How to speak english naturally for non english major students at hanoi open university

How to speak English naturally for non-English major students at Hanoi Open University DECLARATION TITLE: HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH NATURALLY FOR NON -ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI OPEN U

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGLISH

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GRADUATION THESIS

B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES

HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH NATURALLY FOR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

Supervisor : Lê Thị Vy, M.A Student : Ma Lan Diệu Hương Date of birth : 14/12/1993

Ha Noi – 2015

CODE: 22

How to speak English naturally for non-English major students at Hanoi Open University

DECLARATION

TITLE: HOW TO SPEAK ENGLISH NATURALLY FOR

NON -ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

(Graduation Thesis submitted in Partial Fulfillment for B.A Degree in English)

I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced

by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgement and the report

is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor

Hanoi, 4th May 2015

Student Supervisor

Ma Lan Dieu Huong Le Thi Vy, M.A

How to speak English naturally for non-English major students at Hanoi Open University

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my

supervisor, Ms Le Thi Vy, M.A who directly instructs and gives me lots of

advice to accomplish my graduation thesis Thanks to her valuable inspiration

and helpful guidance for the preparation as well as the correction, I can finish

this assignment on time

I also give my sincere thanks to all my teachers in Hanoi Open

University for giving me a great deal of knowledge during the time I have

studied at the English faculty of Hanoi Open University so that I could build a

firm foundation for the implementation of this paper

In particular, I would like to deliver my gratitude from the bottom of

my heart to my parents who always encourage, support and take care of me so

much in my whole time

Last but not least, my special thanks send to all my dear friends who

are always willing to provide me with useful material as well as information

during my research process

Hanoi, 4th May 2015

Ma Lan Dieu Huong

How to speak English naturally for non-English major students at Hanoi Open University

TABLE OF CONTENT

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale……… 1

2 Aims of the study……… 2

3 Scope of the study ……… 2

4 Research questions……… 3

5 Methods of the study ……… 3

6 Design of the study……… 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE 5

1.1 Speaking skills in the process of language learning 5

1.1.1 Definitions of speaking skills 5

1.1.2 Nature of speaking skills 6

1.1.3 Factors affecting speaking skills 7

1.1.4 Types of speaking skills 10

1.2 Overview of English speaking skills 12

1.2.1 English conversation 12

1.2.1.1 Definitions of conversation 12

1.2.1.2 Functions of conversation 14

1.2.1.3 Native speakers’ conversation 15

1.2.2 Effective English speaking skills 16

1.3.Summary ……… 20

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 20

2.1 Method of the study 20

2.1.1 Participants 21

2.1.2 Research instrument 22

2.1.3 Design of the survey questionnaire 22

How to speak English naturally for non-English major students at Hanoi Open University

2.2 Data analysis 23

2.2.1 Students’ interest in speaking English 23

2.2.2 Students’ attitude towards speaking skills 24

2.2.3 Students’ English self-study skills 26

2.2.4 Students’ difficulties encounter when speaking English 29

2.2.5 Students’ expectation in speaking skills 29

2.3.The findings ……… 31

2.3.1 The lack of self-confidence 31

2.3.2 The limitation of vocabulary 32

2.3.3 The mispronunciation and misunderstanding in using grammar 34 2.3.4 The lack of general knowledge 36

2.3.5.Unfamiliar partner ……… 37

2.3.6 The lack of motivation and flexibility in speaking English 37

2.4 Summary……… 38

CHAPTER III: SOME SOLUTIONS TO HELP NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS SPEAK ENGLISH NATURALLY 38

3.1 Improve English speaking skills 39

3.1.1 Improve pronunciation 39

3.1.2 Improve vocabulary 40

3.1.3 Improve speaking skills through reflective listening 41

3.1.4 Improve speaking skills through reading 42

3.2 Enrich general knowledge 43

3.3 Build self-confidence 45

3.3.1 Overcome fear of making mistakes 45

3.3.2 Develop English speaking style 47

3.3.3 Pay attention to physical appearance 49

3.3.4 Prepare the topic carefully 49

How to speak English naturally for non-English major students at Hanoi Open University

3.4 Improve group speaking 49

3.4.1 Working in pairs 50

3.4.2 Working in small groups 50

3.5 Join activities outside class 52

3.5.1 Join the English speaking clubs 52

3.5.2 Communicate with native speakers …… 53

3.6.Improve English self-study skills 54

3.7.Summary ……… 55

PART C: CONCLUSION 55

REFERENCES 57

APPENDIX 1 :SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 60

APPENDIX 2:SOME USEFUL WEBSITES 62

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

One human characteristic is to communicate In the modern world, communication not only becomes the basis of social interaction, but also improves greatly that no one of modern society can survive without communication A famous anthropologist, Ashley Montague (1976) says:

“The most important agency through which the child learns to be human is

communication, verbal also nonverbal” It is essential that human being need

an instrument called “language”

Over the past few decades, English has become the global language Because of global competition and industrial transformation, students must integrate their language skills and their specialized knowledge in order to

obtain the edge in job market and stay in synchronous with the world as well

The importance of English cannot be denied and ignored since English becomes the most common language spoken everywhere The number of people around the world speaking the language is increasingly growing Speaking English properly opens up many opportunities Today, language students are considered successful if they can communicate effectively in their second or foreign language; the accuracy of the language produced would most likely be the major criterion contributing to the judgment of a

student’s success or lack success

Speaking English can help learners enhance interaction in the target language for communicating with people around the world Along with right methods, students can take advantage of every opportunity both within and outside the classroom to enhance their language skills and change their career prospects means like gaining technical knowledge, learning computer science, etc Therefore, it is highly essential to know that the language plays a vital

role in our life Mastering English seem to be one of the best and shortest

ways to have a great deal of opportunities to reach the success of life

The topic of this study resulted from a fact that non-English major students at Hanoi Open University often have difficulties in interacting naturally with others in conversations They get troubles in speaking English even at the beginning of the conversation

Within the minor thesis, the author attempts to clarify the difficulties in speaking English of non-English major students at Hanoi Open University and suggest some solutions that can help them overcome their inhibition and develop their skills in a better way

2 Aims of the study

The research attempts to identify the difficulties of non-English major students at Hanoi Open University when they speak English and recommends techniques to help them speak English naturally

Following this trend, the study will serve these purposes:

Giving a brief overview of the previous materials relating to speaking skills

To discuss problems of non-English major students when they speak English

To provide solutions to help Non-English major students to speak English naturally

To encourage and inspire non-English major students to use English conversations effectively

3. Scope of the study

This study focuses on speaking skills, factors that influence the conversational skills and finds out some difficulties of non-English major

students at Hanoi Open Universities in speaking English All the data will be analyzed in order to find out the most effective solutions for the students

4 Research questions

Concisely, the research would seek the answers to the following questions:

What is the speaking?

Why do the non-English major students have difficulty in speaking English?

How to help non – English major students to speak English naturally?

What techniques should be used to develop English conversational skills for non-English major students?

5 Methods of the study

To fulfill the above aims, this study has chosen both qualitative and quantitative methods for the study All the considerations, remarks, comments, suggestions and conclusions given in the study are based largely

on the analysis of statistics data The data collection mainly focuses on: Survey questionnaires: This method is used to find out the difficulties

in speaking English of non-English major students at Hanoi Open University The questionnaires are useful for getting data of the attitudes and behaviors of learners when facing these challenges

Interviews and observations: The methods are significant in getting more qualitative data by getting closer to the objects of the study

6 Design of the study

The graduation thesis will be divided into three parts

Part A is the introduction stating the rationale, aims, research questions,

method and design of the study

Part B is the development including three chapters Chapter 1 is the literature review Chapter 2 is the research methodology Chapter 3 is some

solutions to help non-English major students speak English naturally

Part C is the conclusion of the research to summarize the main points of

the graduation paper

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE

Speaking in a second language involves the developments of particular types of communication skill For most people, the ability to speak a language

is synonymous within knowing that language since speech is the most basic means of human communication A good speaking skill plays an important role in helping learners make a successful conversation This chapter deals with speaking skills in the process of language learning and the overview of English speaking skills

1.1 Speaking skills in the process of language learning

1.1.1 Definitions of speaking skills

Speaking is the delivery of language through the mouth To speak, we create sounds using many parts of our body, including the lungs, vocal tract, vocal chords, tongue, teeth and lips Speaking in a second language involves the developments of a particular type of communication skill Most of the

non-English major students do not understand exactly “what speaking is”

They only regard speaking as a simple, easy process by speaking out words, ideas

According to Harmer (1996, p.14), speaking is a form of communication, so it is important that what you say is conveyed in the most effective way How you say something can be as important as what you say in getting your meaning across

Speaking is an activity, which is done by a person to communicate with others in order to express ideas, feelings, as well as options to achieve a particular goal (Philip M Brudden 1995, p.85)

Chaney (1998, p.13) indicates that speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning using verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of context

Speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey

meaning Utterances are simply things people say Speaking is “an interactive

process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information” ( Florez, M.A.C ,1991, p 261-277)

The book “Effective Speaking 2nd Edition” published in 1995 by Philip M.Brudden definites that speaking is an activity that is done by a person to communicate with others in order to express ideas, feelings, as well as opinions to achieve a particular goal Moreover, Tomaz P.Synalshi (1995, p.122) provides a more comprehensive definition; defining speaking as the activity of giving speeches and talks to indicate the opinion you are giving Interestingly, J.L.Kayfetz (1992, p.22) states that speaking is human verbal communication, set out with the ability of utilizing mechanism that will involve oral production of language Oral production of language is the main concern in speaking

In general, speaking is a form of communication that human beings try

to express feelings and ideas through oral production of language Its forms and meanings are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experience, the physical environment and the purpose for speaking

1.1.2 Nature of speaking skills

It is said that foreign language differs from other subject matters such

as history or mathematics connecting much more strongly to the learners’ identity Many researchers have pointed out that the skill producing most anxiety is speaking (Gardner, 1991) Thus, it would seem that speaking in a second or foreign language context is definitely not easy

The oral skill or speaking skill among four the macro skills (including listening, speaking, reading, and writing) is considered one of the most important in learning languages

Speaking English naturally becomes a goal of speaking courses, and requires learners to attempt real communication, despite limited proficiency in English Signs of fluency include a reasonably fast speed of speaking and only a small number of pauses

Gog and Burns (2012, p9) consider that it is essential to develop communication strategies and engage in negotiation of meaning to improve oral skills

According to Bygate (1987), speaking helps learners “carry out many of

their basic transactions It is the skill by which they are most frequently judged, and through which they make and lose friends It is the par excellence

of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional advancement and of business It is also a medium through which much language is learnt, and for many is particularly conductive for learning.”

For some language learners, learning to speak a language is learning the language and their improvement in the language competence is the progress in speaking competence These results from the fact that listening and speaking skills are used much more than reading and writing skills Speaking and listening skills are used in daily communications and learning these skills is learning to communicate

1.1.3 Factors affecting speaking skills

There are various factors affecting English-speaking skills Most students are weak in their oral ability because they are learning the language

in preparation for examinations such as final exams at the end of a term The items in the exams mainly focused on grammar and reading comprehension and the students are very likely to pass the exams if they have a good

command of grammar and reading skills Today, both teachers and students attach more importance to the development of speaking skills Without sufficient speaking skills, students are reluctant to participate actively in

classroom activities, such as discussion and role-plays

Davis and Pearse (2000) maintain that competent use of the language is acquired through extended exposure and realistic use of the language In language classroom, the way to improve speaking skills is through individual and activities such as discussions, role-plays, and oral presentations Encouraging students to be actively involved in these activities seems to be the key to the improvement of students speaking skills However, there is a

list of factors affecting students’ speaking abilities

• Less proficient English

Students often have difficulty understanding what the teacher says in class and thus are unable to respond to the teacher’s questions They sometimes want to ask the teacher to repeat what has been but they are afraid that others would think that their English is bad In order not to show others that they do not understand, they keep silent and avoid eye contact with the teacher As a result, the teacher is forced to assume that they are not ready for the question When asked to engage in some discussions on a given topic, the students are either reticent if the teacher is not watching them

• Students fear of mistakes and derision

Students often feel frightened at the idea of making mistakes and negative evaluations from their peers They avoid this by reticence and they think they can practice the language outside the classroom by speaking English until it is perfect In English classroom, making mistakes is unavoidable, and the fear of making mistakes being laughed by their classmates may prevent many of the subjects from speaking in class

• Unwillingness to take risks

Guessing is considered a strategy When students are willing to take risks in speaking, breakdowns can be avoided and students can have greater exposure to the target language production Their unwillingness to take risks hinders their ability to deal with the difficulties that arise in speaking The students think they will make fools of themselves by risk taking When they were asked, the subjects expressed their uncomfortable and helpless feelings

in dealing with the uncertainty of what they heard or how to respond They think the best way to avoid making fools of them is to keep silent and not join the discussions

According to Oxford (1999), lack of risk-taking can actually result in seriously stunted language development, as language learning needs plenty of practice, which is a high-risk activity Her view is supported by Tudor (1996) who believes that risk-taking can foster language use, and is likely to expand the learner’s exploration of the target language and thus increase potentially productive learning opportunities

• Low tolerance of ambiguity

The subjects experienced discomfort and frustration in dealing with the ambiguity of the language As science majors, they want everything clearly explained with rules to follow However, there is so much vagueness about the meanings and refresh in learning the English language; this also contributes to their anxiety and discomfort

• The importance of face keeping

Less proficient English, the fear of mistakes and derision, and unwillingness to take risks are all related to face keeping

In oral English classes, the subjects are well aware that the risk of making mistakes is high They will try to avoid speaking in the presence of their peers for fear and negative evaluation by others In general, students learning a foreign language feel that they are being evaluated by the teacher and their peers

Students who feel they lack sufficient knowledge of English to enhance their face might react by trying to speak as little as possible or to avoid speaking completely As a result, their opportunities to practice the target language are significantly reduced, which might be the reason for the subjects’ limited progress in speaking

• Anxiety and its effect on speaking

Speaking in front of peers and teachers is seen as the most provoking situation of all Anxiety has been considered a very negative factor

anxiety-in learnanxiety-ing English, especially anxiety-in learnanxiety-ing to speak the language Speakanxiety-ing is problematic because there is no preparation time for students to correct what

he or she wants to say, thus the risk of being wrong in an oral class is high Students with anxiety will have difficulty concentrating and processing input

in class and consequently the output of the language is negatively affected They tend to withdraw from voluntary participation and are unwilling to take risks They are apprehensive, worried and even fearful in the classroom When students are nervous, they tend to make more mistakes The more mistakes they make, the more nervous they will be, and the less likely they are to perform well at speaking skills Therefore, anxiety is considered a major obstacle to developing language skills, and particularly speaking skills

1.1.4 Types of speaking skills

According to Robert Sanborn Brown and Paul Nation in the book

“Language teacher” published in 1997, in speaking classes, students must be

exposed to three key items

• Form-focused speaking

Form-focused speaking considers details of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and so on When learners first begin to speak another language, their speaking will need to be based on some form-focused learning It is an effective way to learn to speak a language It will enable the learners to improve the language and grasp it by themselves outside the classroom

Learners should practice some common greetings, simple personal descriptions, and simple questions and answers All the activities can be practiced in repetition drills The use of drills should be seen as one kind of form-focused activity that needs to be balanced with other types of form-focused activities, as well as with meaning-focused and fluency development activities Drills play a useful part in a language course in helping learners to

be formally accurate in their speech and in helping them to learn quickly a useful collection or phrases and sentences that allow them to start using the language as soon as possible

• Meaning-focused speaking

Besides form-focused speaking, language learners should also be exposed to and given opportunities to practice and use meaning-focused communication, in which they must both produce and listen to meaningful oral communication

For non-English major students, the oral speaking can be started by giving each learner a topic The topics could be about family, hobbies, sports, school activities, colors, travelling and so on Then all the learners are required to take a topic Having got them, each learner can think about their topics for a minute Before the learners speak on the topic, they can work in

pairs or groups of three or four to repeat it This gives the learners the chance

to learn new items from each other The learners are given topics to talk about They prepare at home, using dictionaries, reference texts, reading sources Each learner has to choose a short and interesting article from an English language newspaper to present to the class The learner must not read the article aloud to the class but must describe the main points of the article The class should then ask the presenter questions

• Fluency- focused speaking

Fluency in speaking is the aim of many language learners Signs of fluency include a reasonably fast speed of speaking and only a small number

of pauses These signs indicate that the speaker does not have to spend a lot of time searching for the language terms needed to express the message The learners choose a topic, which they are very familiar Then they try to explain the topic given as fast as possible with the limited time provided

The learners can be led to work in groups First, they read a given text carefully until they have reached a good understanding of it They discuss their understanding of the text to make sure everything is clear Then each learner takes turn to retell the text in their own word, and others will deliver some questions Then the next learners utter the tasks again in turn, like role-plays

1.2 Overview of English speaking skills

1.2.1 English conversation

1.2.1.1 Definitions of conversation

Communication requires that all parties have a space of communicative commonality There are auditory means, such as speech, song, and tone of voice, and there are nonverbal means, such as body language, sign language,

paralanguage, touch, eye contact, as well as writing

Communication is a process by which meaning is assigned and conveyed in an attempt to create a shared understanding

People sometimes use the term “conversation” to mean any spoken

encounter of interaction Conversation refers to a time when two or more people talk or listen without having to follow a fixed schedule In conversation, everyone can have something to say and everyone can speak at anytime

Conversation is one of the most basic and pervasive forms of human interaction A conversation is communication between multiple people and it

is important to most individuals Conversations are the ideal form of communication in some respects, since they allow people with different views

on a topic to learn from each other A speech, on the other hand, is an oral presentation by one person directed at a group

There are varied definitions of conversation regarding its nature and functions In daily life, conversation is considered as a communicative activity in which two or more people talk about certain topics In classes, some students define conversation as a form for people to talk together or share information, ideas and feelings or it simply is a list of continual questions and answers

On the other hand, in some well-known books, some authors give different views on conversation For example, M.Bailey (2005, p.42) claims that conversation is one of the most basic and pervasive forms of human interaction

Others attempts to define conversation can be seen to apply equally to any form of dialogue For example, Svennevig (1999,p.8) offers the definition

that “Conversation is a joint activity consisting of participatory actions

predominately in the form of spoken utterances produced successively and

extemporaneously by different participants in alternating turns at talk which are managed and sequentially organized”

Conversation is interactive although one speaker is sometimes more talkative than another, in a conversation, two or more individuals communicate (Nunan, 2003, p.43)

Conversation consists of spoken language Not only do the features of spoken language but also the methods used to analyze conversation have to consider that conversation exists within a social contact that determines the purpose of the conversation and shapes its structure and features

There are some ideas about the functions of conversation Brown, G

and Yule, G (1983) state that “two different kinds of conversational

interaction can be distinguished-those in which the primary focus is on the exchange of information and those in which the primary purpose is to establish and maintain social relations”

In transactional uses of conversation, the primary focus is on the message, whereas interactional uses of conversation focus primarily on the social needs of participants

A conversation is designed to convey information in order to help achieve an individual or group goal

Small talk is a type of conversation where the topic is less important than the social purpose of achieving bonding between people or managing personal distance

Banter is non-serious conversation, usually between friends, which may rely on humor or in-jokes at the expense of those taking part The purpose of banter may firstly appear to be an offensive affront to the other person’s face However, people engaging in a conversation are often signaling that they are

comfortable enough in each other’s company to be able to say such things without causing offense Banter is particularly difficult for those on the autism spectrum, or those will semantic pragmatic disorder

1.2.1.3 Native speakers’ conversation

True conversation is unscripted, free-ranging discourses involving two

or more people In conversation, the topic can exchange and the individual

take turns, that is the utterances build on the different speaker’s contribution

Finding out the way of native speakers form a conversation seems to be one of the best ways to make conversations successfully in English Basing on some information cited from Nolasco and Arthur (2007, p.7), a normal conversation could follow these rules:

• Usually only one speaker speaks at a time

• The speakers change

• The length of the any contribution varies

• There are techniques for allowing the other party or parties to speak

• Neither the content nor the amount of what we say is specified in advance

The majority of conversations can be divided into four categories according to their major subject content:

• Conversations about subjective ideas, which often serve to extend understanding and awareness

• Conversations about objectives facts, which may serve to consolidate a widely-held view

• Conversations about other people (usually absent), which may be critical, competitive, or supportive This includes gossip

• Conversations about oneself, which sometimes indicate seeking behaviors

attention-1.2.2 Effective English speaking skills

Effective English speaking skills is important in various spheres of life

It helps people understandings and connecting with others This fulfils the

human need for socializing It is “the process of transferring information from

a sender to a receiver with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by both sender and receiver.” (“Communication”

Wikipedia)

An effective speaking activity is characterized by some main points

below:

• The content and vocabulary

For a successful conversation, the partners must achieve a workable balance of contributions A successful conversation includes mutually interesting connections between the speakers that the speakers know For this

to happen, those engaging in conversation must find a topic on which they both can relate to in some sense Those engaging in conversation naturally tend to relate the speakers’s statement to themselves They may insert aspects

of their lives into their replies, to relate to the other person’s opinions or points of conversation

The speaker should know each and everything on the subject chosen to talk about All things he/she speaks must clearly reflect his/her clarity of thought on the subject concerned A particular subject should also be clear to the speaker Lack of clarity in this regard makes the listener confused and disinterested in listening to the speaker The content of the talk should be useful and interesting to keep alive the listener’s interest throughout the interaction The listener should find it both interesting and personality useful

to remain alternative to what the speaker says

Before speaking on the subject, a speaker is expected to acquaint himself/herself with various dimensions of the subject thoroughly to do full

justice to his/her speech And then, they depend on the need, interest and level

of understanding of the listeners

A conversation often depends on questions to keep it going in the direction you want it to go The one who asks the questions in a conversation usually controls the conversation

A conversation keeps going as long as the listener continues to show interest in what the speaker says and responds to it intelligently However, no sooner does the listener indicate a lack of interest in what the speaker is talking about than the interaction gets terminated immediately

Most of the time, people communicate orally for a variety of reasons from serious purposes like asking some favors for fulfillment of some daily needs such as physical, mental, emotional and spiritual or sharing some moments of joy, and happiness with others

It is believed that a person who chooses to cover a vast area of the subject under discussion is a better speaker than the one who restricts oneself only to a limited are The speaker should present the content in a logical, cohesive and interesting manner Besides, the speaker should know what to say and how to say on a subject to be able to speak effectively Both speaker and listener should express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of language accuracy

Using the right words all the right place seems to be one of the best ways to leave a permanent impact on the listener’s mind Therefore, it is essential for speaker to enrich a good active vocabulary The ability to use every word as different parts of speech will further enable him/her to communicate on the subject concerned effectively In the absence of appropriate usage of words, a speaker fails to communicate exactly what that particular situation demands

It is a proven fact that only the thoughts presented in a logical and cohesive way leave a permanent impact on the listener’s minds Besides, the speaker should pays attention to the listener who is the most important partner

in the interaction

• The knowledge of phonetic

It is said that knowledge of phonetics and phonetic symbols representing various vowel and consonant sounds is essential to be able to speak effectively “Studying the rules of pronunciation and the Phonetic Alphabet is the key to speak English well” (Dennis, 2011, p.5)

The knowledge of phonetic symbols is quite helpful in understanding the sound system of English language

In fact, producing the correct sound of an alphabet in usage even without knowing the internationally recommend phonetic symbols for it Phonetics does not mean the knowledge of phonetic symbols alone, but is the study of the speech sounds

“It is difficult to connect English spelling with pronunciation, the

guidelines for pronunciation is to base on the International standard as accepted by the Oxford dictionary All signs and symbols used for explaining pronunciation conform to International Phonetic Alphabet” (Vaid, 2008, p.170) The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a collection of symbols

that represent the different sounds of a language “Many of the symbols in the

phonetic alphabet are the same as the symbols you use in the regular spelling alphabet, so you are not getting into totally unfamiliar territory Some are new symbols, but they are not difficult to learn” (Geoffrey, 2001, p.82) The wonderful thing about the phonetic alphabet is that it has only one symbol for each speech sound and only one speech sound for each symbol This makes it very easy to identify the sound you are saying or want to say You will have very little trouble learning the exact sounds and symbols of the

phonetic alphabet If you speak English, you already say the speech sounds with some degree of accuracy You just need to become aware of how you create the sound When you know all the sounds of English and the symbols that represent those sounds, you will be able to pronounce any word in English

• Stress and intonation

Word stress is your magic key to understanding spoken English To understand word stress, it helps to understand syllables Every word is made from syllables Each word has one, two, three or more syllables It is part of the language English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult conditions For example, if you do not hear a word clearly, you can still understand the word because of the position of the stress A talk delivered with right stress is like a musical treat to its listeners, which they want to listen

Intonation is categorized as a component of phonology in English, discussion on what intonation is can be found in a number of influential

works of leading phoneticians In the book “The Communication Value of

Intonation in English” published in 1997 of Eenest G Bormann produces

“the effect of prominence on syllables that need to be perceived as stressed,

and in particular the placing of tonic stress on a particular syllable marks out the word to which it belongs as the most important in the tone unit” This idea can be understood that intonation is used to bring some parts of the message into focus, and leave other parts out of focus, to emphasize some parts and not others

In terms of grammar, intonation helps the listener recognize the grammar and syntactic structure of the utterance For instance, intonation is used to mark the beginning and end of grammatical units such as clause and sentence; or it can be used to distinguish clause types, such as question vs statement, and to disambiguate the ambiguity

In terms of discourse, intonation can signal whether the speaker comes

to the end of the point and is ready to give another speaker a turn or want to keep talking As a result, it can suggest the listener the sequences of clauses or sentences in conversation, or i.e it conveys to the listener what kind of response is expected

In terms of the attitude, intonation conveys our feelings and attitudes when we speak to show surprise, pleasure anger, interest or boredom, and many others

In terms of accent, according to Roach (1998,p.163) intonation

produces “the effect of prominence on syllables that need to be perceived as

stressed, and in particular the placing of tonic stress on a particular syllable marks out the word to which it belongs as the most important in the tone unit”

1.3 Summary

In this chapter, a theoretical background about speaking skills and a brief overview of effective speaking skill are presented including the definitions, nature, types of speaking and factors affecting speaking skills; English conversation and effective English conversation in the process of language learning

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

To speak English naturally requires much effort during practicing process Therefore, a productive skill like speaking is sometimes difficult for non-English major students In this chapter, the methodologies of the research are presented and the difficulties in speaking English of students are pointed out basing on the data analysis from survey questionnaires and classroom observation in order to find out the suitable methods for them

2.1 Method of the study

The study employs both quantitative and qualitative research methods Questionnaires are used as a kind of quantitative method of study to collect

information from students The questionnaires include both closed and ended questions which give students opportunity to express their opinions on the difficulties of speaking English Besides, interviews and group observation are used to get quantitative data for the study Interviews get the research get closer to the participants who are non-English major students Their in-depth thinking noted during the interviewees will help the researcher have more insight looks into the study issue

open-2.1.1 Participants

The data of the study is collected from two main sources: survey questionnaires and interviews The survey questionnaire is conducted with the participation of the non-English major students at Hanoi Open University Randomly chosen students from different faculties such as economics, tourism, Chinese language and so on at Hanoi Open University were surveyed

to get accurate results Each student gives its own ideas about the matters shown in the questionnaire

2.1.2 Research instrument

The data for the study comes from both a quantitative method called survey questionnaires and two qualitative methods namely interview and group observation

2.1.3 Design of the survey questionnaire

The survey questionnaire consists of 10 questions for the non-English major students at Hanoi Open University The survey questionnaires are designed to make out the attitude of students towards English speaking skills and get more information about the situations and problems of non-English major students to help them develop English speaking skills in the process of language learning

Students were asked to tick the most suitable answers in accordance with their opinion The questionnaire concentrates on finding:

• Students’ interest in speaking English

• Students’ attitude towards speaking skills

• Students’ English self-study skills

• Students’ difficulties encounter when speaking English

• Students’ expectation in speaking skills

2.2 Data analysis

2.2.1 Students’ interest in speaking English

Pie chart 1

The pie chart above illustrates the difference among students’ interest

in speaking English It is clear from the pie chart that the percentage of English major students who are pretty keen on speaking English is highest (52%) The latter figure accounts for 22 percent in the number of learners who are very interested in this skill 16% is the percentage of students saying that they prefer a little bit and just 10% of them admit that they are do not like speak English at all

non-When being asked: “Why don’t you like speaking English?” many students said that it was difficult for them to run a conversation smoothly and they did not know how to improve that situation

22%

52%

16%

10%

Do you like speaking English?

Yes, very much Yes, pretty much Yes, a little bit No

2.2.2 Students’ attitude towards speaking skills

Pie chart 2

The second pie chart indicates the awareness of students about the importance of English speaking skills The number of students who agree this skill is very important occupying 67% 22% of them believe that this skill is pretty important 11% of the remaining say that it is little essential and none

of learners support that the skill is worthless This proved that they are totally aware of how English is significant to them The reasons for these positive attitudes come from their understanding about the current situation Nowadays, English is an international language which is used all over the world and applied in every field of life Therefore, the more they study English, the more opportunities they handle for future

15%

47%

29%

Are you confident to speak English in class?

Yes, very much Yes, pretty much Yes, a little bit No

2.2.3 Students’ English self-study skills

Pie chart 4

The fourth pie chart presents the time students spend speaking English each day It is clear from the pie chart that the percentage of students not practicing English is the highest (52%) 22 percent of them spend 10 minutes practicing each day the figure for students who perform the same task within

20 minutes make up 16% and only 10% of the remaining students spending more than 30 minutes each day for this skill

It can be realized from this data that a majority of learners do not focus

on practicing English They are quite lazy and lack motivation to be more passionate about this skill

Pie chart 5

It is clear from the fifth pie chart that the number of students speaking

to native speakers is very small Only 5% of them often attend this activity and 7% sometimes taking part in this kind of conversation The number of learners who are rarely interested accounting for 14% and the figure for learners who have never tried on this activity making up 74%

One obvious reason is that the environment surrounding does not create chances for non-English major students to interact with foreigners Besides, they often feel shy to start a conversation naturally and bad at remaining this dialogue till the end with foreigners

Table 6

What kind of materials do you use

for self-study speaking skill?

Percentage

Printed materials (books, newspapers,

magazines, …)

24%

Online sources (English learning

website, English learning group,

English social network…)

44%

Media source (English TV programs,

English movies, English records,…)

32%

The table above indicates the types of materials that students use to practice English speaking skill It can be seen from the table that a great number of students tend to use online materials to serve for their English speaking study (44%) 32% of students are keen on watching English programs or listening records on radio and just 24% of them choose to learn this skill through printed materials Furthermore, a majority of the responses shows more than one option, which means students also combine several kinds of materials at once to support their self-directed learning process The reason for this situation is students nowadays desire to keep up with the rapid pace of high technology information Interestingly, it is very easy and takes a little time to surf the internet to look for useful information and interact with others all over the world