A critical discourse analysis of president barack h obama’s address on cuba detente policy

ABSTRACT The present study is conducted in the hope of finding out: 1 the types of strategies non-major ethnic minority successful and unsuccessful learners at a teacher training college

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

***********************

TRẦN THỊ NGỌC MAI

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE STRATEGIES FOR

DEVELOPING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL OF NON-MAJOR ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS AT A TEACHER TRAINNING COLLEGE IN THE NORTHWESTERN AREA OF VIETNAM

(Nghiên cứu những chiến lược để phát triển kỹ năng nói Tiếng Anh của sinh viên

không chuyên người dân tộc thiểu số tại trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm

vùng Tây Bắc Việt Nam)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

***********************

TRẦN THỊ NGỌC MAI

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE STRATEGIES FOR

DEVELOPING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL OF NON-MAJOR ETHNIC MINORITY STUDENTS AT A TEACHER TRAINNING COLLEGE IN THE NORTHWESTERN AREA OF VIETNAM

(Nghiên cứu những chiến lược để phát triển kỹ năng nói Tiếng Anh của sinh viên

không chuyên người dân tộc thiểu số tại trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm

vùng Tây Bắc Việt Nam)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

DECLARATION

I hereby certify the thesis entitle ‘an investigation into the strategies for developing English speaking skill of non-major ethnic minority students at a teacher training college in the Northwestern area of Vietnam’ is my own study in

the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Hanoi, September 2017

Tr n Th Ng M i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Huynh Anh Tuan, who is willing to devote his time to offer me professional guidance and practical comments on my research If there is not his valuable suggestions, careful and detailed critical comments, this study will not be fulfilled Also, my deepest gratitude is extended to my parents as well as friends for their support and encouragement throughout my thesis Finally, this research could not have been conducted without the cooperation of the non-major ethnic minority students at Dien Bien teacher training college during the process of data collection

ABSTRACT

The present study is conducted in the hope of finding out: (1) the types of strategies non-major ethnic minority successful and unsuccessful learners at a teacher training college in the Northwestern area of Vietnam use to develop their speaking skill (henceforth referred to as speaking strategies) and (2) the relationship between their speaking learning strategies and their oral language proficiency In order to seek answers to the two research questions centering on these two issues, a descriptive survey method was applied A questionnaire and some interviews were utilized to collect the data The questionnaire which consisted of 28 items was built from Oxford‘s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) to elicit the ethnic minority students‘ use of str tegies for developing spe king skill The interviews onsisted of 6 questions involving students‘ n me, attitudes, study methods, perceptions and study hours of interviewees to get more understanding of the

re sons behind the students‘ le rning str tegies hoi es Thirty six students, who were classified as successful, satisfactorily successful and unsuccessful took part in the survey and eight students were chosen to participate in the interviews after completing the questionnaire

The findings of this study revealed that some strategies were more frequently used by learners than the others Moreover, there were similarities in choosing memory strategies, cognitive strategies and social strategies for improving the

le rners‘ spe king skill nd significant differences in the frequency of the use of compensation strategies, metacognitive strategies and affective strategies among student groups Besides, successful and satisfactorily successful students used more strategies than unsuccessful students The results also presented some successful and unsuccessful students were reported using strategies not listed in the questionnaire The final finding is that language learning strategies are related to successful and unsuccessful non-major ethnic minority students‘ or l English proficiency to some extent

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Methods of the study 3

5 Scope of the study 3

6 Significance of the study 4

7 Organization of the study 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Language learning strategies 5

1.1.1 Definitions of language learning strategies 5

1.1.2 Classifications of language learning strategies 6

1.1.3 The differences between language learning strategies and language use strategies 10

1.2 Speaking skill 12

1.2.1 Definition of speaking 12

1.2.2 Speaking strategies 13

1.2.3 Components of second language speaking competence 13

1.2.4 Speaking approaches 15

1.3 Relationship between language learning strategy use and language proficiency 17

1.4 Language Learning Strategies and English Majors 18

1.5 Previous studies 20

1.5.1 Previous studies on language learning strategies 20

1.5.2 Previous studies on speaking strategies 21

1.6 Summary 24

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 25

2.1 Research questions 25

2.2 Research method: Survey 25

2.2.1 Introduction 26

2.2.2 Types of survey research: Descriptive survey 26

2.2.3 Survey research designs: Cross-sectional design 27

2.2.4 Steps in carrying out a survey: 7 steps 28

2.2.5 Sampling 31

2.2.6 Pilot study 33

2.2.7 The outcomes of the pilot study 34

2.2.8 Summary 36

2.3 Setting of the study 37

2.4 Participants 37

2.5 Data collection instruments: Questionnaire & Interview 40

2.5.1 Questionnaire 40

2.5.2 Interview (for interview questions see Appendix 13) 43

2.6 Data collection procedure 45

2.7 Data analytical framework 46

2.8 Data analysis procedure 47

2.9 Summary 48

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS 50

3.1 Introduction 50

3.2 Data analysis 50

3.2.1 Questionnaire data analysis (for investigating the types of speaking strategies used between successful, satisfactory successful and unsuccessful students) 50

3.2.2 Interview data analysis 58

3.2.3 Questionnaire data analysis (for finding out the relationship between

l ngu ge le rning str tegies nd students‘ or l English profi ien y)………….62

3.3 Summary 68

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 69

4.1 Findings 69

4.1.1 Kinds of language learning strategies for developing English speaking skill used by successful and unsuccessful ethnic minority students 69

4.1.2 Rel tionship between l ngu ge le rning str tegies nd students‘ or l English proficiency 74

4.2 Discussion 75

PART C: CONCLUSION 79

1 Summary 79

2 Implications 82

3 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 82

REFERENCES 84 APPENDIX 1: I APPENDIX 2: I APPENDIX 3: II APPENDIX 4: II APPENDIX 5: III APPENDIX 6: IV APPENDIX 7: VII APPENDIX 8: X APPENDIX 9: XIII APPENDIX 10 XIV APPENDIX 11: XVII APPENDIX 12: XX APPENDIX 13: XXXII

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESL: English as a second language

LLS: Language learning strategy

LLSs: Language learning strategies

SD: Standard deviations

SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Science

SILL: Strategy Inventory for Language Learning

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Seven-stage survey research process 31

Table 2: Strategies for survey sampling 34

Table 3: Three sample size estimates 35

T ble 4: Summ rizes the entire result ronb h‘s lph 38

Table 5: Strengths and weaknesses of tape-recording and note-taking 45

Table 6: Speaking strategy at six categories of language learning strategy used between successful, satisfactorily successful and unsuccessful students 52

Table 7: Memory strategies used by successful, satisfactorily successful and unsuccessful students 53

Table 8: Cognitive strategies used by successful, satisfactorily successful and unsuccessful students 53

Table 9: Compensation strategies used by successful, satisfactorily successful and unsuccessful students 54

Table 10: Metacognitive strategies used by successful, satisfactorily successful and unsuccessful students 55

Table 11: Affective strategies used by successful, satisfactorily successful and unsuccessful students 56

Table 12: Social strategies used by successful, satisfactorily successful and unsuccessful students 56

Table 13: Overall speaking strategies between successful, satisfactorily successful and unsucessful students 57

Table 14: ANOVA results for the language learning strategies used by learners with different English proficiency 58

T ble 15: Students‘ s ores nd their le rning str tegy use t six tegories of LLSs 64

Table 16: Students‘ s ores nd their memory strategy use 64

Table 17: Students‘ s ores nd their ognitive str tegy use 65

Table 18: Students‘ s ores nd their ompens tion str tegy use 65

Table 19: Students‘ s ores nd their metacognitive strategy use 66

Table 20: Students‘ s ores nd their ffe tive str tegy use 67

Table 21: Students‘ s ores nd their so i l strategy use 67

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part provides an overview of the current study It starts with reasons for choosing the research topic Then, objectives and research questions of the study are shown Next, methods and scope of the study are discussed After that significance

of the study is clarified Finally, the outline of the study is presented

1 Rationale

There is no doubt that speaking plays an important role in the language learning process Hence, among the four language skills speaking is claimed to be at the heart of second language learning, (Egan 1999: 277) Moreover, Nunan (1999) states that success in learning a language is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the language However, spoken language production is often considered one of the most difficult aspects of language learning (Brown & Yule, 1983) Pinter (2006) also sees that learning to speak is viewed as the greatest challenge for all language learners to truly grasp Thus, how to improve speaking proficiency for students seems to be a crucial question among instructors

A common comment drawn among ethnic minority students in Dien Bien context is that they are able to understand what they read and write although they sometimes may make mistakes in writing and understand a paragraph wrongly; yet they find arduous to express their feelings and ideas through oral language They like to speak in their mother tongue when they interact to their friends Also, minority learners feel afraid of making mistakes in English speaking so they often find hard to get enough experience with English in English class As a result, they fail to obtain speaking skills which lead to low marks in speaking

‘Teachers open the doors, but you must enter by yourself’ is an old Chinese

proverb It seems true when the change in favor of learning and teaching placed importance on learner-centered approach rather than the teacher-centered one Teachers provide their students with good opportunities to gain knowledge and learners know how to apply that knowledge to their own studying in order to be more successful Wenden and Rubin (1987) found that some learners were more successful than others since they use learning strategies more effectively

Furthermore, learning strategies are considered to be ― n extremely powerful

le rning tool‖ (O‘M lley, Ch mot, Stewner-Manzanares, Kupper, and Russo,

1985:43) This ‗tool‘ is ble to help students over ome the problems they f e in

their language learning journey Nonetheless, most of ethnic minority students often ignore appropriate strategies that they are guided by their teachers or rarely apply those strategies in their learning

There goes an old proverb which states: “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day Teach him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime‖ When applied to the

language teaching and learning field, this proverb probably means that if students are provided with strategies, they will manage their own learning This suggests that using language learning strategies in learning process need to be encouraged

There has been a limitation in the number of studies on the second language learning of ethnic minority students in Vietnam Study by Tran Thi Phuong Hoa (2011) focused on ethni minority students‘ beliefs about English language learning and the study by Le Ngoc Oanh (2009) investigated into differences of reading strategy use between Kinh and Thai students Until now, there has been one study carried out by Do Thi Anh Thu (2017) on learner autonomy of ethnic minority in Northwest region, Vietnam However, there have not been any studies which were conducted to discover and clarify strategies that were used by ethnic minority students in improving their speaking skills With high interest in this area, the author of this paper decided to do a research with the hope of finding out the speaking strategies used by successful learners, then, apply them to train unsuccessful learners to assist learners in developing their speaking skill As Rubin (1975:42) st tes th t ‗if we knew more bout wh t the "su essful le rners" did,

we might be able to teach these strategies to poorer learners to enhance their

su ess re ord‘

2 Objectives of the study

Unsuccessful non-major ethnic minority students may find it troublesome to

participate into speaking activities in classroom In order to improve their communicative ability, the search for learning strategies that are used by successful

and unsuccessful non-major ethnic minority learners are required The objectives of

this paper are to:

(1) explore the kinds of language learning strategies for developing

English speaking skill that successful and unsuccessful non-major ethnic

minority students at Dien Bien teacher training college report that they use (2) investigate the relationship ( if any) between successful and unsuccessful

non-major ethnic minority students‘ oral English proficiency and their

language learning strategies

report that they use to develop English speaking skill?

2 To what extent is the language learning strategies related to successful and unsuccessful non-major ethnic minority students‘ oral English proficiency?

4 Methods of the study

The subjects for this study were the first-year non-major ethnic minority students at Dien Bien teacher training college A descriptive survey was conducted

to achieve the objectives of the present research Data were collected through the analysis of the questionnaire and student interviews Then, they were compared,

analyzed and synthesized both qualitatively and quantitatively

5 Scope of the study

The current study is carried out among the first year non-major ethnic minority students who are classified as successful and unsuccessful Concerning the scope of the study, the following issues should be taken into consideration First, the focus of the investigation is on learning strategies which were used by ethnic minority students to develop their speaking skills Second, the study explores the

relationship between their speaking learning strategies and their oral language

proficiency

6 Significance of the study

This study should be of potential interest to language learners who desire to

have effective learning strategies for developing their English speaking skill to

become successful learners Besides, the study clarifies learning strategies which were applied In addition, it helps learners see that learning strategies are effective language learning tools Moreover, important implications are discussed not only to

r ise le ners‘ w reness of the use of spe king le rning str tegies but lso to help teacher encourage their students to use and share strategies with other students

7 Organization of the study

The study is divided into three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

Part A is the Introduction which provides information about the rationale, purpose, research questions, methods, scope, significance and organization of the study Part B is the Development which is sub-divided into three chapters

Chapter 1, Literature review, discusses the theoretical background in the light of

which the research matters will be discussed

Chapter 2, Methodology of the research, describes the nuclear method used to

investigate the research matters

Chapter 3, Findings and discussions, shows the results of the study and provides

answers to the research questions

Part C is the Conclusion which summarizes the overall study and proposes some implications as well as suggests for other related studies

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter mainly focuses on the theoretical background of the study It begins with some brief discussion on how previous scholars define and classify language learning strategy Then the differences between language learning strategies and language use strategies will be indicated This is followed by a review

of related literature concerning speaking skill including definition of speaking and speaking strategies, components of second language speaking competence and speaking approaches Then the relationship between language learning strategy use and language proficiency is described A detailed review of research on Language Learning Strategies and English Majors is pointed out The chapter ends with some comments on previous studies of LLSs and speaking strategies with regards to the

characteristics of participants, methods of data collection, and results

1.1 Language learning strategies

This section presents issues of language learning strategies in terms of definition and classification Besides, the differences between language learning strategies and language use strategies are pointed out briefly and clearly

1.1 1 Definitions of language learning strategies

Griffiths (2008:83) points out, ―the on ept of l ngu ge le rning str tegy h s been notoriously diffi ult to define.‖ Over the l st few de des, there are different definitions on language learning strategies provided by various researchers and scholars However, this thesis focuses on definitions by Rubin (1975), O‘M lley and Chamot (1990) and Oxford (1990)

As a pioneer in this field, Rubin (1975: 43) proposes that ‘the techniques or devices which a learner may use to acquire knowledge’ (cited in Giffiths, 2004:2) O‘M lley nd Ch mot (1990:1) des ribe le rning str tegies s ‘special thoughts or behaviours that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn, or retain new information’ Slightly different from these two definitions, Oxford (1990:8) sees

that language learning strategies are ‘specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable , more self-directed, more effective, and more transferrable to new situations’ These definitions seem to draw the same

characteristic: language learning strategies are what can assist learners in improving their knowledge to reach their language goal

According to Giffiths (2004), Rubin provides a very broad definition of learning strategies Therefore, Rubin‘s definition is too hard to cover

In O‘M lley nd Ch mot‘s definition, lthough it clearly presents the goals:

‗strategies are to help students achieve comprehension and learning new information‘ (Lan, 2005:17), it does not emphasize on aspects of language learning

or solve problems faced in the language learning

Comp red with other definitions, Oxford‘s on ept is m rked to be one of the most comprehensive definitions (Lan, 2005:17) Oxford puts more focus on the aspects of learning and use of information, ‗as well as the changed nature of learning when learning is enhanced by strategies‘ (L n, 2005:17) Besides, ‗spe i l tions‘ th t re introduced in her definitionare to help learners achieve their target language Ramesh (2009) also agrees that ‗LLS are essential in learning a language

in order to help learners improve their language learning process through conscious actions.‘

As noted bove, Oxford‘s definition is the most appropriate to guide the current study because it is clear and understandable

1.1.2 Classifications of language learning strategies

There are several different ideas on the classifications of LLSs in the field of second or foreign language learning Classifications of LLSs that encourage to develop speaking skill are conducted by Bialystok (1978), O‘M lley nd Ch mot (1990) and Oxford (1990)

Bialystok (1978) classifies language learning strategies into four categories First is functional practicing such as completing a transaction at a store Second is monitoring and formal practicing such as verbal drills found in a second language

class Third is inferencing It may be used with implicit linguistic knowledge and knowledge of the world She draws a clear model which emphasizes on cognitive and metacognitive strategies Nonetheless, the social/affective components were not mentioned in her model Thus, this classification is not suitable for the current study which tends to explore the LLSs for improving speaking skill

O‘M lley nd Ch mot (1990) presented a classification including three

major strategies: metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies and social/affective strategies Metacognitive strategies refer to strategies applied to plan for learning

and thinking about the learning process, monitoring production and comprehension

as well as evaluation after the completion of an activity whilst cognitive strategies involve the direct manipulation of learning techniques such as: repetition, resourcing, grouping, note taking, deduction, substitution, elaboration, summarization, translation, transfer and inferencing Socio/affective strategies mainly include the learner in communicative interaction with another person A distinctive point in this classification is that their study based on theories in cognitive science Addition lly, L n (2005:21) st tes ‗their classification was not only theory-based but also has been fairly accepted by both teachers and researchers

in the field‘ However, their tegory rem ins limited This is pointed out by Cohen (1996:11) ‗The O‘M lley nd Ch mot (1990) t xonomy fo used on ognitive nd metacognitive strategies, and only touched the surface of social and especially affective strategies.‘

A common weakness in the classification by both Bialystok and O‘M lley and Chamot is limitation of affective strategies Kr shen‘s (1982:31) affective filter hypothesis posits that affective variables relate to success in second language acquisition Thus, affective strategies have been recognized as an essential role in learning language

In spite of the fact that these taxonomies provide first insights for language learning strategies to help learners to be successful in speaking, the observable weakness of the classification may be unsuitable for this research Hence, it is

ne ess ry to develop more ppropri te l ssifi tion Oxford (1990:8) sees th t ‗it is easy to see how language learning strategies stimulate the growth of communicative competence in general ‘ Thus, Oxford (1990), whose strategy

classification is chosen for the current study, divides strategies into two major classes: direct and indirect

Direct strategies which are composed of memory, cognitive and compensation strategies refer to the purpose of language Firstly, memory strategies are strategies that help learners store and retrieve new information needed for communication Secondly, cognitive strategies are those that allow language learners to understand and produce new language by numerous different means easier Thirdly, compensation strategies assist learners in overcoming their knowledge limitations in language use in order to communicate authentically

On the other hand, indirect trategies are grouped into metacognitive,

affective and social strategies They are considered as "contribute indirectly but powerfully to learning" (Oxford 1990:11-12) First, metacognitive strategies are

used for focusing, organizing and evaluating learning process Second, affective strategies help learners develop self-confidence and enable them to control feelings, motivations, and attitudes related to language learning Third, social strategies

‗provide increased interaction and more empathetic understanding, two qualities necessary to reach communicative competence’(Oxford, 1990: 14)

Generally speaking, compared with other categories, Oxford‘s t xonomy is

―perhaps the most comprehensive classification of learning strategies to date‖

(Ellis, 1994: 539) In the same vein, her classification is appreciated to be the most detailed and systematic strategy taxonomy to date (Radwan, 2011) It would be of great importance and interest to look insight into 46 out of 62 strategies from her whole strategy classifi tion for developing spe king Oxford‘s l ssifi tion of LLSs is the nuclear model and stream of this study

Item Strategy Group Class

5 Formally practising with sounds and writing

systems

Cognitive Direct

6 Recognizing and using formulas and patterns Cognitive Direct

9 Using resources for receiving and sending messages Cognitive Direct

13 Switching to the mother tongue Compensation Direct

16 Avoiding communication partially or totally Compensation Direct

18 Adjusting or approximating the message Compensation Direct

20 Using a circumlocution or synonym Compensation Direct

21 Overviewing and linking with already known

material

Metacognitive Indirect

23 Delaying speech production to focus on listening Metacognitive Indirect

24 Finding out about language learning Metacognitive Indirect

26 Setting goals and objectives Metacognitive Indirect

27 Identifying the purpose of a language task Metacognitive Indirect

28 Planning for a language task Metacognitive Indirect

29 Seeking practice opportunities Metacognitive Indirect

32 Using progressive relaxation, deep breathing, or

meditation

Affective Indirect

35 Making positive statements Affective Indirect

40 Writing a language learning diary Affective Indirect

41 Discussing your feelings with someone else Affective Indirect

44 Cooperating with proficient users of the new

language

45 Developing cultural understanding Social Indirect

46 Be oming w re of others‘ thoughts nd feelings Social Indirect

1.1.3 The differences between language learning strategies and language use strategies

According to Cohen et al.,(1996), strategies for language learning and language use have been receiving ever-growing attention in the areas of foreign language teaching and learning Language educators who come from various contexts look for ways in order to help learners become more successful in learning language

as well as communicating with foreigners They are concerned about language

learning and language use strategies be use ‗the application of foreign language learning and use strategies is viewed as one vehicle for promoting greater success.‘(Cohen et l., 1996:1) However, it is necessary to make clear the difference

between language learning strategies and language use strategies Therefore, this section is written to provide clarification for differences between them

This part will begin by pointing out the difference in definition Then, it will move on to consider distinction between classification of language use strategies and taxonomy of language learning strategies

Cohen (1996:2) stresses th t ‗Whereas language learning strategies have an

explicit goal of assisting learners in improving their knowledge in a target language,

language use strategies focus primarily on employing the language that learners

have in their current interlanguage.‘ The author of this thesis sees that Cohen has

distinguished language learning strategies form language use one clearly and understandably.

Strategies for language learning and language use can be differentiated according to classification While language learning strategies are composed of cognitive strategies, meta-cognitive strategies, affective strategies and social strategies, language use strategies include retrieval strategies, rehearsal strategies, cover strategies, and communication strategies (Cohen, 1996, 2005)

Cognitive strategies involve both the identification, retention, storage or

retrieval of words, phrases, and other elements of the second language These

strategies help learners understand new language by many different means cognitive strategies deal with pre-assessment and pre-planning, on-line planning

Meta-and evaluation, Meta-and post-evaluation of language learning activities Meta-and language use events These strategies are actions that help learners control their learning process

by coordinating the planning, organizing and evaluating of the learning process

Affective strategies are those strategies that help students regulate their emotions, motivation, and attitudes Social strategies include the actions which assist learners

in interacting with other learners and with native speakers

Retrieval strategies are those strategies that learners use to call up language material from storage These strategies require learners to remember the correct verb

in its appropriate tense or retrieve the meaning of a word when it is heard or read.

Rehearsal strategies are strategies for practicing target language structures before using them Cover strategies are those strategies that learners use to create the

impression that they have control over material when they do not Communication strategies are used to by learners to convey a message that is both meaningful and informative for the listener or reader when they don‘t h ve all the language they need

As the discussion mentioned above, the difference between language learning strategies and language use strategies is quite clear and concrete This study is conducted to explore language learning strategies in English speaking in

order to provide useful insights into improving English learning The results lead to the development of teaching and learning English

According to Oxford Advanced Dictionary, speaking is ‘to express or communicate opinions, feelings, ideas, etc, by or as talking’ Chaney and Burk (1998:13) state that speaking is ‗the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts’ Brown, Burns & Joy e in Florez (1999:1) see th t spe king ‗is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information’ From the definitions above, the writer concludes that speaking not

only expresses our ideas but also transfers information to others

In another study, speaking is defined by B iley (2005:48) s ‗the language skill is generated by the learners in oral form.‘ A ording to Thornbury (2005:iv),

the definition of speaking concentrates on communication ability between people that take turns in exchanging particular information Another definition by

Brown nd Yule (2001:25) of spe king is ‗to express the needs – request, information, service, etc’ Based on these definitions , the author of this study sees

that speaking is the language skill of exchanging information and constructing meaning with others orally

Person lly spe king, I prefer Brown nd Yule‘s idea presented in their

book-‗Dis ourse n lysis‘ (1983) They s y th t ‗speaking can also serve one of two main

functions: transactional (transfer of information) and interactional (maintenance of

social relationships)‘( ited in S l h, 2015) They put more focus on the function of

speaking which is to express social relations and personal attitudes By using this productive skill, people can express their ideas, feeling and purpose on any topics Because of its great function, speaking seems to be one of the most important skills

in language learning

1.2.2 Speaking strategies

Spe king str tegies re defined by O‘M lley nd Ch mot (1990) s ‗the tools for active, self-directed involvement needed for developing second language ommuni tive bility‘ ( ited in Susie, 2011) Another definition by Larenas

(2011:87) of speaking strategies is ‗ tions nd/or pro edures th t students pply in

order to omplete n or l ommuni tive t sk su essfully.‘ A ording to Faerch

and Kasper (1983), speaking strategies defined s ―potenti lly ons ious pl ns for

solving what to an individual presents itself as a problem in reaching a particular ommuni tive go l‖ (cited in Brown 2000: 127)

1.2.3 Components of second language speaking competence

There are some good models of second language speaking competence which are created by great researchers It would be a serious omission, if Canale and Swain (1980) and (Hymes, 1971) were not mentioned in this field Hymes points out that the interaction of grammatical, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, and probabilistic language components is essential to enhance speaking skills effectively while Canale and Swain (1980) suggest that communicative competence is composed of four components: grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence (cited in Abbaspour, 2016:146) It is clear that these researchers give their own components of speaking competence by terminologies that are abstract and difficult for readers to

understand

The author of the current study is in favor of Goh & Burns‘ omponents of second language speaking competence since they are presented scientifically and logically Moreover, it is useful for teachers to become more knowledgeable about

what speaking competence involves Thus, this model is applicable to the present study.

Goh & Burns (2012:53) give three areas of speaking competence which are briefly outlined below:

Knowledge of Language and Discourse requires mastering the sound patterns

of the language, knowing the grammar and vocabulary of the language and understanding how stretches of connected speech are organised, so that they are socially and pragmatically appropriate

Core Speaking Skills means developing the ability to process speech quickly

to increase fluency (e.g speech rate, chunking, pausing, formulaic language, discourse markers) It also involves being able to negotiate speech (e.g building on previous utterances, monitoring understanding, repairing communication breakdown, giving feedback), as well as managing the flow of speech as it unfolds (e.g initiating topics, turn-taking, signalling intentions, opening/closing conversations)

Communication Strategies involves developing cognitive strategies to

compensate for limitations in language knowledge (e.g circumlocution, paraphrasing, gestures, word coinage, approximation, avoidance), metacognitive strategies (e.g planning in advance what to say, thinking consciously about how

you say something), and interaction strategies (e.g asking for clarification/ repetition, reformulating, rephrasing, and checking comprehension)

1.2.4 Speaking approaches

This study is grounded on two approaches that were discussed by Richards in

1990, namely indirect approach and direct one for the aim to determine the

approach that is more suitable in teaching speaking

1.2.4.1 Indirect approach –CLT

Ri h rds (1990:76) st tes ‗an indirect approach, in which conversational competence is seen as the product of engaging learners in conversational interaction.‖ According to Schmidt (1991), the indirect approach, which was the typical teaching practice for communicative language teaching (CLT) in the late 1970s and the 1980s, involves setting up and managing lifelike communicative situations in the language classroom (e.g., role plays, problem-solving tasks, or informationgap activities) and leading learners to acquire communicative skills incidentally by seeking situational meaning (cited in Dörnyei and Thurrell 1997:141) It sees that CLT has placed more importance on fluency and ability to communicate in a number of settings as well as in a great deal of ways

This approach has some advantages As stated by Nunan (1991), the communicative approach focuses on opportunities for learners to use the target language in a communicative way Moreover, Sun and Cheng (2002:68) point out that CLT ‗emphasizes authentic language input, real-life language practice, and creative generation of language output, is highly dependent on the situational context.‘ More import ntly, in Vietn m ontext, CLT is w y that encourages learners to participate actively in meaningful interaction to exchange information and solve problems (Brandl, 2008; Canh, 1999) By this approach, learners have great chances to participate in activities in the classroom and exposure to English in real-life situations

However, the weaknesses of this approach have been mentioned by other researchers Medgyes (1990), discovers that communicative approach is seen to be

full of confusion and uncertainty and results to conflicts to teachers In another study, Mangubhai et.al (2007) see that teachers are uncertain and confused about the meaning and use of CLT Besides, the limitation of using a CLT approach was pointed out by Canh and Hiep in 1999 They said that students‘ neg tive ttitudes to ommuni tive tivities nd te hers‘ l k of onfiden e in using CLT ped gogies are very apparent in Vietnam It is clear that teachers may have difficulties in applying this approach in English lesson because teachers play the role of facilitators and monitors during the learning activities (Littlewood, 1981; Richard, 2006).

The appearance of this approach brings benefits The direct approach raises

le rners‘ w reness of the n ture, systems nd p tterns involved in onvers tions vi specific language input (Dornyei and Thurrell 1994) Roger (2008:12) points out that

th nks to this ppro h, ‗le rners g in knowledge on how to use the fixed expressions, micro-skills, set phrases and discourse markers that are so abundant in spoken dis ourse.‘ The direct method has been a useful one because it ―provided n ex iting and interesting way of learning the foreign language through activity It proved to be successful in releasing students from the inhibitions all too often associated with spe king foreign tongue, p rti ul rly t the e rly st ges.‖ (Rivers, 1968:20)

In spite of the positive views of the direct approach, there have also been drawbacks around using it In Roger‘s rese r h (2008), he rgues th t ‗the dire t approach fails to account for the need to shift some of the knowledge to a stage where it n be quired nd utom ti lly pro essed.‘ A ording to his viewpoint, this leads to the limitation for controlled processing of language elements so this

may be reason for more speaking errors and lower speaking competence Chang (2011:13) contributes another idea about the weakness of this approach that

‗ lthough the traditional grammar teaching method helps improve the students‘ mastery of the grammatical rules, the students cannot use these rules flexibly and appropriately in communication.‘

Evaluating the advantages as well as disadvantages of teaching approaches will help identify how best to teach speaking skills However, based on the brief overview presented above, it is important to note that raising the level of students‘ oral proficiency and competence may combine these two approaches As stated by Roger (2008), ‗A mixture of Indirect and Direct approaches is at present the most suitable way of teaching the speaking skill.‘ Besides, in ‗The L ngu ge Te hing

M tri ‘ by Ri h rds (1990:84), the uthor on ludes th t ‗ b l n e of both approaches would seem to be the most appropriate methodologi l option.‘

1.3 Relationship between language learning strategy use and language proficiency

This section is written to make a clear picture about the relationship between language learning strategy use and language proficiency by presenting definition of proficiency, determining language proficiency levels and researches on this relationship

The term ‗profi ien y‘ has been highlighted by Bachman This term refers to

‗knowledge, ompeten e or bility in the use of l ngu ge, irrespe tive of how, where, or under wh t onditions it h s been quired (1990:16)‘

According to various studies, determining language proficiency levels have been based on scores on norm-referenced or criterion-referenced tests (Bremner, 1999; Green & Oxford, 1995; Phillips, 1990), scores decided by teachers (Chamot

& El-Dinary, 1999; Chamot & Küpper, 1989; Kiely, 2002), or self-ratings by learners (Wharton, 2000) (cited in Lan, 2005) In the same vein, Brown (1994:259) suggests th t it is ne ess ry to h ve test to be ble to provide ― n indi tion of the

point at which the student will find a level or class to be neither too easy nor too difficult but to be appropriately challenging‖

The relationship between language proficiency and the use of language learning strategies remain controversial among researchers over the decades

On one hand, various studies have indicated significant linkages between strategy use and language proficiency The results of these studies reveal that quantity and appropriateness of strategy use are associated with language proficiency (Chamot & Küpper, 1989; Green & Oxford, 1995; Gu & Johnson, 1996; Kim, 2001; Oxford, 2000; Park, 1997) In general, it is agreed that using language learning strategies has a positive impact on language proficiency

In addition to, a great number of other studies report that high-proficiency learners employ strategies more frequently than low-proficiency learners ( Oxford and Burry-Stock 1995 ; Lee 2003; Griffiths 2006; Yang 2007; Gavriilidou and Papanis 2010) Thus, it is true that there is a linear relationship between language learningstrategies and proficiency

On the other hand, there are some researchers who confirm that LLSs have

no influence on language proficiency McIntyre (1994) feels th t ‗…either proficiency influences the choice of strategies or that strategy choice is simply a sign of profi ien y level‘ (cited in Bremner, 1999:494) Moreover, Skehan (1989) and Rees-Miller (1993) h ve seen th t ‗the existen e of orrel tion between the two does not necessarily suggest causality in a particular direction (cited in Bremner, 1999:494)‘

Whatever the argument, the majority of studies point out that LLSs and language proficiency is strongly positive relationship

1.4 Language Learning Strategies and English Majors

Until now, research works on English majors related to learning strategy use have not been paid much attention, except for some studies by Liu (2004), Chuin & Kaur (2015) and Buainain (2010) These reviewed studies are reported as follows:

Liu (2004) EFL Proficiency, Gender and Language Learning Strategy Use among

a Group of Chinese Technological Institute English Majors

Purposes of the study - To investigate the frequency of EFL learning strategy

use

- To examine the relationships of two affecting factors: gender and language proficiency

Participants Technological Institute English Majors in China

Methods of Data Collection Questionnaire

Methods of Data Analysis Descriptive statistics, independent sample T-test

Results 1 Chinese technological Institute English Majors were

medium strategy users

2 Learners with better EFL proficiency reported using the overall strategy and each of the six categories of strategy significantly more frequently than learners with lower EFL proficiency did

3 Significant gender differences among Overall strategy use, Memory strategies and Affective strategies with females surpassing males in each case

Buainain (2010) Language Learning Strategies Employed by English Majors at Qatar University: Questions and Queries

Purposes of the study - To discuss the type and frequency of language learning

strategies used by Qatar University English majors Participants English major students at Qatar University

Methods of Data Collection Questionnaire

Methods of Data Analysis Descriptive statistics, MANOVA

Results 1 They preferred to use metacognitive strategies the

most, whereas they showed the least use of affective strategies

2 In general, the results indicate that Level and Proficiency have differences on the use of some strategies

Chuin & Kaur (2015) Type of Language learning strategies used by tertiary English majors

Purposes of the study - To investigate the types of language learning strategies

- To ex mine the English m jor students‘ per eptions of using language learning strategies while learning English

Participants English majors in University Sains in Malaysia

Methods of Data Collection Questionnaire

Methods of Data Analysis Descriptive statistics, SPSS

Results 1 The English majors used more indirect strategies than

direct strategies They were reported to use metacognitive strategies the most The least preferred strategies among the English majors were memory strategies

2 Language learning strategies did not always develop language competency

The studies mentioned above were conducted to explore learning strategies employed by English major students as well as the frequency of strategies used in learning English The present investigation examines whether or not non-major students at Dien Bien teacher training college use learning strategies in developing their speaking skills

1.5 Previous studies

This section states an overview of previous studies including language learning strategies and speaking strategies

1.5.1 Previous studies on language learning strategies

Gerami and Baighlou (2011) conducted a remarkable study on the application of language learning strategies by successful and unsuccessful Iranian EFL students The participants attending this study were 200 male (73) and female (127) EFL learners The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL; Oxford, 1990) was used to administer successful and unsuccessful EFL students The findings indicated that successful EFL students used a wider range of learning strategies and different from those often preferred by their unsuccessful peers Besides, the result showed that the successful students used overall strategies significantly more frequently than the unsuccessful students The successful learners preferred to use metacognitive and compensation strategies the most while the unsuccessful learners used metacognitive and compensation one at a low level

Yang (2007) explored the effects of ethnicity and language proficiency on the use of language learning strategies by junior college students Y ng‘s research

also investigated whether the frequency of strategy use across aboriginal and

non-aboriginal junior college students and across high, intermediate and low English proficiency groups varies significantly The Oxford‘s (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) was used for collecting data from 451 participants.The results indicated that ethnicity played a significant role in the selection of language learning strategies and l ngu ge profi ien y influen ed le rners‘ use of l ngu ge learning strategies Besides, the findings revealed more proficient students reported using strategies more often than less proficient students in all of the six categories

In addition, the most and least favored strategies of various ethnic and proficiency groups were identified. Students in the study employed compensation strategies most often, followed by social, cognitive, metacognitive, affective and least frequently, memory strategies

1.5.2 Previous studies on speaking strategies

Gani, Fajrina and Hanifa (2015) conducted a study aimed at exploring the learning strategies for developing speaking skills used by both low and high performance speaking students as well as the differences between the learning strategies used by both groups of learners at High School in Indonesia The questionnaire proposed by Oxford (1990) and interviews were the main instruments

to collect the data.The results showed that high performance speaking students had better balance in using all kinds of learning strategies (memory, cognitive, compensatory, metacognitive, affective, and social) for enhancing their speaking skills; the same could not be found with low performance speaking students The low performance speaking one tended to focus more on employing compensation and social strategies than on memory, cognitive, metacognitive, and affective strategies to enhance their speaking skills

Ardiansyah ( 2015) investigated language learning strategies of speaking skills used by successful and unsuccessful students at semester III English

Department of IAIN Sultan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi The number of participant was

64 The questionnaires b sed on Oxford‘s SILL(1990) Speaking test, interview and observation were means of collecting data The findings indicated that the language learning strategies of speaking used by successful students were cognitive, compensation, metacognitive and social while unsuccessful students used memory, metacognitive, and affective strategies in their speaking

Another study was conducted by Susie (2011) This research explored language learning strategies for improving speaking skill employed by university students and pointed out the reasons why these students employed the strategies The students involved in this study were six university students who were studying

at the eighth semester in a university in Bandung The questionnaire proposed by Oxford (1990) and interview were data collection instruments The data from the questionnaires were analyzed using Likkert scale; while the data from the interviews were n lyzed using Kv le‘s ppro h The findings revealed that the high and the low achievers tended to employ meta-cognitive strategies the most for developing their speaking skills; while, the middle achievers tended to employ affective strategies the most The study also revealed interesting finding in which the high achievers were using the widest variety of appropriate LLS Besides, the results showed that participants employed the language learning strategies consciously to assist their progress in developing English language skills, particularly speaking skills

With the previous studies mentioned above, subject selection and data collection methods are commented as follows:

First of all, the subjects who are chosen for these studies are learners from different colleges, universities and high schools These students learn English as a second or foreign language In addition, the subjects are divided into two groups for comparison in most studies, namely successful learners and unsuccessful learners, high and the low achievers, high performance speaking students and low

performance speaking students, more proficient students and less proficient students

Secondly, questionnaire, interview and observation were primary methods of collecting data

A ording to Cohen, et l., (2007: 349) on the one h nd ‗interview is flexible tool for data collection, enabling multi-sensory channels to be used: verbal, non-verb l, spoken nd he rd.‘ on the other h nd, interview is ‗somewh t prone to subje tivity nd bi s on the p rt of the interviewer‘ (2007: 352)

Questionnaire proposed by Oxford (1990) was widely used by researchers to seek le rners‘ LLSs Dornyie (2003:9) st tes th t questionn ire brings us to see unprecedented efficiency in terms of research time, effort and financial resources Support for this method, M key nd G ss (2005) note th t ‗questionn ires re more practical and economical than interviews and they can easily elicit comparable data from a number of respondents.‘ However, the limit tion of this instrument is

th t ‗questionn ire is the in bility on the p rt of the rese r her to probe responses.‘(Brown, et l., 2015:218)

The benefit of observ tion method is pointed out by Cohen (2011:78) It ‗m y help to lend a more impartial, objective perspective to the research study, rather than

h ving the study rely solely on d t provided by le rners.‘ Yet the dr wb ks of this method are taken into consideration Cohen (2011:77) says that the key disadvantage

of observ tion l method is ‗its in bility to produ e des riptions of intern l or mentalistic strategies such as reasoning or self-t lk‘ Another dis dv nt ge is th t

‗rese r hers re likely to olle t d t only on the students who re more verb l during the class session and this may limit the data to only a subset of language learners-namely, the outspoken or extroverted‘ (Cohen, 2011:77)

Cohen and Scott (1996) argue that no single research method is perfect Moreover, Robson (2002: 161) discusses that how the methods of collecting data are used depend on the main purpose of the research Highly aware of the

advantages and disadvantages mentioned above, the author of this thesis needs to adapt the strengths of the methods that are chosen to collect data

There have been several researches into learning speaking strategies around the world However, there have still been a few studies related to learning strategies

on ethnic minority students, two of which are a research on English vocabulary learning strategies used by Ethnic Minority Students in Leshan Normal University, Sichuan, China by Zou (2017) and another study about the relationships between language learning strategies and learning styles of ethnic students at Thai Nguyen University, Viet Nam by Dung (2017)

1.6 Summary

This chapter has touched upon the literature review related to the topic of the study First, definition and classification of language learning strategies have been clearly dis ussed in v rious w ys, yet Oxford‘s definition will be chosen for the aim

of the study nd Oxford‘s t xonomy will be dopted to investig te the spe king strategies used by ethnic minority students Second, the differences between language learning strategies and language use strategies have been clarified in order

to avoid confusions when exploring speaking strategies Third, an overview of

on ept of ‗spe king‘, speaking strategies, components of speaking competence and speaking approaches has provided in detailed Finally, some previous studies on LLSs and English Majors, LLSs, and speaking strategies have been briefly reviewed with an attempt to find out suitable methods for gathering data in the current research and to help the researcher to compare and contrast her study findings with them The following chapter will present the research methodology

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents a comprehensive description of the research methodology utilized in the current study I first provide the research questions Details of the research method are then showed After that setting of the study and participants are described The following sections deal with the instruments as well

as procedure to be used for data collection The chapter ends with an explanation of data analytical framework and data analysis procedure

2.1 Research questions

As mentioned in the introduction section of the thesis, this study targets at exploring the types of language learning strategies used by non- major ethnic minority students in developing their speaking skill and the relationship between their oral English proficiency and their language learning strategies Specially, the following questions are addressed in the study:

1 What kinds of language learning strategies do successful and unsuccessful

non-major ethnic minority students at Dien Bien teacher training college report that they use to develop English speaking skill?

2 To what extent is the language learning strategies related to successful and unsuccessful non-major ethnic minority students‘ oral English proficiency?

2.2 Research method: Survey

In this section, the following aspects are covered:

1 Introduction

2 Types of survey research

3 Survey research designs

4 Steps in carrying out a survey

5 Sampling

6 Pilot study

7 The outcomes of the pilot study

8 Summary

2.2.1 Introduction

Survey research is now ‗a major enterprise both in academic world and

beyond‘ (Kalton, 1983:4) Obviously, survey research is more and more widespread among professional fields Nunan (1992:140) proposes that survey ‗are widely used

for collecting data in most areas of social inquire, from politics to sociology, from education to linguistics‘ Moreover, Kasunic (2005:3) sees that a survey allows ‗the researcher to generalize about the beliefs and opinions of many people by studying subset of them‘

Survey research is employed to collect information about population groups

to ‗le rn bout their h r teristi s, opinions, ttitudes, or previous experien es‘ (Leedy&Ormrod, 2005:183) C nh, the rese r her‘s le turer, lso st tes th t survey research can describe, explore or explain physical characteristics, phenomena, behavior, attitudes, and so forth Thus, thanks to survey research, the researcher can obtain insight into the thought, ideas, opinions and attitudes of participants in using language learning strategies for developing speaking skills

After several more years of teaching, I have recognized that speaking English is one of skills that most ethnic minority students are interested in but they face many difficulties Therefore, I pursue this survey study in the hope of finding out the learning strategies for developing English speaking skill

2.2.2 Types of survey research: Descriptive survey

Kerlinger (1986) has identified some specific types of survey studies, including descriptive, exploratory and explanatory Descriptive survey has been described as indispensable in the early stages of studying a phenomenon (Dubin, 1978) as it develops the units that comprise theories (cited in Malhotra and Grover,

1998:409) In other words, descriptive study is to focus on describing the

distribution of a phenomenon in a population, thereby discovering events

Exploratory survey does not have models Relationships and patterns are explored

in exploratory research Explanatory research is used for seeking causal

relationships among variables The first type is the most suitable for the present

study because surveys are the most commonly used descriptive method in

educational research (Cohen and Manion, 1985)

2.2.3 Survey research designs: Cross-sectional design

According to Kerlinger (1986:279), research design is a plan, structure and strategy of investigation so conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions

or problems In the same vein, McMillan & Schumacher (2006:31) see that research design‘s purpose is ‗to provide the most valid, accurate answers as possible to research questions‘ And in their viewpoint, the design describes the procedures for conducting the study, including when, from whom and under what conditions data were obtained

It is essenti l to l rify the term ‗survey design‘ A survey design uses v rious data collection procedures to enable the teacher, researcher educator or educator to investigate a construct by asking questions of either fact (descriptive) from a sample

of a population for the purpose of generalizing to the population (Griffee, 2012:52) For survey research, there are two basic survey designs They are longitudinal and cross-sectional designs and a clear distinction is drawn between them

In terms of longitudinal designs, longitudinal studies are suitable for studying phenomenon that change by gathering data in the same organization and respondents at different points over time Although these designs are difficult to undertake, they can enhance confidence in findings

Regard to cross-sectional study, it is considered as the most common design Through this design, the data is collected at one point in time from a sample chosen

to represent the population As Cohen et al.,(2007:213) indicate that ‗a cross- sectional study is one that produces a ‗sn pshot‘ of popul tion t p rti ul r point

in time‘

Longitudinal designs suffer some drawbacks A disadvantage is that they are time-consuming and expensive because the researcher is obligated to wait for growth data to accumulate (Cohen et al., 2007:216) Another problem concern in

longitudinal design is securing participation as it involves repeated contact (Cohen

et al., 2007:219)

There are a number of advantages in cross-sectional designs In contrast to

longitudinal designs, they are less expensive and less likely to suffer from control

effects (Cohen et al., 2007:217) More interestingly, they produce findings more quickly A further strength of cross-sectional designs pointed out by Cohen and his

colleagues is that they are more likely to secure the cooperation of respondents

Highly aware of the merits and features of cross-sectional design mentioned above, this design is appropriate for the purpose of this study

2.2.4 Steps in carrying out a survey: 7 steps

Nunan (1992:141) suggests eight steps in carrying out a survey: define objectives, identify target population, literature review, determine sample, identify survey instruments, design survey procedures and determine reporting procedure Brown (2001: 8) lists six steps including planning the survey, developing the instrument, gathering the data, analyzing the data statistically, analyzing the data qualitatively, and reporting the results Kasunic (2005:3) gives seven steps in the survey process: identify the research objectives, identify and characterize the target audience, design the sampling plan, design and write the questionnaire, pilot test the questionnaire, distribute the questionnaire and analyze the results and write a report The present study pplied the K suni ‘s steps be use of the ppe r n e of pilot test

the questionnaire Besides, Griffee ( 2012:142) advises that questionnaires must be piloted since the creator cannot be sure of the respondents‘ interpretations of the questions

Table 1- Seven-stage survey research process (Kasunic, 2005:7)

This current study fully follows Kasunic's seven steps as follows:

Step 1: identify the research objective

This study aims at exploring the types of language learning strategies used by ethnic minority students for developing their oral performance by seeking two the following questions:

1 What kinds of language learning strategies do successful and unsuccessful non-major ethnic minority students at Dien Bien teacher training college

report that they use to develop English speaking skill?

2 To what extent is the language learning strategies related to successful and unsuccessful non-major ethnic minority students‘ oral English proficiency?

Step 2: identify and characterize the target audience

Selecting target audience depends on the problem the investigators are trying

to understand and who can provide that information to the investigators

Thirty-six ethnic minority students of K19MN1 were chosen to participate in the current study They came from different ethnic minorities as well as different districts Their ages ranged from 18 to 21 Besides, they had from 3 to 7 years of experience in second language learning They were classified and placed into 2 big groups including 16 successful and 20 unsuccessful students The 16 successful students group was divided into 2 small groups: 9 satisfactorily successful and 7successful learners The decision that those students are successful or unsuccessful

is made based on their scores through a speaking test

Step 3: design the sampling plan

In this stage, the task of the researcher is to determine the type of sample and sample size Convenience sample was selected and sample size was 36 The sampling was clearly presented in the next section

Step 4: Design and write the questionnaire

The questionnaire was designed and written after the research objectives were defined and the target audience was identified and characterized (Kasunic, 2005: 33)

In this particular study, the questionnaire of SILL (Strategy Inventory for Language Learning) which was developed by Rebecca Oxford (1989) was adapted

Of the 50 items in the Oxford‘s SILL, 34 items were hosen nd d pted

Step 5: pilot test the questionnaire

In order to conduct a successful pilot study, it is important to determine number of participants, location where the pilot study takes place and calculate reliability of questionnaires Seven students, including 2 satisfactorily successful, 2