieving the following objectives:

- Exploring the effect of the smartphone to apply it to enhance students’ English speaking skill in colleges/university in Vietnam to keep pace up

with the development of technology nowadays, especially, the industry 4.0 and giving suggestions for using a smartphone to develop English speaking skill

- Boosting students’ English speaking ability about vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, fluency, and accuracy by using smartphone strategy

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Smartphone

2.1.1 Definition of smartphone

The appearance of a smartphone has been a remarkable turning point in social life Nowadays, a smartphone is considered as a tool containing many remarkable features in a device However, it is hard to give a definition of a smartphone According

to Oxford University Press (2019) defines smartphone implemented plenty of computer’s functions including a touchscreen interface, Internet access and an operating system capable of running downloaded apps The innovation of smartphone adapts a numerous users’ demands needed thanks to its convenience as a handheld device providing wireless voice communications, data applications including messaging in text and multimedia, e-mail, audio players and Web surfing via a Graphical User Interface (GUI)-based browser (versus the more primitive type of handheld devices with text-based browsing), (Global Knowledge Training LLC, 2010) Meanwhile, Olivia (2011) explains more clearly that smartphone is a handheld mini-computer abilities to place it closer to a laptop, using an independent operating system to install and run advanced and complex applications, excepted its basic features as calling and receiving calls

The advancement of the smartphone is getting smarter and more evolve due to more and more features added In Defining the smartphone done by Litchfield (2010) shows the top five definitions of the smartphone which constituted a smartphone as below:

- Definition 2: A smartphone is a mobile phone that offers more

advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary basic ‘feature phone’

- Definition 3: A smartphone has a physical QWERTY keyboard

Addendum: or a virtual QWERTY equivalent

- Definition 4: A smartphone has a large touchscreen Where ‘large’

is defined as anything from 3.2” upwards

- Definition 5:

● A smartphone is always connected

● A smartphone is always connected and can browse the full Internet

In the conclusion of Litchfield’s research, he also provides the definition of a smartphone that “runs an open (to new apps) operating system and is permanently connected to the Internet”

2.1.2 Characteristics of smartphone

There are many characteristics of smartphones excluding technical aspects like portability and accessibility, the smartphone can be categorized as a mini-computer that has a lot_ of functions_and users can use it anytime and any place Fuxin Yu (2012) mentions some typical features of a smartphone that internet connectivity allowed users

to stay informed and to have unlimited services available at their fingertips and all the features of the current smartphones have the same capabilities as computers but with the added bonus of mobility

2.1.3 The role of using the smartphone in learning language

The recent explosion of technology has created a significant change in every aspect of people’s lives, especially in education The number of users is growing gradually In an infographic report has been conducted by Nielsen Vietnam (2017)

revealed that 84 percent of Vietnam population used smartphones; using smartphones of local people was accounted for 71 percent in 93 percent of people using mobile phones

In particular, in the rural, the number of people possessing a smartphone recorded at 68 percent amongst 89 percent of people owning a mobile phone (as cited in Vietnamnews.vn, 2017)

Today, smartphones are no longer used as a communication tool, in general, it has affected social, become more widespread and gotten the youth’s interest, especial in their learning In a survey carried out by Rhea Kelly (2017) illustrates that 94 percent of students prefer using smartphones for the purposes of the academy such as check in to the class, access to slides of professor and answer in-class polls whilst the remaining 6 percent want to apply paper as a traditional way for their study Another study was done

by classroom instructors through email and personal contacts of students from six universities: UNL, the University of Nebraska, Morningside College, the University of North Carolina, the University of Kansas and the University of Mississippi (2013) reveals that students are dependent on their smartphone This study showed how often which respondents used their digital devices for non-classroom purposes during a typical day:

● 1 to 3 times per day: 35 percent

● 4 to 10 times per day: 27 percent

● 11 to 30 times per day: 16 percent

● More than 30 times per day: 15 percent

● Never: less than 8 percent Smartphones have changed student’s behavior beyond the regular functions of smartphones like calling and taking photos and so on In this research also pointed out the percentage used for texting accounted for the largest portion with nearly 86 percent

Next, checking mail and using the social network are similar, fluctuated around 67 percent Surfing the Web and playing game are followed (as cited in sciencedaily.com, 2013) That means texting and checking mail play the main role in college student life

To explain the reason why, “one young worker tells The Wall Street Journal that calling someone without e-mailing first can make it seem as though you’re prioritizing your needs over theirs” (as cited in forbes.com, 2015)

The transformation of the smartphone effects not only on student’s role but also teacher’s It cannot be denied the benefits of a teacher’s role as a lecturer in the past However, people need to adapt to the changes as the result of the era of booming technology - smartphone nowadays Janelle Cox considers that “In today’s classrooms, the desks are arranged so students can work collaboratively - the teacher isn’t just a lecturer, but a facilitator or a guide for his/her students”

Gary Motteram (2013) argues that digital technologies are ideally placed to help teachers working with learners and learner working independently to do the necessary

‘languaging’ (M.Swain) that makes their language development possible

2.1.4 Benefits of using the smartphone in language learning

Many surveys of using a smartphone in enhancing language learning skills have identified the positive aspects of both lectures and learners Teachers and students employed the smartphone as a tool for supporting their works thanks to its portability and flexibility Pete Sharma and Barney Barrett (2010), describing that “the biggest advantage perhaps is the idea of training can be done anytime and anywhere Students can practice their training in cafes, trains, museums or galleries, airports, hotel foyers and so on” Hence, students can manage their time to participate in outdoor activities for volunteering, charities, workshops, conferences, and shorten their traveling

Besides, smartphone’s connectivity facilitates users to access the Internet for research, referencing and sharing information through social network like Facebook, Twitter,

A great number of applications that can be downloaded is a plus for language learning purposes on the smartphone Smartphones provide a lot of applications supporting language learners such as vocabulary app, pronunciation app, idioms app, grammar app and so on In a study of Ru-Chu Shiha, Chunyi Leea & Tsai-Feng Cheng (2014), presenting the positive impacts about being developed the capabilities in English spelling via LINE app, especially, respondents made obvious progress in listening to vowels, phonemes, and syllables Moreover, the researchers demonstrated the development of participants’ confidence in studying spelling and no fear of getting used

to new vocabulary by listening to vowels, consonants, and syllables Studying with a device not only increases learner’s knowledge but also improves learner’s mentality for someone to feel embarrassing or get anxiety when being face to face with a mentor Teacher’s role is driving students to complete their assignments on a smartphone

No tuition money when learning a language is an incredible advantage for learners There are so many free online English courses published on the social network Youtube, for example, exactly a giant resource for free studying All you need is a smartphone with a decent speed internet There are many ways to develop language skills through films, stories, pieces of music, news Youtube offers many kinds of approaching

a language Here are some reasons why should learn English with Youtube that Alan and Paul mentioned on FluentU:

● Having a variety of material can promote learning though learners might already have books or classrooms lessons

● Pausing or rewinding an English video whenever viewers need to

● Improving pronunciation and mastering at creating different English sounds by seeing the speaker’s mouths

Robert Chartrand (2016) highlights the main features of using a smartphone in learning language as follows:

Multimedia Ability: The ability to easily record and playback a student's voice and compare it to a native speaker's voice is a great learning tool for the language learner Moreover, the ability to record and playback videos is another asset for learning a language Listening to music and watching videos are very popular exercises for students

as well The ability to create and listen to podcasts is another advantage for language learning

Internet Access: Access to the Internet gives students the ability to search for and receive information about any topic Searching the IMDB provides answers about movies and cast Accessing YouTube allows students to watch and listen to music videos and movie clips Online dictionaries and other information gathering tools are used widely by students in language classrooms

Social Networking: Using social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter can be a positive way for students to share information, thoughts, and ideas on a variety of subjects Some students who may be shy in a classroom may do much better

in a social networking situation

Immediate Feedback: Digital Devices can offer immediate feedback to their peers

or their instructors with OSRS Students can answer questions on a survey, a class exercise, a quiz, or a test Specialized systems such as MOARS can automatically calculate scores and inform students and their instructors of their progress

2.1.5 Challenges of using a smartphone in language learning

On the other hand, using a smartphone in language learning is facing challenges Students take their smartphones into class as a tool which transform for books, notebooks However, that causes a problem which students can be distracted while studying Studying distraction reasons can either be internal or external including physiological needs, emotional thoughts or technology and people (Oxford learning, 2017) Kristina Dems (2010) considers learners can loss of concentration as they access

to social network for chatting, surfing the web, shopping, playing games or watching videos while being in the class

2.2 Speaking skills

2.2.1 Definition of speaking

Speaking is an act of making vocal sounds which are considered one of the most crucial parts to learn a new language Speaking skill is significantly practiced in school, college, university, and business There are some definitions of speaking have been defined by experts as follows:

Burns and Joyce (1997) state aside from speaking is producing the utterances, the nature of speaking is the interactive process of constructing meaning which producing, processing and receiving information are concerned Its meaning and form are conditional on the circumstance in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking It is often spontaneous, opened and evolving Nevertheless, speech is not always unpredictable Language patterns that tend to recur in certain discourse situations can be identified and charted Jaffe (2011) similarly advocates that the meaning formation depends on the context, purpose, subject matter of the speech and the speaker's personality

In the opinion of Eckard & Kearny (1981), Florez (1999) and Howarth (2001), defining that speaking is an activity among people as a sender and receiver in

approaching messages or information (as cited in the research of Shaimaa Abd El Fattah Torky, 2006) This definition means that a communicating process is build up from main components: sender and receiver Another suggestion also confirmed by Chaney (1998), speaking as “the process of building and sharing through the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols, in a variety of contexts”

2.2.2 Aspects of speaking

In four main skills to evaluate language learners’ ability, speaking skill is the most challenge for learners Speaking means of interaction between two or more people To master a speaking skill, the speaker’s speech must be fluent, accurate and meaningful Some experts base on these elements to judge the speaker’s speaking ability These are pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, accuracy, fluency

2.2.2.1 Pronunciation

According to AMEP Research Centre (2002), “pronunciation refers to the production of sounds that we use to make meaning” including intonation, phrasing, stress, timing, rhythm (suprasegmental aspects), how the voice is projected (voice quality) Other, pronunciation is the way of a word or language is spoken Thus, pronunciation is an extremely important part of mastering speaking skills as it is the way

to distinguish what languages you are speaking Being good at English pronunciation is

an essential part of good communication (quoted from usalearns.org) It means that unclear English pronunciation makes listeners get a misunderstanding of what you’re saying Similarly, if a speaker’ pronunciation is not good, his/her perceiving competence from a listener will meet with serious difficulties

2.2.2.2 Grammar

Grammar is essential elements for speakers to constitute a correct sentence in a conversation Swan (1998) considers that language learners cannot understand a

comprehend English structure to become fluently The same to speakers, they cannot study or communicate without having a thorough understanding of English structure

Parnaz Kianiparsa and Sara Vali (2010) believe that learning a grammatical rule

is necessary to speak a foreign language fluently Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge should be complimented for speaking a language

Kumar Debata (2013) defines grammar as the study of words and the ways which these words work together and there is an invisible guiding learner as those words are put together in a sentence

From these definitions above, grammar is explained understandably as a common rule which learners can base on it to use language exactly

2.2.2.3 Vocabulary

Vocabulary is a concept of lexicology It is difficult to define vocabulary is; however, Richard Nordquist (2018) defines all the words of a language to which are referred or used by a particular person or group, called Wordstock, lexicon, and lexis Another definition is given by Linse (2005), stating that “vocabulary is the collection of

words that an individual knows”

Vocabulary is considered one of the most significant components in learning a new language According to the British Council, conceding that “having a good vocabulary will help you to improve your language level and become a more confident speaker of English” Indeed, getting numerous vocabularies will be easier for language learners For example, a speaker is lacking vocabulary, it will be more difficult to express their ideas, thoughts In addition, vocabulary is a crucial foundation to develop other skills such as reading, listening and writing for it is difficult to use grammatical structures without vocabulary as Wilkins (1972) writing that “ while without grammar very little

can be convey, without vocabulary nothing can be convey” (as cited in Vocabulary and Its Importance in Language Learning, p.2)

About the accuracy’s aims are listed by Jason Anderson (2013) as below:

● To look at the origins of the accuracy fluency distinction

● To ask you whether you find the distinction a) valid b) useful to give my opinion on this question

● To present a draft framework for classifying language practice activities

● To show you several activities that I think are useful for helping learners achieve accuracy and fluency (dotted around the workshop) and how they fit into the draft framework

2.2.2.5 Fluency

Fluency is the process the spoken language without interruption or hesitation as Christopher Pell (2016) defines “fluency is the ability to speak smoothly (not quickly) without noticeable effort or loss of coherence” That means speaking naturally instead

of concentrating on the form of sentence structure Fluency is also described by Sue Frase (2014) as the receiver’s effect (listener) to a language producer (speaker) which the receiver needs the effort to decode the message (as cited in Assessing Fluency: A Framework for Spoken and Written Output, p.179)

2.2.3 Difficulties in learning English speaking skills and suggestions

Many English learners admit they have been facing with communication obstacles

Atallah (2016) points out the obstacles which learners encounter the most is anxiety in the process of English speaking Speaking anxiety is perceived as stage fright

or communication apprehension (Richard, 2018) It comes from the fear of getting mistakes and being evaluated in communication In this research also provides some solutions to overcome anxiety when speaking which is adapted from The College Writer:

A Guide to Thinking, Writing, and Researching, 3rd ed., by Randall VanderMey, Verne Meyer, John Van Rys, and Patrick Sebranek Wadsworth, 2009:

● Be confident, positive, and energetic

● Maintain eye contact when speaking or listening

● Use gestures naturally don't force them

● Maintain a comfortable, erect posture

● Speak up and speak clearly don't rush

● Reword and clarify when necessary

In a study investigated by Scarcella & Oxford (1994) and Florez (1998) reveals the prominent problem is lack of confidence Speaking ability including grammar, the vocabulary, pronunciation can influence directly on students It is easy to observe as the speakers realize that their partners cannot understand what they are saying, so they

frequently feel hesitating when speaking out a new language Brown (2001) says teachers’ consideration can constitute negatively students’ confidence Jamila (2014) suggest some effective exercises to enhance learners’ confidence

● Students should positively communicate with people without feeling hesitated and share learning difficulties with their teachers

● Teachers should ensure enough practice opportunities for students

● The curriculum should cover activities where students have the scopes for more oral exposures

● Participating in groups for practicing outside the classroom with the help of technology like a mobile phone or video-calling and so on

In addition, Hosni (2014) states that teachers believe that “teaching grammar and vocabulary items is enough to help students in speaking” This means teaching strategies are an additional problem Rababa (2005) illustrates that speaking skill is not put emphasis on teaching strategies, which results in a meager development of this skill The allocation of time for speaking skill at class is insufficient, priority is usually given for other skills: reading, writing and listening In fact, distributing time for four skills equally can develop learner’ learning language competence more effectively as these skills are closely correlated Consequently, the uneven allocation of time can cause serious result To solve this problem, learners should spend their time practicing speaking via some English speaking applications or finding English learning partners to improve speaking abilities

CHAPTER 3: METHOD

This chapter will describe the methodology used in this research which follows the quantitative and qualitative with the purpose of finding the effects of applying smartphones during learning English speaking skill in colleges/ universities and suggesting whether students should be allowed to use smartphones in class or not A further purpose of this research is keeping pace with the technology trends with the booming of technology nowadays According to a research conducted by University of Utah College of Nursing states “qualitative research is a process of naturalistic inquiry that seeks an in-depth understanding of social phenomena within their natural setting” Simply, exploratory research is an explanation of what qualitative is It is used to find or illustrate reasons, opinions and motivations’ insight deeply for supporting to develop ideas or hypotheses (Susan, 2011) As cited by Ashley Crossman (2019), describes that qualitative research is non-numerical research aiming to interpret its meaning to help us understand the phenomenon in social life through the study In this research also reveals that eyes, ears and intelligent are used to gather information, in-depth perceptions and descriptions through a variety of method such as direct observation, open-ended surveys, focus group, in-depth interviews, oral history, participant observation, ethnographic observation, and content analysis In general, qualitative research’ focus is mainly daily life and people’ experiences, qualitative research allows itself to create new theories by

“using the inductive method, then it can be tested with further research”

While qualitative research can explain reasons for connection, quantitative research can recognize relationships among variables Opposite to the qualitative research, quantitative research work with numbers, logic and an objective stance Its data

is unchanged and detailed (Babbie, Belmont, Daniel, 2010) This means that the researchers can create a variety of ideas about a research issue unpredictably Additionally, the quantitative method is defined by Regoniel (2015) as a method using

numbers as its basis for the concept of a phenomenon Meanwhile, the objective scales

of the units of analysis from these numbers are called variables The definition explains the data can be collected through a survey and a phenomenon can be unraveled through the data which is analyzed by the statistical application software, aiming to clarify relationships or differences between variables For example, a patient can conduct a survey of his/her satisfaction through the amount of time their doctor taking care of him/her such as how much time did his/her doctor take to meet him/her, how often does he/she walk into a hospital and other such questions

In this research, both qualitative and quantitative method is used to cite the benefits of using a smartphone in enhancing learner’s English speaking ability Type of the research conducted is questionnaires designed on Google Forms

The questionnaire is explained as a tool consisting of a set of questions that collect information from respondents (as cited in questionpro.com) The writer uses a questionnaire to measure the effects of practicing speaking skill through English learning applications/ online learning courses/ entertainment channels on smartphone while conducting the research There are 12 questions comprising using a qualitative and quantitative method which the writer carries out specific questions related to information matching with the topic research The questions find out learner’ achievements as well

as challenges when using a smartphone in learning English speaking skill as rating the level of students’ English speaking improvement through academic elements: pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, accuracy, fluency In addition, rating the level of challenges that students are facing as a distraction, anxiety, low interaction, lack of confidence and motivation Moreover, pointing out the reasons why students choose a smartphone to study English speaking via constituents: payment, time, convenience, lessons A total of 60 students from different majors in many colleges and universities being asked to conduct this study These respondents comprising both male and female