I would like to acknowledge the assistance I received from a number of people in the course of carrying out the research paper. I highly treasure the important role they played in making the completion of this thesis a success.First of all, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Mr Nguyen Van Vinh for painstakingly reading through my work from the beginning to the end and for his constants advice and invaluable comments and suggestions. Without his continuous support I may not have come this far. Secondly, I want to express my thanks to the teachers of English at COFI at CMCC who supplied me with basic and useful knowledge about how I could structure a research project and what I should write in each chapter. Thirdly, I wish to extend my special thanks to the students from B English class at COFI in CMCC for their help and cooperation during my research at their class.Last but not least, I owe my sincere thanks to my parents who have always inspired and encouraged me to complete this study.
Trang 1I would like to acknowledge the assistance I received from a number of people in thecourse of carrying out the research paper I highly treasure the important role they played inmaking the completion of this thesis a success
First of all, I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Mr Nguyen Van Vinh forpainstakingly reading through my work from the beginning to the end and for his constantsadvice and invaluable comments and suggestions Without his continuous support I may nothave come this far
Secondly, I want to express my thanks to the teachers of English at COFI at CMCCwho supplied me with basic and useful knowledge about how I could structure a researchproject and what I should write in each chapter
Thirdly, I wish to extend my special thanks to the students from B English class at COFI inCMCC for their help and cooperation during my research at their class
Last but not least, I owe my sincere thanks to my parents who have always inspired andencouraged me to complete this study
Trang 2In Vietnam, English is one of the foreign languages that are compulsory from primaryschool to university However, teaching English to ethnic minority students has long been acontroversial issue This research investigates the difficulties in English speaking skillencountered by learners at COFI in CMCC with the hope to find out some suggestedsolutions to the problems The thesis is divided into 5 chapters: chapter 1 presents therationale, purpose, methods, research and significance of the study Chapter 2 presents thetheoretical background of speaking, teaching and learning, and communicative languageteaching approach; Chapter 3 describes the methodology of the thesis Specifically, the datafor this research was collected in the forms of survey questionnaires and The participants ofthe survey questionnaires were 4 teachers and 30 students After the results of the surveyquestionnaires had been clarified, Chapter 4 analyses and discusses the results from thesurvey questionnaires A lot of difficulties when teaching English speaking skill to learnerssuch as lack of time in using the new textbook, the poor teaching and learning conditions,students' limited triangular language environment, low level of background knowledge, lowlevel of English proficiency, etc.; Chapter 5 mentions conclusions of this study, somelimitations, recommendations for further study and some pedagogical recommendations forboth subjective and objective problems For example, the teachers should plan the speakinglessons more carefully, improving the student’s Vietnamese competence The teacher’s self-improvement of speaking skill, educating teachers to teach English for their students in theircommunities, Motivating students to learn, adapting the textbooks These recommendationsare expected to be beneficial to both teachers and students in COFI at CMCC
Trang 3Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i
ABSTRACT ii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv
LIST OF TABLES iv
Chapter 1 : INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background to the study 1
1.2 Statement of purpose 1
1.3 Research questions 1
1.4 Significance 2
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 3
2.1 Concepts of speaking 3
2.2 Characteristics of speaking 4
2.3 Sitution of teaching and learning speaking skill at COFI in CMCC 5
2.3.1 Condition of teaching and learning 5
2.3.2 Attitude of student learning 5
2.3.3 Methods of teaching and learning 5
2.4 Overview of previous studies 6
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 8
3.1 Time for the study: 8
3.2 Place for the study: 8
3.3 Procedures: 8
3.4 Participants 8
3.5 Purpose 8
3.6 Method 9
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 10
4.1 Overview about the COFI 10
4.2 Questionnaires 11
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUTION AND IMPLACATIONS 21
References 22
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 23
Trang 4LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CMCC: Ca Mau Community College
COFI: Center Of Foreign Language and Informatics
N of Ts: Number of Teachers
N of Ss: Number of Students
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Difficulties of students about learning speaking skill 18
Table 2: Difficulties of teachers about teaching speaking skill 19
Table 3: Students attitudes towards English and facilities teaching and learning at COFI in CMCC 20
Table 4: Teachers attitudes towards English the materials teaching and learning at COFI in CMCC 22
Table 5: Students's for reasons learning English 23
Table 6: Teachers methods in teaching English 24
Table 7: Some solutions to improve speaking skill of teachers 25
Trang 5Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
In a short period of time English displaced other languages and became the leadingmeans of communication worldwide Its domination continues to extend The modern world
of media, mass communication, and Internet demands a good knowledge of English,especially of spoken English Every person wishing to get the benefits of modern education,research, science, trade, etc., knows that it is impossible without a working knowledge of theEnglish language and good communication skills A person without oral communicationskills will suffer in this era of competition and may find it difficult to achieve a higherposition So, Center Foreign Language and Informatics at Ca Mau Community Colleges havedecided to establish, as the main purpose of English certificate level A, B, C the development
of the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing Speaking is considered to be one
of the four macro skills necessary for effective communication in any language according tomost research, particularly when speakers are not using their mother tongue But if you'vebeen learning for a while and don't find yourself really speaking with ease Therefore, it isreason why I choose the topic:
The difficulties and some solutions to improve speaking skill of B English students inForeign Language and Informatics center at CMCC
1.2 Statement of purpose
The aim of this article is to define the strengths and weaknesses of speaking skills oftoday's students and to demonstrate the possibilities of enhancement of the speaking skills ofstudents learning English at Center for Foreign languages and Informatics in CMCC
Base on the results of the current situation, I will give some solutions to improvespeaking skill for B English students in Foreign Language and Informatics Center at CMCC
1.3 Research questions
- What are your difficulties when learn speaking skill English in classes?
- How can you improve your English speaking skill?
Trang 61.4 Significance
This study help find out the practical solution to students can improve their weak pointsand raise their speaking skill in learning English It will help students learn more about thedisadvantages of Learning English communicative from which fix bugs have moreconfidence in their English ability
Trang 7Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Concepts of speaking
As mentioned above, speaking is the productive, oral skill Speaking consists ofproducing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning (utterances are simply thingspeople say) Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involvesproducing and receiving and processing information (Florez, 1999, p.1) It is oftenspontaneous, open-ended and evolving (ibid, p.1), but it is not completely unpredictable.Speaking is such a fundamental human behavior that we don’t stop to analyze it unlessthere is something noticeable about it For example, if a person is experiencing a speechpathology (if a person stutters or if his speech is impaired due to a stroke or a head injury),
we may realize that the speech is atypical Likewise, if someone is a particularly effective orlucid speaker, we may notice that her speech is atypical in a noteworthy sense What we fail
to notice on a daily basis, however, are the myriad physical, mental, psychological, social,and cultural factors that must all work together when we speak It is even a more impressivefeat when we hear someone speaking effectively in a second or foreign language
According to Brown and Yules opinions (1983), spoken language consists of short,fragmentary utterances in a range of pronunciation However, speaking is a skill, whichdeserves attention as much as literacy skills in both first and second language because ourlearners often need to speak with confidence in order to carry out a lot of their most basictransactions (Bygate, 1991) Furthermore, speaking is known with two main types ofconversation called dialogue and monologue
Brown and Yule (1983) point out the ability to give uninterrupted oral presentation(monologue) is rather different from interacting with one or more other speakers fortransactional and international purposes It is much more difficult to extemporize on a givensubject to a group of listeners That explains why speaking skill generally has to be learnt andpracticed carefully before giving a presentation
A comprehensive discussion of the nature of speaking is provided by Bygate (1987),who shows that in order to be able to speak a foreign language, it is obviously necessary tohave micro-linguistic skills, that is, to understand some grammar, vocabulary and the rulesgoverning how words are put together to form sentences However, these motor-perceptive
Trang 8skills, as Bygate calls them, are not sufficient since while producing sentences, we often have
to adapt them to the circumstances He then presents the second set of speaking skills: theinteraction skills, which involve using knowledge and basic motor-perception skills indeciding what to say and how to say it, while maintaining the intended relation with others
2.2 Characteristics of speaking
Speaking has the following characteristics:
Firstly, its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, includingthe participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and thepurposes for speaking It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving However, speech isnot always unpredictable Language functions (or patterns) that tend to recur in certaindiscourse situations can be identified and charted
Secondly, speaking requires that learners not only know how to produce specific points
of language such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary (linguistic competence), but alsothat they understand when, why, and in what ways to produce language (sociolinguisticcompetence)
Thirdly, speech has its own skills, structures, and conventions different from writtenlanguage A good speaker synthesizes this array of skills and knowledge to succeed in agiven speech act
Lastly, Bygate (1987) considers speaking as an undervalued skill in many ways Thereason is that almost all people can speak, and so take speaking skill too much for granted
He also asserts that speaking skill deserves attention every bit as much as literacy skills.Learners often need to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of theirmost basic transactions Bygate also highly appreciates speaking skill by stating that speaking
is the medium through which much language is learnt
To sum up, it is undeniable that speaking is key to communication By considering whatgood speakers do, what speaking tasks can be used in class, and what specific needs learnersreport, teachers can help learners improve their speaking and overall oral competency
Trang 92.3 Situtions of teaching and learning speaking skill at COFI in CMCC
2.3.1 Condition of teaching and learning
The first and most easily found in an English class is now the student population Acommon class of not less than 40, with grades up to 50, 60 This figure often make schooleducators and legal headaches are one of the most difficult question to answer in the systemCOFI
Besides visual media in foreign language classes are too poor Most of the classroomsare not equipped with video or audio recorder so fail to attract students to the nativeenvironment, has not been real life into the classroom
2.3.2 Attitude of student learning
Vietnam students often shy when speaking They have no habit of arguing in class orstated their opinion whether true or false, especially in the presence of teachers Aerobicclasses are not pro attitude: you stand up and say the wrong one, the classmates often laughed
or revise sarcastically This phenomenon has limited the participation of student lessons
In class, students are usually very active, inclined to be positive than negative, chatting
or distracted in class was very popular This behavior reflects very clearly in the languageclass, the hour requires students to be involved in many different forms of training such astraining in pairs work, trained group, or honing their skills power requires students to move,leaving space in the class These exercises so often creates confusion And much as we feelless of an effect does not depend on class engineering and enthusiasm of teachers in class,mainly due to the attitude of student learning
2.3.3 Methods of teaching and learning
The tradition of our teaching to bring the trend spreading information one way:teachers, students take notes Students often depend heavily on teachers: class, wanting tosay, recorded teachings that, on memorizing Percentage of students learning attitude,considering his discourses is only part of knowledge required, just the direction, very little.This ingrained habit makes teachers often promote all of their ability to dominate classroomtime, students are also drawn back a modest way Such learning can only be acceptable tomany theoretical courses, but learning a foreign language is a purely practical procedures andpractices to the clever, turning what he understood was what he used advantage
Trang 10Students, our students do not understand most of the English learning method how toeffectively, how to increase your vocabulary, how to listen understand who he said , usingthe word what classic , listening with a few steps tapes this shows the learner should bespecified not only the road but also going further to match with the current trend ofintegration.
2.4 Overview of previous studies
In this chapter, I will present some past researches in the same fields There were manyopinions on English teaching and learning, such as:
In Viet Nam, like in many other countries, the problem of speaking skills is crucial Anumber of researchers investigated this field and came to the conclusion about students' lowlevel of speaking ability and their inability to speak confidently and fluently One among themany reasons to take into consideration might be the lack of confidence and anxiety aboutmaking errors as stated by Trent (2009) and in other related studies Most college students arenot confident in their ability to learn to speak; teachers must overcome their reluctance inorder to change this situation
Zaremba and Zhang hypothesize that, of the four macro English skills, speaking seems
to be the most important skill required for communication (Zaremba, 2006) Students whostudy English as a foreign language usually have limited opportunities to speak Englishoutside the classroom (Zhang, 2009) and also limited exposure to English speakers ormembers of the international community This might be one reason for teachers to providemore situations and activities for students to strengthen their speaking competence
Confidence and competence usually reinforce English speaking skills Patil (2008)asserted that building up the learner’s confidence to eliminate their fear of making errors was
a priority that a teacher should consider in order to make learners feel comfortable with theirlanguage use Confidence and competence in speaking could be developed from appropriatesyllabus design, methods of teaching, and adequate tasks and materials (Bailey, 2005;Songsiri, 2007)
Regarding speaking effectiveness, Shumin (1997) pointed out a number of elementsinvolved, including listening skills, sociocultural factors, affective factors, and otherlinguistic and sociolinguistic competences such as grammatical, discourse, sociolinguistic,
Trang 11and strategic competence Grammatical competence enables speakers to use and understandEnglish language structures accurately and unhesitatingly, which contributes to their fluency,which, in turn, develops confidence in communication.
In the articles above are mentioned on disadvantages of English However, they don’tmention about solution to improve speaking skill English Therefore, in my research, I wouldlike to mention some solutions to improve speaking skills English
Trang 12CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Time for the study:
From now April 7, 2014 to May 31, 2014
3.2 Place for the study:
In the Foreign language and Informatics Center at CMCC
3.3 Procedures:
-Firstly, I researched documents
-Secondly, I read documents and collected information
-Thirdly, I gave result and discuss
-Finally, I finished my research
3.4 Participants
In my investgation i sureyed 4 teacher and 30 students majored class level B Englishstudents in COFI at CMCC
3.5 Purpose
The study is conducted to investigate the current reality of the teaching of speaking skill
to non-English major students at TNU-CT on the basis of finding out relevant difficultiesexperienced by the teachers of English and some recommendations including copingstrategies and classroom techniques and activities for them to minimize those difficulties.Specifically, this research tries to explore the potential sources causing the difficulties inteaching the skill of speaking and simultaneously identify the specific problems of thosesources respectively Furthermore, some recommendations are made with the anticipation ofhelping English Language teachers improve the quality of their teaching the speaking skill
Trang 133.6 Method
In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, the researcher collects information fromthe teachers of English who have been teaching English at COFI in CMCC Firstly,questionnaires are delivered to the teachers so that more information on the reality andproblems they face and solutions implemented can be collected Then, questionnaires are alsogiven to the students to investigate their problems in learning speaking skills Theinformation from questionnaires can help to draw a general picture about the reality ofteaching and learning speaking skills at COFI in CMCC and suggest some solutions for thissituation
Trang 14CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION4.1 Overview about the COFI
Center of Foreign language and Information was established in 1998 with the first name
is Foreign language and Informatics Office of Center for Continuing Education (now is theCOFI of CMCC) It has the function of training about English and Information technology inorder to meet the requirement of local people, contribute to development of Ca Mau
For the first time in operation, the COFI faced many difficulties and challenges Fromthe stage of promotion, opening enrollment classes to the lack of faculty forces, quality andprofessional work experience is limited Especially, infrastructure and equipment to support
Given the problems in operation, The COFI has been closely guided by the PartyCommittee, Managing Board, the active support of the offices, faculties, departments andstaffs in CMCC The generation of managers and staffs have overcome the difficulties andlimitations to make solid foundation to build long -term development plan for the center
Up to now, over 15 years of construction and development, the COFI has achievedmany positive results, the prestigious of center was confirmed and evaluated in high training
On the basis of material : The COFI has fully equipped about modern facilities andcomputer rooms , labs , projectors , and many other equipment combinations to createfriendly learning environment to serve for teaching and learning better Specifically, thecomputer lab (room 05 with over 125 machines) connected to high-speed Internet, allclassrooms are equipped with air conditions , multi-function projectors
The center have been 17 classes of English Certificate in level A, B, C, and 18 classes
of Informatics Certificate in level A, B The center aims to meet the learners demand forstudying and upgrading knowledge of foreign language and information particularly in CaMau Community College