Difficulties in english speaking skill of thuongmai university’s majored english freshmen and solutions

The confidence level of major freshmen when they speak English...20 Chart 3.3: The frequency of learning speaking English of major freshmen...21 Chart 3.4 The way freshmen learning speak

1

me, supporting time to complete this study.

Finally, I wish to thank all those who have kindly given their advice and helped

me with source material during the writing of this study

Ha Noi, December 1st 2019Trinh Thi Tuyet

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Previous studies 2

1.3 Aims of the study 4

1.4 Research Subjects 5

1.5 Scope of the study 5

1.6 Research methodology 6

1.7 Organization of the study 8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10

2.1 Definition of Speaking 10

2.2 Characteristics of Speaking 11

2.3 The importance of speaking 12

2.4 Speaking Problems 14

2.5 Factors Affecting Speaking Skill 15

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 19

3.1 Actual situation of English speaking of major students 19

3.1.1 Necessity of English speaking skills 19

3.1.2 The speaking English level of major freshmen 20

3.1.3 The frequency of learning speaking English of major freshmen 21

3.1.4 The way freshmen learning speaking English 21

3.2 Difficulties encountered when speaking English of major freshmen 22

3.2.1 The main causes of difficulties in speaking English with foreigners of major freshmen at TMU 23

3.3 Some conclusions about English speaking skills of major freshmen at TMU 24

3

3.3.1 The success that the university achieved 24

3.3.2 Limitations and causes 24

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 27

4.1 Orientation of English speaking skills of TMU 27

4.2 Proposing some solutions and suggestions to improve English speaking skills for students at TMU 27

4.2.1 Suggest with TMU’s management 27

4.2.2 Recommend English major students at TMU 29

CONCLUSION 33 REFERENCES

APPENDIX

4

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TMU THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY

5

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Chart 3.1: The most important skill when learning English 19

Chart 3.2 The confidence level of major freshmen when they speak English 20

Chart 3.3: The frequency of learning speaking English of major freshmen 21

Chart 3.4 The way freshmen learning speaking English 22

Chart 3.5 Difficult encountered when speaking English of major freshmen 22

Chart 3.6 Major causes of difficulties in speaking English with foreigners of major freshmen 23

6

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, English language becomes gradually more important while theintegration process is developing The exchanges in technology, science, economy…are frequently promoted, especially in education The using of different languagesbecomes a major barrier in exchanging process The ability to communicate in anotherlanguage is the target of many people who want to learn new languages in commonand English in particular Therefore, speaking skill plays an essential role in learningEnglish process If they can master this skill, it means they master that language

However, English learners have to face with many difficulties in learningprocess, especially in speaking skill Some students who focus on learning grammarand their grammar is good but they cannot speak English frequently Some studentshave an abundant vocabulary range but they still have trouble when communicatingwith foreigners In other hand, some students master listening, reading and writing andsome of them get some English certificates such as Toeic However, they cannot speakEnglish well and cannot communicate with foreign people

English is very important so it is one of significant subjects and one of thecommon languages being taught at universities, including Thuongmai University.Thuongmai university attaches great importance to English education However, manyThuongmai students still have difficulty in speaking English Many students havetrouble with English, especially when they have presentation in English Theirstudying result cannot improve because of English Some of them cannot compel theirstudying because of English Some of them, after graduating, cannot have anyopportunities of working with foreigners, working for a foreign company because theycannot communicate in English frequently

There are quite many researchers on learning English speaking skill anddifficulties in learning this skill However, there are still few researchers aboutdifficulties in learning speaking skill by students at TMU, especially by English majorstudents although it is a quite big university in Vietnam I used to be a English majorstudent at this university, I would like to carry out a research to find out the common

difficulties in learning this skill by those students in order to help them to improve thesituation in next semesters.

For these above reasons, the researcher decided to choose the study “Difficulties

in English Speaking Skill of Thuongmai University’s Majored English Freshmen and Solutions” with the aim of finding out difficulties that Thuongmai, majored

English freshmen have to face with and providing some solutions to deal with them.The study hopes that this research paper will be a useful reference helping improvespeaking English skill not only for the first-year- students at Thuong mai but also allVietnamese people who want to master English

1.2 Previous studies

In fact, there are many studies about speaking English skill topics

Boonkit (2010) carried out a study on the factors increasing the development oflearners’ speaking skill The results represented that the use of appropriate activitiesfor speaking skill can be a good strategy to decrease speakers’ anxiety The results alsorevealed that the freedom of topic choice urged the participants to feel comfortable,persuaded to speak English, and increased the speaking confidence among EFLlearners

Ali Dincer and Savas Yesilyurt (2013) carried out a study towards teachers’beliefs on speaking skills based on motivational orientations The results of their studyindicated that the teachers had negative opinions about speaking instruction thoughthey believed that it was of great significance in speaking skill The results alsorevealed that the teachers felt unskilled in oral communication though they had variousmotivational orientations towards speaking English The researchers indicated that thatlearners have different opinions about the significance of speaking skill in Englishlanguage and this difference is related with the learners’ motivational orientations andtheir competent/incompetent feelings in speaking skill The results demonstrated thatlearners’ self-assessment about their speaking skill was negative and they expressedthemselves as incapable speakers of English Just some of them expressed that theyhad a good position in taking part in speaking tasks

Tanveer (2007) examined the factors caused anxiety for learners in learningspeaking ability and the impact of anxiety on target language communication The

obtained results indicated that learners’ feeling of stress and anxiety stop theirlanguage learning and performance abilities The researcher emphasized that the highanxiety lowers the learners’ speaking performance

Eissa, Misbah, and Najat (1988) performed a study towards the difficulties ofusing English as a means of instruction and communication The results of this studydisplayed that learners had many difficulties in using English language as a means ofinstruction A lot of participants stated that their learners have low English proficiency.The results also indicated that a lot of learners faced serious difficulties inunderstanding the lectures’ content without translating or applying L1 to deliver thecontent of the lectures

Urrutia and Vega (2010) demonstrated that learners’ oral performance wasinfluenced by their lack of vocabulary, diffidence, and fear of being despised It wasalso indicated that learners’ cooperation, self-confidence, vocabulary knowledge, andthe class environment encouraged them to improve their speaking skills

Zhengdong Gan 2012, this paper reports the result of a study that aimed toidentify the problems with oral English skills of ESL (English as a second language)students at a tertiary teacher training institution in Hong Kong The study, by way ofsemi-structured interview, addresses the gap in our understanding of the difficultiesESL students encountered in their oral English development in the context of aBachelor of Education (English Language) program Insufficient opportunities tospeak English in lectures and tutorials, lack of a focus on language improvement in thecurriculum, and the input-poor environment for spoken communication in Englishoutside class apparently contributed to a range of problems that closely related to thesociocultural, institutional and interpersonal contexts in which individual ESL studentsfound themselves The results of the study lead us to question the effectiveness of theknowledge- and pedagogy-based ESL teacher training curriculum They also point to aneed to incorporate a sufficiently intensive language improvement component in thecurrent teacher preparation program

Bozorgian (2012) investigated the relationship between listening skill and theother language skills The results revealed that there is a close correlation between

listening comprehension and language proficiency That is, the higher the listeningscore, the better the speaking score

Lukitasari (2003) carried out a study towards learners’ strategies in overcomingtheir speaking problems The results obtained from this study show that learners face alot of speaking difficulties such as inhibition, nothing to say, low participation, andmother tongue use in their speaking classes The other result of this study demonstratethat learners did not better their speaking skill because they had not learnt threecomponents of speaking called vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation

The study “How to improve student’s speaking English skill” of Ho Minh Thugave some common difficulties that students have to face with However, the studydoesn’t provide any detail solutions for that And this paper just focused on studentswho are major in economics and technical engineering so the reasons in this study arenot particular for every students

1.3 Aims of the study

The study analyzes difficulties in English speaking skills of Thuongmaiuniversity’s English major freshmen to find out the answers for the followingquestions:

1 “What difficulties do students in TMU encounter when they learn to speakEnglish?”

2 “What are possible causes leading to difficulties in learning speaking skills ofthe first year students in TMU?”

3 “What are possible solutions to the problems?”

The study is carried out with the following purposes:

Firstly, the study provides the background theories of speaking skill that helps thereaders wrap up the basic knowledge of speaking Based on the given theories, thereaders would understand deeply the context of the study

Secondly, the study provides the results and the limitations of the previous studyrelated to the topic From that the paper shows the importance of researching this topicand find out other difficulties and solutions to help freshmen improve their Englishspeaking skill

Thirdly, the study conducts a survey to all first year students at Thuongmaiuniversity Afterwards, summarizes the main difficulties that most students face with.The paper will evaluate each factor and give solutions for each difficulty.

Then, the study brings and draws students to a level of practical proficiency thatwill enable them to be linguistically and analytically equipped to complete extendedspeaking skills and increasing their confidence in practicing speaking skills

Finally, it should be noted that this paper shouldn’t be considered exclusive tomajored English freshmen at Thuongmai University In fact, the fundamental conceptsand results of this paper can be applied to most English learners

1.4 Research Subjects

Research subject: 350 English major freshmen at TMU

Freshmen who are finished high school just enrolled in a university after animportant examination They are from many different places and Thuongmai freshmen

as well The –first – year students at Thuongmai University come from a lot ofdifferent provinces in the country, from differently previous high school with differentstudying conditions However, they have the similarity in learning English At highschool, they focus on learning grammar to overcome the examinations But, when theycome to the university- the totally different studying environment, they have to dealwith many troubles In the university, they have to talk, they have to makepresentations in English that they never experience when they are at high school.Therefore, many students suffer a crisis named English, speaking English in fact Therefore, I analyze this topic with the hope that this study can show the Englishspeaking reality of freshmen at Thuongmai University and providing some practicalsolutions to them Freshmen are just enrolled in a university, they just access to a newstudying environment which enquires them to speak and improve their English skill.They are young and have more time to change so I hope with this paper I can helpthem change the way they learn English, deal with difficulties they have to opposite

1.5 Scope of the study

The study is about speaking English skill of the first-year- student in Englishfaculty at TMU Because of the limitations of time and knowledge, the storage ofreference materials, the study cannot cover the whole issue of speaking skill It only

focuses on exploring common difficulties students get in speaking skill Moreover, thestudy could not touch upon all the students at TMU It is confined to the first yearstudents in English faculty at TMU only.

1.6 Research methodology

The study adopts many research methods to analyze and summarize the commondifficulties that freshmen in English faculty at TMU encounter

Specific Activities:

• Define and localize the areas for a survey

• Make group to go to the University for collecting ideas of students

• Design survey form with 8 questions Some questions can be given on thesurvey for students

• Collected by 150 forms from the major English freshmen

• Select main difficulties in speaking English and make consultations givesolutions for the students

This study includes:

- Determining samples and selecting participants

- Creating a questionnaire

- Conducting a pilot survey

- Completing training on data collection or analysis techniques

- Scheduling focus group interviews and observations

- Summarize the collected information from 150 forms to a complete statistic

- Analyzing the data

- Show the results

Diagrams are also used to illustrate the abilities in speaking English of Englishmajor students of Thuongmai University studies as well as some main causes of thesituation

1.6.1 Description of Population and Sample

Survey was conducted at Thuongmai University The preliminary samplingcomprised 350 English major freshmen, but because it was anticipated that in mostcases the questionnaire may not be completed due to student’s refusal to participate inthe survey, absence from the republic or other reason

Kind of sample: random sample

In this survey, we use non-probability sampling methods - the convenient sample

It means that the most readily available first year English major students will completeour questionnaires

This sampling method will save much time and money when we survey the largenumber of English Faculty students.

1.6.2 Data Collection

The data use 2 measurement instrument surveys with structured interviews andquestionnaires Besides, a small test is given to examine English major freshmen

1.6.3 Instruments for analysis

Data obtained from observations, interviews, and curriculum analysis wereanalyzed qualitatively following the Holiday (2002) approach as cited in Al-Shabibi(2004) This approach suggests organizing data using a thematic approach, where data

is taken holistically and rearranged under themes according to the questions and theissues brought by the researcher to the research

4 How do you learn speaking English?

a Internet (Youtube, skype…)

6 Which ways do you often practice speaking English?

a With native teacher

8 What do you think about schedules of English Faculty students at TMU?

Do they provide chances for you to speak English?

a Yes, but not enough

b No

1.7 Organization of the study

The study includes four main chapters

The first chapter is “Overview of the study” This chapter provides the reasons

why choosing the topic “Difficulties in English Speaking Skill of Thuongmai University’s Majored English Freshmen and Solutions” to research and its necessity.

The second chapter is “Literature review” The speaking skill theories are shownclearly and completely The chapter is the background of the whole study Based onthe given theories, the researcher will analyze and classify the chosen samples to meetthe purpose of the study

The third chapter is “Research findings” This chapter is the conclusion of twoabove chapters It shows the findings after a process of research Moreover, the authorbased on the results will conduct evaluating then provide the strengths and weaknessesand explain why freshmen encounter these problems.

The last chapter is “Recommendations and suggestions” This chaptersummarizes the difficulties that students have to face with in speaking English Afterthat, the study provides some practical solutions for students to improve their speakingEnglish skill

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of Speaking

Speaking is defined in many different ways

Tarigan (1990:3-4) defines that speaking is a language skill that is developed inchild life, which is produced by listening skill, and at that period speaking skill islearned

Based on Competence Based Curriculum speaking is one of the four basiccompetences that the students should gain well It has an important role incommunication Speaking can find in spoken cycle especially in Joint Construction ofText stage (Department Pendidikan Nasional, 2004) In carrying out speaking, studentsface some difficulties one of them is about language its self In fact, most of studentsget difficulties to speak even though they have a lot of vocabularies and have writtenthem well The problems are afraid for students to make mistakes

Speaking has been regarded as merely implementation and variation, outside thedomain of language and linguistic proper Linguistic theory has mostly developed inabstraction from context of use and source of diversity Therefore, Clark and Clarksaid that speaking is fundamentally an instrument act Speakers talk in order to havesome effect on their listener It is the result of teaching learning process Students’ skill

in conversation is core aspect in teaching speaking, it becomes vitally aspect inlanguage teaching learning success if language function as a system for expressionmeaning and the successful in speaking is measured through someone ability to carryout a conversation in the language We confess that there are many proponent factorsthat influence teaching speaking success and there are many obstacle factors why it isnot running well

According to Ladouse (1991) speaking is described as the activity as the ability

to express oneself in the situation, or the activity to report acts, or situation in precisewords or the ability to converse or to express a sequence of ideas fluently

Furthermore, Tarigan (1990: 8) said that “Berbicara adalah cara untuk

berkomunikasi yang berpengaruh hidup kita sehari-hari” It means that speaking as

the way of communication influences our individual life strongly

In Webster New World Dictionary, speaking is to say words orally, tocommunicate as by talking, to make a request, and to make a speech (Nunan, 1995).According to Chaney (1998), speaking is the process of making and sharing meaning

by using verbal and non-verbal symbols in different contexts Brown (1994) and Burnsand Joyce (1997) defined speaking as an interactive process of making meaning thatincludes producing, receiving, and processing information Bygate (1987) definedspeaking as the production of auditory signals to produce different verbal responses inlisteners It is regarded as combining sounds systematically to form meaningfulsentences Eckard and Kearny (1981), Florez (1999), Howarth (2001), and Abd ElFattah Torky (2006) defined speaking as a two–way process including a truecommunication of opinions, information, or emotions This top-down view regards thespoken texts as the collaboration between two or more persons in the shared time andthe shared context

Truly speaking, speaking is one of the most important skills that the foreignlanguage learners have to master Murphy (1991) stated “the ability to speakcoherently and intelligently on a focused topic is generally recognized as a necessarygoal for ESL students” Understanding adequately about speaking and the nature of it,ESL learners will achieve communicative competence more easily

2.2 Characteristics of Speaking

According to Mazouzi (2013), learners’ activities should be designed based on anequivalence between fluency and accuracy achievement Both fluency and accuracyare important elements of communicative approach Classroom practice can helplearners develop their communicative competence So they should know how thelanguage system works appropriately The first characteristic of speaking performance

is fluency and it is the main aim of teachers in teaching speaking skill According toHughes (2002), fluency is the learners’ ability to speak in understandable way in ordernot to break down communication because listeners may lose their interest Hedge(2000) expressed that fluency is the ability to answer coherently by connecting thewords and phrases, pronouncing the sounds clearly, and using stress and intonation.The second characteristic of speaking performance is accuracy Learners should befluent in learning a foreign language Therefore, teachers should emphasize accuracy

in their teaching process Learners should pay enough attention to the exactness andthe completeness of language form when speaking such as focusing on grammaticalstructures, vocabulary, and pronunciation (Mazouzi, 2013) According to Thornbury(2005), learners’ correct use of grammatical structures requires the length andcomplexity of the utterances and the well-structured clauses To gain accuracy in terms

of vocabulary means to select suitable words in the suitable contexts Learnerssometimes apply similar words or expressions in various contexts which do not meansimilar things So learners should be able to use words and expressions correctly.Thornbury (2005) declared that pronunciation is the lowest level of knowledgelearners typically pay attention to it In order to speak English language accurately,learners should master phonological rules and they should be aware of the varioussounds and their pronunciations Learners should also know the stress, intonation, andpitch All of these elements help learners speak the English language easily andeffectively

In conclusion, speaking skills consists of two characteristics: fluency andaccuracy They are also two main problems that students have to deal with if they want

to master speaking skills Fluency requires students use languages fluently and clearly

To non-speaking English person, this is a challenge and to Vietnamese students aswell The difference of English intonation and Vietnamese intonation and the ways topronounce the words put Vietnamese people in a trouble: be not able to pronouncecorrectly and speak fluently About accuracy, there is no complete equivalence ofVietnamese words when being translated into English because both Vietnamese andEnglish words are multi meaningful Therefore, students have to master Vietnameseand English vocabularies and apply them in practical communication situation

2.3 The importance of speaking

Language is a tool for communication We communicate with others, to expressour ideas, and to know others’ ideas as well Communication takes place, where there

is speech Without speech we cannot communicate with one another The importance

of 3/10 speaking skills, hence is enormous for the learners of any language Withoutspeech, a language is reduced to a mere script The use of language is an activitywhich takes place within the confines of our community We use language in a variety

of situations People at their work places, i.e researchers working either in a medicallaboratory or in a language laboratory, are supposed to speak correctly and effectivelyin-order to communicate well with one another Any gap in commutation results inmisunderstandings and problems

For a smooth running of any system, the speakers of a language need to beespecially and purposefully trained in the skill of speaking

In-order to become a well-rounded communicator one needs to be proficient ineach of the four language skills viz., listening , speaking, reading and writing, but theability to speak skillfully, provides the speaker with several distinct advantages Thecapacity to express one’s thoughts, opinions and feelings, in the form of words puttogether in a meaningful way, provides the speaker with these advantages The joy ofsharing one’s ideas with others is immense When we speak to others we come to have

a better understanding of our own selves, as Robert Frost once said: ‘‘I am a writer ofbooks in retrospect, I talk in order to understand, I teach in order to learn.’’Undoubtedly, the clarity in speech reflects clear thinking

An effective speaker can gain the attention of the audience and hold it till thecompletion of his message Speaking skills are important for career success, butcertainly not limited to one’s professional aspirations Speaking skills can also enhanceone’s personal life

To students, speaking skills plays a very important role while they are atuniversity At universities, it requires students make many presentation in English.They have to present and show their ideas about a topic in English Moreover, thereare many oversea students who come from many different countries in the world Ifthey are not good at speaking skills, they can’t communicate, they can’t open theirrelationship and get more experience from foreign friends or can’t work in a team inparticular

Speaking skills is necessary to TMU students as well Thuongmai University is amulti-major training university which leads in the fields of Economic Administration,Business Management, Accounting, Finance – Banking, Tourism, E-commerce, etc inVietnam Therefore, TMU really focuses on teaching languages for students, especiallyEnglish Every students at TMU, before graduating, they have to obtain English

certificates: TOIEC for non-English major students and IELTS 6.5 to English majorstudents

2.4 Speaking Problems

There are some problems for speaking skill that teachers can come across inhelping students to speak in the classroom These are inhibition, lack of topicalknowledge, low participation, and mother-tongue use (Tuan & Mai, 2015) Inhibition

is the first problem that students encounter in class When they want to say something

in the classroom they are sometimes inhibited They are worried about makingmistakes and fearful of criticism They are ashamed of the other students’ attentiontowards themselves Littlewood (2007) expressed that a language classroom can alsocreate inhibitions and apprehension for the students

The second problem is that learners complain that they cannot rememberanything to say and they do not have any motivation to express themselves This issupported by Rivers (1968) who thinks that learners often have nothing to sayprobably because their teachers had selected a topic that is not appropriate for them orthey do have enough information about it Baker and Westrup (2003) also supports theabove idea and stated that it is very difficult for learners to answer when their teachersask them to tell things in a foreign language because they have little opinions aboutwhat to say, which vocabulary to apply, or how to use grammar accurately

The third problem in the speaking class is that the participation is very low In aclass with a large number of students, each student will have very little time for talkingbecause just one student talks at a time and the other students try to hear him/her Inthe speaking class, some learners dominate the whole class while others talk very little

or never speak

The last problem related to the speaking ability is that when some learners sharethe same mother-tongue, they try to use it in the speaking class because it is very easyfor them (Tuan & Mai, 2015) According to Harmer (1991), there are some reasonswhy learners use mother-tongue in their speaking classes The first reason is that whenteachers ask their learners to talk about a topic that they do not have enoughknowledge, they will try to use their language The second reason is that theapplication of mother-tongue is very natural for learners to use If teachers do not urge

their learners to talk in English, learners will automatically use their first language toexplain something to their classmates.

The final reason refers to the fact that if teachers regularly use their learners’mother language, their learners will feel comfortable to do so in their speaking class.Hyland (1997) investigated learners from eight disciplines at five Hong Konginstitutions The findings of his research indicated that proficiency in English was asignificant factor in the academic success of an English environment The findingsalso showed that the learners’ language difficulties were related to the productive skills

of writing and speaking Evans and Green (2007) examined the language difficultiesexperienced by the students at a Hong Kong university The results of this studyrepresented that the students’ difficulties centered on the academic speaking such asgrammar, fluency, and pronunciation and the academic writing like style, grammar,and cohesion

2.5 Factors Affecting Speaking Skill

If teachers want to help learners overcome their difficulties in learning speakingskill, they should identify some factors that influence their speaking performance.Learners’ speaking performance are influenced by factors like performance conditions,affective factors, listening skill, and feedback during speaking tasks (Tuan & Mai,2015)

The first factor is pertinent to performance conditions Learners carry out aspeaking activity under different conditions Performance conditions impact speakingperformance and these conditions involve time pressure, planning, the quality ofperformance, and the amount of support (Nation & Newton, 2009)

The second factor is related to affective ones Oxford (1990) said that one of theimportant factors in learning a language is the affective side of students According toKrashen (1982), a lot of affective variables have been connected to second languageacquisition and motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety were the three main types thathave been investigated by many researchers

Listening ability is the third factor Doff (1998) says that learners cannot improvetheir speaking ability unless they develop listening ability Learners shouldcomprehend what is uttered to them in order to have a successful dialogue Shumin