Factors affecting motivation in learning speaking English of Grade 10 students at Thanh Ba High School

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  PHAN THỊ THÙY LINH FACTORS AFFECTING MOTIVATION IN LEARNING SPE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



PHAN THỊ THÙY LINH

FACTORS AFFECTING MOTIVATION IN LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT

THANH BA HIGH SCHOOL

( Những yếu tố ảnh hưởng tới động lực học nói tiếng Anh của

học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Thanh Ba)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2016

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



PHAN THỊ THÙY LINH

FACTORS AFFECTING MOTIVATION IN LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISH OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT

THANH BA HIGH SCHOOL

( Những yếu tố ảnh hưởng tới động lực học nói tiếng Anh của

học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Thanh Ba)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr D ng Th N

HANOI - 2016

DECLARATION

Title:

Factors affecting motivation in learning speaking English of Grade 10 students

at Thanh Ba High School

I certify that the thesis is the result of my own research for the Degree of

Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam

National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at

any other university or tertiary institution

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research has been accomplished with the help and encouragement of many people to whom I would like hereafter to express my deep appreciation

First and foremost, I would like to express my great attitude to my supervisor,

Dr Dương Thị Nụ for her invaluable inspiration, assistance and guidance during the time I tried to complete this paper

I am thankful to all lecturers and staff of the Post-Graduate Department of University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University for their scientific knowledge, guidance and enthusiasm during my course

I am greatly indebted to my students from class 10A1 to class 10A5 and my colleagues at Thanh Ba high school for their participation and assistance without which this study could not have been successful

And my heartfelt thanks are due to my dear family members who are always beside me to support and encourage me to fulfill my study

ABSTRACT

This exploratory research is an attempt to investigate factors affecting motivation in speaking English of the 10th grade students at Thanh Ba high school The main purposes of the study are to find out: types of motivation possessed by grade 10 students at Thanh Ba high school, factors affecting students‟ motivation in speaking English, activities and techniques applied by teachers and students‟ preference and then give some suggested solutions for teachers to stimulate students

to speak and overcome the difficulties they face with in teaching speaking

This survey study was carried out with the combination of qualitative method and quantitative method with some kinds of research instruments: questionnaires for students and teachers, follow-up interviews and class observations

The findings shows that grade 10 students at Thanh Ba high school are not only extrinsically, instrumentally but also intrinsically and integratively motivated Besides, their motivation in speaking is affected much by the factors coming from students‟ themselves, teachers and learning condition Based on theoretical background of motivation and speaking, the researcher‟s knowledge, experience and observation in teaching speaking, some recommendations for motivating students to speak were suggested such as promoting students‟ internal factors, setting up a co-operative atmosphere in class, applying varying speaking activities, combining different materials or changing teachers‟ characteristics The researcher believes that these recommendations will be of help for high school English teachers in general and for English teachers at Thanh Ba high school in particular

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS vii

PART A INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research Questions 2

4 Methods of the study 2

5 Scope of the study 2

6 Significance of the study 3

7 Design of the study 3

PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 4

1.1 Theoretical background of motivation in L2 learning 4

1.1.1 Definition of motivation 4

1.1.2 Types of motivation 5

1.1.3 Factors affecting motivation inL2 learning………6

1.2.1 Definition of speaking 11

1.2.2 Approaches to the teaching of speaking 11

1.2.3 The roles of the teacher in different stages of teaching speaking 12

1.2.4 Motivation in speaking in classroom 13

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 15

2.1 The setting of the study 15

2.2 Subjects 16

2.3 Applying techniques and activities of CLT in teaching speaking at Thanh Ba high school 17

2.4 Participants 17

2.5 Data collection instruments 18

2.5.1 Survey Questionnaires 18

2.5.2 Interviews 19

2.5.3 Class observations 20

2.6 Data collection procedures……….16

CHAPTER 3- DATA ANALYSIS 21

3.1 Results from students‟ pre- treatment and post-treatment questionnaires 21

3.2 Results from teacher‟s survey questionnaire (Post-treatment) 37

CHAPTER 4 MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 42

4.1 Major findings and discussions 42

4.1.1 Types of motivation possessed by Grade 10 students at Thanh Ba high school 42

4.1.2 Factors affecting Grade 10 students in learning speaking English 42

4.1.3 Speaking motivational activities and techniques employed by teachers and students‟ preferences 44

4.2 Recommendations for motivating students to speak English in class 45

4.2.1 Promoting students‟ internal factors 45

4.2.2 Varying speaking activities 46

4.2.3 Managing speaking turns in class 47

4.2.4 Setting up a co-operative atmosphere in class 47

4.2.5 Combining the textbook and relevant materials 48

4.2.6 Recognizing the potential value of available facilities of the school and the Internet 48

4.2.7 Being enthusiastic, tolerant, helpful, creative and active 49

PART C CONCLUSION 1 Recapitulation of the study 50

2 Limitations and suggestions for further study 50

REFERENCES 52 APPENDICES I

L2

SLA

Second Language Second Language Acquisition VOA Voice of America

LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS

1 List of tables

Table 1.Reason for types of motivations 22

Table 2 Factors making students reluctant to speak English in class 30

Table 3 Factors preventing students‟ speaking process 31

Table 4 Factors encouraging students to speak 33

Table 5 What teachers do to motivate students to take part in speaking activities 34 Table 6 Teacher‟s opinions on students‟ motivation of the speaking stages 37

Table 7 Problems teachers facing in teaching speaking 38

Table 8 Activities applied by teachers by frequency 39

Table 9 Techniques applied by teachers 39

Table 10 Activities applied by the teachers and students‟ preferences XV Table 11 Speaking activities applied by teachers XIX 2 List of charts Chart 1 Students‟ average marks in the first semester 21

Chart 2 Students‟ perceived importance of English 24

Chart 3 Students‟ aptitude to learn English speaking 25

Chart 4 Students‟ attitude to learn English speaking……….26

Chart 5 Students‟ effort in learn English speaking 27

Chart 6 Students‟ desire to learning speaking 27

Chart 7 Students‟ interest in speaking English 28

Chart 8 Students‟ frequency of speaking English in class time 29

Chart 9 Students‟ reluctant of speaking English 29

Chart 10 Students‟ results after the treatment 32

Chart 11 Activities enjoyed most by students 34

PART A INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Nowadays, English is widely known as the major language of intercommunication, international commerce and business, science and technology and so on Therefore, people with good English proficiency are extremely needed in any fields of society

As a result, there has been a positive trend of teaching and learning English across the country People, from children to adults, learn English with different purposes

In general, despite deriving from different purposes, every one wants to turn English to become their own instrument in their lives

In the process of teaching and learning English, there are many factors affecting the success of language learners such as attitude, age, personality, motivation and so on, among which motivation plays an important role Researchers on motivation have pointed out that learners who are highly motivated can learn a foreign language better than those who are not and vice versa

With some years of experience in teaching English in some foreign language center and two years of experience in teaching English at high school, I have realized that motivation is one of the key factors that determine students‟ success or failure in language learning For teaching and learning speaking skill, the great impact of motivation is not an exception Although motivation in learning English is not a new topic, it still is an unsolved problem of Grade 10 students at Thanh Ba High school This is the reason why I choose studying on factors affecting motivation in speaking English of grade 10 students as the topic for my minor thesis This study will examine types of motivation that students have in speaking and point out some factors that affect their motivation to speak It also investigates the activities and techniques applied by teachers, students‟ preferences and demands, and some difficulties teachers faced in teaching speaking The researcher hopes that this study will figure out a concrete picture of motivation in speaking English of grade 10 students at Thanh Ba high school and it will be of help for teachers who want to increase students‟ motivation in speaking English learning

2 Aims of the study

The aims of the study are to investigate the factors affecting motivation in learning speaking English of the 10th grade students at Thanh Ba high school Some main purposes covering the study are summarized as follows:

(1) To point out some factors affecting students‟ motivation in speaking English (2) To give some suggestions for teachers to stimulate students in speaking English and overcome the difficulties they have to face with in teaching speaking English for grade 10 students

3 Research Questions

1 What are the factors affecting Grade 10 students in learning speaking English?

2 What have teachers done to motivate students in learning speaking English?

4 Methods of the study

To carry out the study, qualitative method was mainly used with two instruments: a follow up interview and an informal observation All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the study were based on the data analysis of the study

In addition, to make the data collected more reliable and authentic, quantitative method was applied The data collected for the study come from two sources: the

10th grade students and all teachers of English at Thanh Ba high school

Survey questionnaires, two for students (pre- and post- treatment questionnaires) and one for teachers, were used to gather information and evidence for the study

5 Scope of the study

Studying motivation and its effects on the second language have been paid attention

to by many researchers so far This study only investigates the factors affecting motivation in speaking English of grade 10 students at Thanh Ba high school Because of the limited time and within an M.A minor thesis, the researcher intends

to make a brief view of the current situation of teaching and learning English speaking skill of the 10th grade students at Thanh Ba high school; identifies factors affecting their speaking stimulation; examines techniques and activities used by

teachers and students‟ preferences and demands; then suggests some recommendations for teachers to encourage students to speak English and overcome difficulties in teaching speaking

6 Significance of the study

First, the information about types of motivation possessed by grade 10 students in this minor thesis is believed to be useful for the teachers of English in general and teachers of English at Thanh Ba high school in particular Second, identifying some factors affecting students‟ motivation in speaking English, pointing out students‟ preferences and demands to activities and techniques applied by teachers are believed to be helpful for all teachers when teaching speaking Third, giving some recommendations for teachers to motivate students to speak English and overcome obstacles and difficulties in teaching speaking is expected to be beneficial

7 Design of the study

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

Part A: Introduction- deals with the rationale, aims, scope, methods, significance

and design of the study

Part B: Development- consists of three chapters

Chapter 1- Theoretical background- is intended to give some theoretical

background related to motivation and speaking

Chapter 2- Methodology- presents the situation analysis, participants, data

collection instruments, data collection procedures

Chapter 3- Data analysis- analyses collected data

Chapter 4- Major findings, discussions and recommendations

Part C: Conclusion- is a review of the study, suggestions for further research and

limitations of the study

PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Theoretical background of motivation in L2 learning

1.1.1 Definition of motivation

Motivation is an important affective variable in SLA, and it has a positive correlation with second language achievement and proficiency The motivated learners are usually more active in learning, while unmotivated learners are more likely to cause classroom disturbances However, motivation is extremely difficult

to define and measure In Atkinson‟s point of view (cited in Arnold, 2000:13), motivation is a term used to describe what “energizes” a person and what directs his activity While Dornyei and Otto regarded motivation as a function of a person‟s thought and defined it as „the dynamically changing cumulative aroused in a person that initiates, directs, coordinates, amplifies, terminates and evaluates the cognitive and the motor processes whereby initial wishes and desires are selected, prioritized, operationalized and acted out‟(cited in Dornyei, 2001: 9) In his word, Ellis stated that „motivation involves the attitudes and effective states that influence the degree

of effort that learners make to learn an L2‟ (Ellis, 1997: 75) Similarly, Brown (2000: 160) indicated that „motivation is some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something‟

It can be seen that different researchers approach motivation definition in different ways However, they all share the same point of view that motivation combines effort and desire plus favorable and occurs as a result of a combination of internal and external influences This research, therefore, will follow the definition of motivation proposed by Gardner (1982: 132- 147) that motivation is perceived to be composed of three elements including effort, desire and affect Effort refers to the time spent studying the language and the drive of the learner Desire indicates how much the learner wants to become proficient in the language, and affect illustrates the learner‟s emotional reactions with regard to language study

1.1.2 Types of motivation

According to the point of view of many previous researchers, motivation can be divided into three types: Integrative and instrumental motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and resultative motivation

Firstly, about integrative motivation, Falk (1978), Finegan( 1999:568) and Lambert (1974:98) shared the same conception that integrative motivation is the desire to become familiar with or even integrate into the target language culture, whereas, instrumental motivation is something which concerns „the practical value and advantages of learning a new language‟ (Lambert 1974: 98- cited in Ellis, 1997), such as meeting the requirements for school or university graduation, applying for a job, requesting higher pay based on language ability, reading technical material, translation work or achieving higher social status

Secondly, motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic Intrinsic motivation refers to the fact of doing an activity for itself, pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation (Deci and Ryan, 1985), for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provided Contrary to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation is what comes from outside such as praise, awards, prizes, evaluation and fear for punishment, Schulz (1991:18) said that the concept of extrinsic motivation referred to the extent to which the learning environment (i.e the teacher, materials, curriculum, learning tasks etc.) Lastly, resultative motivation refers to the result of learning In terms of this, Hermann (1980) stated that „it is success that contributes to motivation rather than vice- versa‟ (cited in Ellis, 1997) and Ellis (1997) has the same point of view: „the relationship between motivation and achievement is an interactive one A high level

of motivation does stimulate learning, but perceived success in achieving L2 goals can help to maintain existing motivation and even create new types.‟

To sum up, in my point of view, students‟ motivation can be divided into two main types as extrinsic, instrumental and intrinsical or integrative motivation In some cases, resultative motivation are both of them depending on students‟ desire

1.1.3 Factors affecting motivation in L2 learning

1.1.3.1 Some previous researches on motivation

Garden, R M I (2013) Factors affecting students‟ academic motivation to achieve Excellence in Level 1 NCEA English (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy) University of Otago

Ibrahim Abdelrahim Ibrahim Humaida (2012) Motivation to Learn English among College Students in Sudan, , Faculty of Arts & Science-Tabarjal, Aljouf University, King Saudi Arabia

Naghmeh Babaee (2012) Motivation in Learning English as a Second Language, University of Manitoba

Nhung, N.T.M (2003) Motivation and Factors Affecting Motivation in Learning English Writing of the Freshment at the Department of English and Anglo-American culture, VNU-CFL Unpublished MA Dissertation CFL-VNU

Ratanawalee Wimolmas, A Survey Study of Motivation in English Language

Learning of First Year Undergraduate Students at Sirindhorn International Institute ofTechnology (SIIT), Thammasat University, Thailand

Although there are many previous researches on motivation and factors affecting motivation in learning English, the studies focus on other subjects as the first year students, or students of non-English majors and scope of the study is focus on

writing skill or motivation in learning in general That the reason why this study was carried to find out clearly factors affecting motivation in learning, especial in speaking English skill

1.1.3.2 Dornyei’s extended motivational framework

Dornyei (2001:112- 113) analyzed L2 learning motivation within a framework of three levels, which offers a vast list of motivational components;

(1) Language level involves factors related to the L2 such as the culture, the community as well as practical values and benefits connected with learning L2

(2) The learner level involves individual characteristics that the learner brings to the learning process These characteristics include learners‟ self- confidence, self- efficacy, need for achievements, causal attributions, the perceived L2 competences, and goal orientations and so forth

(3) Learning situation level is associated with situation- specific motives of L2 learning within a classroom and it is divided into three aspects The first is course- specific motivational components which are related to the syllabus, the teaching materials, the teaching method and the learning tasks The second is teacher- specific motivational components which concern the motivational impact of the teacher‟s personality, behavior and teaching style And the third is group- specific motivational components which are related to the group dynamics of the learner group

1.1.3.3 Williams and Burden’s framework of the L2 motivation

Williams and Burden (1997) analyzed L2 learning motivation in a framework of two factors: internal and external Internal factors encompass various components such as intrinsic interest of activity, perceived value of activity, sense of agency, mastery, self- concept, attitudes, developmental age, stage and gender and other affective states (confidence, anxiety, fear) External factors include significant others (parents, teachers and peers); the nature of interaction with significant others (mediated learning experiences, the nature and amount of feedback rewards, the nature and amount of appropriate praise, punishments and sanctions); the learning environment (sense of comfort, resources, time of day, week, year, size of class and school, class and school ethos) and the broader context (which includes wider and family networks, local education system, conflicting interests, cultural norms and societal expectations and attitudes) (Cited in Dornyei, 2001: 114)

1.1.3.4 Factors affecting student motivation in L2 learning

There have been some studies on the factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning a foreign language so far Above are two L2 motivation frameworks that refer to some factors such as language level, learner level, learning situation level

(Dornyei, 2001) and internal and external factors (Williams and Burnden, 1997) Although researchers have had some different views in this issue, they all have come to an agreement with a list of common factors affecting students‟ motivation These factors can be divided into three groups: teacher‟s factors, students‟ factors and learning condition factors

 Students’ factors

The first factors are students‟ intelligence and aptitude Intelligence, according to Lightbown and Spada (1999: 52), refers to „performance on certain kinds of test‟ and aptitude is something which „involves both underlying language learning capacity and a capacity to handle decontextualized language‟ (Ellis, 1997: 522) Lightbown and Spada also point out that language aptitude is usually described as a combination of four factors: (1) the ability to identify and memorize new sounds, (2) the ability to understand the function of particular words in sentences, (3) the ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples and (4) the ability to memorize new words (1999: 53)

The second is students‟ personality In the eyes of many language teachers, the personality of the students constitutes a major factor contributing to success or failure in language learning Ellis (1997) has proved that extroverted learners are advantaged in the development of the kind of language associated with basis interpersonal communication skills and that extroverted learners may also be more likely to participate actively in oral communication (1997: 523) Shared the same view with Ellis, Lightbown and Spada list a number of personality characteristics that have a great influence on the success of second language learners: extroversion, inhibition, self- esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness and responsiveness (1999: 54- 55)

The third factor is learners‟ age Children are believed to be better than adults in acquiring an L2 in general and in speaking a new language with native- like fluency

in particular Some researchers argued that late starters may be able to learn the syntax and the vocabulary of a second language, but that attaining a native-like

pronunciation is impossible for them Also, they concluded that younger learners have a greater chance of attaining native-like proficiency in the L2, older learners may show faster progress at the beginning, but are probably surpassed by the young ones in the end

The fourth factor is learning style The term „learning style‟ refers to the characteristic ways in which individuals orientates to problem- solving Keefe (1979) defined learning style as „the characteristic cognitive, affective and physiological behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment… Learning style

is a consistent way of functioning that reflects underlying causes of behavior‟ (cited in Ellis, 1997: 499)

The last factor is learners‟ belief Most learners have strong beliefs about how languages are learnt, how their instruction should be delivered Little, Singleton and Silvius found out „past experience, both of education in general and of language learning in particular, played a major role in shaping attitudes to language learning‟ (cited in Ellis, 1997: 478- 479)

Firstly, appropriate teacher behavior in classroom is very important It is considered

a powerful „motivational tool‟ Alison (1993) stated that teacher‟s behavior could

„persuade‟ or „attract‟ students to engage in on- task behaviors (cited in Dornyei 2001: 120) „The teacher should be a patient, encouraging person who supports students‟ learning efforts Students should feel comfortable taking intellectual risks

because they know that they will not be embarrassed or criticized if they make a mistake‟ (Good and Brophy, 1994 - cited in Dornyei, 2001: 121)

Secondly, teacher‟s good relationship with the student is also a key element of motivation in student learning The teacher should establish the relationship of mutual trust and respect with students This relationship also involves finding opportunities to talk with them on a personal level and letting them know that teachers have thought about them and that their individual effort is recognized (Dornyei, 2001: 120)

The third factor is teacher‟s enthusiasm Csikzentmihalyi (1997) said that teachers needed to be „enthused and involved in the teaching process and in the material they are teaching‟ (cited in Dornyei, 2001: 178) Csikzentmihalyi also points out that enthusiastic teachers are the ones who love what they are doing, who show by their dedication and their passion that make students willing to pursue knowledge (cited

in Dornyei, 2001: 177- 178)

The last factor is teacher‟s commitment to the students‟ academic progress Teachers should care for what their students have learnt and succeeded (Dornyei, 2001) They should also offer concrete assistant, responding immediately when help

is requested, correcting tests, arranging extra- assignments and so on

In short, teacher‟s attitude, behavior as well as the general level of their commitment towards the students, their learning and their subject matter, constitute some of the most prevailing influences on student motivation Dornyei says that

„teachers are the designated leaders of the class group‟ and therefore, they cannot lack their responsibility for maintaining their own commitment to the teaching process because the lack of this responsibility will cause „psychological absence‟ from teaching process, which is the fastest way to undermine the motivational base

of the learners

 Teaching and learning condition

Teaching and learning condition involves classroom atmosphere and physical condition A pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere will create motivation;

it encourages students to express their opinions and thinking MacIntyre (1999) and Young (1999) pointed out that students‟ anxiety created by a tense classroom climate was one of the most potent factors that undermined learning effectiveness and L2 motivation (cited in Dornyei, 2001: 121)

Physical conditions are important, too Physical conditions refer to something in classroom such as classroom‟s size, classroom‟s facilities (chairs, desks, tables, electric facilities…) Hammer (1992) stated that physical conditions had great impact on students‟ learning as well as their attitude towards the subject matter Physical condition affects both teacher and students‟ motivation The large class, the poor facilities will decrease the relationship between teacher and students, and

as a result, will decrease motivation

1.2 Theoretical background of speaking in L2 learning

1.2.1 Definition of speaking

Florez (1999) defined speaking was „an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information‟ (cited in Balley, 2005: 2) In other words, „speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning‟ (Balley, 2005:2) Bygate (1997) stated that speaking was a skill which deserved attention every bit as much as literacy skill Speaking is

in many ways an undervalued skill Perhaps this is because we can almost all speak, and so take the skill too much for granted In his own view, Mackey (1965) shows that „oral expression involves not only the use of the right sounds in the right patterns of rhythm and intonation, but also a choice of words and inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning‟(cited in Bygate, 1997: 5) To sump up, speaking is the action of conveying information or expressing one‟s feelings or thinking by oral words

1.2.2 Approaches to the teaching of speaking

There are three approaches the teaching speaking: the Grammar- translation method, The Direct Method and Audiolingualism and Communicative Language Teaching

In the Grammar- translation method, students are taught to analyze grammar and to translate from one language to another This method is not consistent with the goals

of increasing English learners‟ fluency, oral production, or communicative competence The Direct Method strongly influenced the development of the Audiolingual Method Speaking is taught by having students repeat sentences and recite memorized dialogues from the textbook Because two above methods did not lead to fluent and effective communication in real- life situations, the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) evoked The goal of language teaching

in the light of CLT is learner- centeredness to develop communicative competence which is an essential element to raise learners‟ motivation in language learning CLT favors interaction among small numbers of learners with a purpose to maximize the time each learner learns and uses languages, shares information and negotiates meaning CLT features more interaction- based activities, such as role- plays and information gap tasks Pair work and group work are typical organizational features of interaction- based lessons in CLT

In summary, among some approaches of the language teaching methods mentioned above, CLT is the most appropriate way to teach students to communicate My minor thesis is about factors affecting students‟ motivation to speak English in class, so what I have to find out are what affecting students in speaking English and how to motivate them to speak English better In terms of speaking skill, I think that CLT is one of the most effective approaches to teach learners to speak in second language Therefore, I have decided to choose CLT not any other method to teach speaking and doing my treatment of the study

1.2.3 The roles of the teacher in different stages of teaching speaking

Byrne, D (1986) stated three stages of teaching speaking: the presentation stage, the practice stage and the production one In each stage, the role of the teacher is different

At the presentation stage, the teacher is considered an informant role, introduces something new to be learned, and is at the center of the stage At the practice stage,

the teacher is like the skillful conductor of an orchestra, giving each of the performers a chance to participate and monitoring their performance to see that it is satisfactory At the final stage, the production one, the teacher takes on the role of manager and guide Students are given opportunities to use language freely and express their own ideas

To sum up, the teacher works as a motivator and his/ her roles closely relate to the three stages of learning Whatever teacher is doing in the classroom, his/ her ability

to motivate the students, to arouse their interest and involve them in what they are doing, will be crucial Therefore, some key factors of teacher‟s role are teacher‟s own performance- the mastery of teaching skills, which depend on teacher‟s careful preparation; teacher‟s selection, and presentation of topics and activities, and, of course, teacher‟s own personality, which, in language teaching, must be flexible enough to allow the teacher to be both authoritative and friendly at the same time

1.2.4 Motivation in speaking in classroom

1.2.4.1 Motivation in the classroom setting

Lightbown and Spada (1999: 57- 58) stated that the content is interesting and relevant to their age and level of ability, where the learning goals was challenging yet manageable and clear, and where the atmosphere was supportive and non- threatening, teachers could make a positive contribution to students‟ motivation to learn Two researchers replicated findings from studies by Graham Crookes and Richard Schmit (1991) and pointed out some pedagogical practices for teachers to motivate students in classroom setting: Motivating students at the opening stages of lessons, remark teachers make about forthcoming activities can lead to higher levels

of interest on the part of the students; Varying the activities, tasks and materials; Using co- operative rather than competitive goals: students must work together in order to complete a task or solve problem These techniques will increase the self- confidence of students, including weaker ones

1.2.4.2 Factors affecting students unwilling to speak in classroom

Tsui (1996) found out five principal factors affecting the reluctance of the student to speak up in class: students‟ perceived low proficiency in English, students‟ fear of mistakes and derision, teachers‟ intolerance of silence, uneven allocation of turns and incomprehensible input(cited in Nunan, 1999: 234) In his investigation, Oxford (1998) also stated some factors that decrease students‟ motivation in classroom: The teacher‟s personal relationship with the students, the teacher‟s attitude, style conflicts between teachers and students about the amount of structure and conflicts about the amount the degree of closure or „seriousness‟ of the class, the nature of the classroom activities, including irrelevance, overload and repetitiveness (cited in Dornyei, 2001: 146) In summary, although two researchers give many different factors, it might be gathered in three factors group as students‟ factors, teachers‟ factor and learning condition‟s factors

1.2.4.3 Some conditions for effective motivation in speaking

According to Nunan (1999), there are some preconditions for effective motivation such as: supportive environment( including orderly classroom, teacher‟s classroom management skill; students‟ comfortable feel in taking risks, feedback is positive), appropriate level of difficulty, meaningful learning (meaningful activities; the clear relationship between activities and objective), strategies and content( students can relate content to own experience; topics are interesting) (Nunan, D 1999: 235)

In conclusion, chapter 1 has presented some theoretical background knowledge related to the topic of the study It has discussed some concepts and ideas concerning to the issue of motivation in general and motivation in L2 study in particular Besides, some different aspects related to speaking were also discussed, especially some aspects related to factors affecting students‟ speaking motivation

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 2.1 The setting of the study

The study was conducted at Thanh Ba high school, a rural school of Phu Tho province Currently, there are ten teachers of English, 30 classes and over 1350 students ranged from Grade 10 to grade 12 Most of students come from villages and town in the district Like other high schools in Vietnam, English was taught here as a compulsory subject However, the teaching of English, especially for Grade 10 has met some difficulties The first difficulty is that English is not paid much attention by most of students in school because one- fifth of the tenth grade students wish to take university entrance exam in English The second is teachers have to teach in the large size classes with at least 45 students for each class Therefore, teachers will face with some problems in monitoring work, giving feedback, setting up communicative tasks as well as paying attention to all students during class time The third is most of the students are not familiar with teaching in English They say that they do not understand if all English lessons are taught in English They also feel quite uncomfortable and pressured when using English to express themselves The last is the lack of materials for reference and self- study There is a library at school but there are not many books, English newspapers and magazines for reference Moreover, some facilities needed for learning such as computers, projectors are not enough There are no language labs and library Internet for students, too

In school year 2015- 2016, the students at Thanh Ba high school continue to take part in new syllabus which was designed following communicative approach It required students not only expert in doing grammar exercises but also in practicing multi- skills Normally, there are only three periods (135 minutes) of studying English every week Yet, it is not enough for the students to practice and develop their skills as well as to enrich their background knowledge, vocabulary and structure capacity What‟s more, English is hardly used to talk outside class As a result, these factors may affect students‟ motivation in learning English especially

in learning English speaking So, it is advisable for the teachers to employ various techniques to arouse students‟ interest in learning English speaking They, then, may improve their speaking skill and other language skills

to talk because they have no effort and aim to learn Some are afraid of talking as they fear to make mistakes and lose face, and sometimes they fear to get bad marks and be paid bad attention from teachers By and large, students have few chances to practice English and to speak it out

 Teachers

Thanh Ba high school consists of ten teachers of English aged from 24 to 56 All of them have been teaching at school for at least two years They have got the University Bachelor‟ Degree in English and Certificate of English Language Proficiency Level B2 and C1 As rural teachers, they have few opportunities to

upgrade their teaching and do not have a lot of teaching facilities and materials to help their work Despite all these disadvantages, they are helpful, friendly and dedicated teachers Most of them want to devote their whole lives for teaching They all have a great desire to acquire knowledge of how to teach English well as well as how to widen their English background Also, they are always willing to help their students tackle with difficulties in learning

2.3 Applying techniques and activities of CLT in teaching speaking at

Thanh Ba high school

As mentioned in chapter 1, CLT method is applied in teaching speaking English at Thanh Ba high school as the way to increase students‟ motivation Following are some communicative activities and techniques that the researcher have used during her doing treatment: encouraging students to work in pairs, groups and individual, using some techniques for developing speaking skills, combining textbook and relevant materials, giving feedback regularly, creating the co-operative atmosphere, varying communicative activities, giving suggested questions, and applying some speaking activities such as completing dialogue practice, role play, interview, games, free discussion and problem solving, structure- based activities, making up sentences orally, question and answer exchanges, picture description, ranking exercises, story telling, rearrangement, visual aids (pictures, maps, music,…)

2.4 Participants

The participants for the survey questionnaires were 90 students of two classes (10 A1 and 10 A5) which were selected randomly from class 10 A1 to class 10 A10 and

10 teachers of English These students have learnt the new syllabus since they were

in Grade 6 When participating this study, they were in the second term of the school year In researcher‟s observation, their English proficiency and level of motivation was as quite equal as others‟

Ten teachers of the school were selected to get the objective data Among those teachers, some have had many years of teaching (more than 10 years); some others

have just experienced teaching for few years The results from these teachers will give objective view on students‟ motivation in speaking

All participants took part in the survey by responding to the two kinds of questionnaires, two for students and one for teachers Besides, some students were also invited to take part in a follow- up interviews in order to get a complete look into the research issues

2.5 Data collection instruments

2.5.1 Survey Questionnaires

The instruments used in this study consisted of two questionnaires: two questionnaires for students and one for teachers According to Bill Gillham, using questionnaires has some advantages: low cost in time and money; easy to get information from a lot of people; respondents can complete the questionnaire when

it suits them, analysis of answers to closed questions is straightforward; less pressure for an immediate response, respondents‟ anonymity; lack of interviewer bias, standardization of questions (but true of structured interviews); can provide suggestive data for testing an hypothesis The questionnaires were designed in both close and open-ended questions The questionnaires for students were written in Vietnamese to make sure that students understood all questionnaire items

2.5.1.1 Questionnaires for students

2.5.1.1.1 Pre-treatment questionnaire

This pre- treatment questionnaire was designed with three main parts with 12 questions Part I was about the students‟ personal information which included students‟ gender, place of domicile and their average mark of English subject in the first term of Grade 10 Part II was designed to elicit the students‟ opinions about their motivation in learning speaking English Students‟ motivation was measured with their aptitude, interest, attitude, desire and effort in learning Part III would collect some information relating to factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning speaking English

2.5.1.1.2 Post-treatment questionnaire

Post-treatment questionnaire encompassed 12 questions which was divided into three parts Part I was the same as part I in pre- treatment questionnaire Part II included 8 questions which would gather information about students‟ motivation changes after applying some new teaching techniques in speaking English Part III aimed at collecting information about teacher‟s applying activities in teaching speaking English and students‟ preference of these activities

2.5.1.2 Questionnaire for teachers

The survey to the teachers with eight questions was about what problems teachers often faced with in teaching speaking English, what they had done to motivate students to speak it It comprised two sections: Part I was the demographic information, which contained the teachers‟ gender, age, the number of years they had been teaching English language in high school Part II was about teacher‟s opinion on students‟ motivation in speaking, activities and techniques they had been using to motivate the students

2.5.2 Interviews

Survey questionnaires were used as the main instrument in this study However, the using of questionnaires also has some disadvantages: The answers may be simple and superficial, the respondents are unreliable and motivated, and may face with literacy problems, the researchers may have little or no opportunity to correct the respondents‟ mistakes and hallo effect (which concerns the human tendency to overgeneralize)… (Dornyei, Z 2005: 10- 13) This is true for the study of motivation, which is an abstract, attitudinal concept Therefore, the interviews were carried out in a following week after the post- treatment with ten participants who had considerable changes in attitude and motivation in learning speaking English The aim of the researcher for interviews is to get better insights into the research questions and to discuss for further information about the items raised in the questionnaires

The questions for interviews were compiled in a paper sheet All the interviews were carried out in Vietnamese in the form of an informal conversation between the researcher and the students The data collected from interview were recorded, transcribed, and then translated into English for the purposes of the study

2.5.3 Class observations

Apart from the survey questionnaires for both teachers and students and the interviews, class observations were employed to clarify and test the validity of information about students‟ motivation and their reaction to teachers‟ applied techniques The observations were carried out in several English lessons before and during the treatment For each lesson, the researcher observed in 45 minutes She designed a checklist for what she wanted to observe (See appendix 7) Students‟ reactions towards the teacher‟s activities, techniques and behaviors; their participation in the activities and their feedback after the activities were all taken notes on the spot

2.6 Data collection procedures

First, the pre-questionnaire was delivered to students at the beginning of the second term to measure „input motivation‟ After collecting information from the pre-questionnaire, the teachers taught the students for four months with applying the new techniques, and then the post-questionnaire was given to students to gather information of students‟ motivation changes, students‟ attitudes towards techniques and activities applied by teachers and their preferences The questionnaire for teacher was conducted after doing the post treatment to gather information about teacher‟s attitudes towards students‟ motivation in speaking and the effects of the activities and techniques that they had applied

Besides, the class observations were carried out before and during the treatment to check and get the data for research Finally, the follow-up interview of ten participants was carried out in the following week to get further information for the study

CHAPTER 3- DATA ANALYSIS

3 1 Results from students’ pre- treatment and post-treatment questionnaires 3.1.1 Personal information

The first and the second questions were to gather the participants‟ information of gender and hometown The total number of the students in the survey was 90 of which 47 were females and 43 were males All of them came from countryside, among them 76.7% were living in village and only 23.3% were living in town The next question was about participants‟ experience in learning English About 78.9 % had been learning English for over 4 years (4 years at secondary school and one semester at high school) Only 21.1 % had been learning English for over six years because they had studied English at primary school for 2 years

Chart 1 Students‟ average marks in the first semester The subjects had finished the first semester of Grade 10 school year at high school Their average marks in English varied from 3.5 to 9.3 About 48.9% of them had marks from 5 to 6.4, 26.7% from 6.5 to 7.9, 6.6% had got over 8 Meanwhile, 17.8% got marks under 5 (from 3.5 to 4.9) It can be seen that the average marks of the subjects were not too high, which might reflected that they had little concern to English learning

3.1 2 Students’ motivation in learning speaking English

3.1.2.1 Types of motivation

The researcher had mentioned some types of motivation in chapter 1 of this study

In this part, the researcher focused on such types of motivation possessed by Grade

10 students at Thanh Ba high school They were integrative, instrumental, resultative, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

A compulsory subject in the syllabus and the final

exam

Interest in English language, people and culture 19 21.1%

To sing and listen to English songs 19 21.1%

To take university entrance exam in English 30 33.3%

Table 1.Reason for types of motivations Table 1 reveals that passing the final exam is the main reason of students‟ studying English The highest percentage (92.2%) of the students wanted to learn English because they thought that English was one of the compulsory subjects for learning

at school and their final examination The others (33.3%) wanted to learn English because they would take English as a main subject in the university entrance exam The future job was also the thing that students concerned 46.7 % of them thought that English was necessary for their future job Clearly, these students knew the role

of English in the modern life when foreign language was considered the main means of communication In some small talks with the researcher at break, some students revealed that they studied English speaking only for their future Following are what they said:

- Yes, I study English speaking because I see it will be necessary for my job in the future It is easier to get a good job with higher salary if our English speaking skill is good

- I know when I study at university; I have to study English, too So, why don‟t I study it now? Though I am very busy with studying Math, Physics

and Chemistry for my subjects of university entrance exam, I sometimes spend time for English

At the same time, about 21.1% of participants answered that they were interested in English, especially English people and culture The same answers with the same respondents also revealed they liked English because it helped them sing and listen

to English songs When answering the researcher‟s question, one interviewee said:

- I have studied English at secondary school I am truly fond of listening and singing English songs When I listening an English song which I understand it‟s meaning, I feel very satisfied

About 11.1% of the respondents claimed they wanted to study abroad in the future though so far they had not known whether they could achieve their wishes or not; and that was the reason why they tried to study English

The lowest percentage of the students (6.7%) affirmed they were learning English because their average marks in English were higher than that in other subjects

In short, types of motivation possessed by Grade 10 students were quite varied The highest percentage was the students who possessed extrinsic motivation with the reason that they studied English for passing the examination and for the requirements of their teachers because English was one of their compulsory subjects

at school The lower percentage was the respondents with instrumental orientation These ones studied English for passing university entrance exam, getting a good job

in the future or going abroad to study The last one was some possessed integrative and intrinsic motivation with the underlying reasons that they studied English because of their enjoyment for English language and culture Among these figures, some students identified as having a combination of both intrinsic and instrumental orientation In general, students who possessed extrinsic motivation often felt unwilling and forced to learn English while students with instrumental and integrative orientation were quite eager to learn English

3 1 2 2 The changes of students’ motivation on speaking English

Question 2 How is speaking skill important to you?

As can be seen from chart 2, in pre- treatment, in general, most of students were aware of the importance of English in their studying (the high percentage of the respondents (43.3%) considered speaking skill quite important to them) However, some of them (3.3%) did not admit this This was because these students learnt English with extrinsic motivation not for their interest It was, thus, the teacher‟s role to find ways to stimulate the students to take part in the learning in the class

Chart 2 Students‟ perceived importance of English However, after the treatment, the number of students considered speaking very important increased from 21.1% to 25.5% while the number of students who underestimated the importance of speaking reduced to 6.7 % All students confirmed the important role of speaking to them in the future When talking with the researcher, some students expressed the same opinions: “At first I learnt English speaking in order to get oral marks only, now I am changed, I am studying it for my future”

Question 3 How is your aptitude to learn speaking English?

Chart 3 indicates the changing of aptitude to learn speaking English between pre- treatment and post- treatment Before the treatment, all students seemed not to believe in their capacity of learning English 52.2% estimated their aptitude at low level while only 8.9% believed they had high enough ability Surprisingly, the students with high aptitude were up by 8.9% to 13.3% at the post treatment Similarly, the number of the students believe in their aptitude increased Only the

smallest percentage of the respondents (10%) did not believe in their ability of speaking with the thinking that they could not speak English well despite speaking

it in the simplest way When evaluating their capacity for a foreign language, they seemed to depend on their results of this subject at the first semester and their need

of it in the future

Chart 3 Students‟ aptitude to learn English speaking Question 4 How is your attitude to learn English speaking?

Chart 4 Students‟ attitude to learn English speaking

It can be seen from chart 4, students hold a positive attitude towards English speaking Over half of the respondents had the positive attitude before the treatment After the treatment, this number slightly increased The number of the students with very low attitude decreased from 15.6% to 6.7% while the student with high one also increased to 14.4%, an increase of 10% The highest percentage

were also the students with OK attitude, which increased by 7.8%, from 43.3% to 51.1% In observation process, the researcher saw that students‟ attitude towards learning was quite good They all had enough basic materials and textbook and most of them always put attention to the teacher‟s lecture

Question 5 How is your effort in learning speaking?

Chart 5 Students‟ effort in learning speaking

As can be seen from chart 5, in the pre- treatment, although the majority of the students affirmed that they had positive attitude towards English speaking, their effort in learning was still very low Over half of the respondents had low or very low effort, only 14.5% of them had high or very high one Observations in class also pointed out that students‟ participation in speaking activities was not voluntary Very few students took part in task completion and were willing to speak out

However, after the treatment, the most significant increase was the students with

OK effort, at 51.1% Then, the number of the high effort students also went up Noticeably, the low effort students considerably reduced, from 54.4% down to 21.1% It could not be denied that all students realized the importance of English speaking in their study and in the future They, therefore, effort for learning English When answering the researcher‟s question in the interview, one student showed: “If

I speak English well, I will be easy to find a job in the future I think so.”

Question 6 How is your desire to learn English speaking?

The figure shown in chart 5 reveals that students‟ desire to learn speaking English slightly changed after the treatment The students with high desire rose up to 37.8%,

a little increase of 2.2%, whereas the student with OK desire increased by 4.5%, from 34.4% to 38.9% students However, there was still the students with very low desire, which occupied 2% of total

Chart 6 Students‟ desire to learn English speaking Question 7 How much do you feel interested in speaking English in class?

Chart 7 Students‟ interest in learning speaking Chart 7 reveals that before the treatment, the majority of the students are not interested in learning speaking (46.7%) and only the lowest percentage of the respondents (4.4%) affirmed their interest very high For them, they learnt English because of the pressure from outside such as requirement of the teachers and parents, the need for the exam… not because of their willingness However, after

the treatment, it was interesting to note that there was a sharp increase of the interested students in learning English speaking The number of student with quite high interest increased from 11.1% to 45.6% Contrary to this, the number of the respondents with little interest was down to 14.4% The rest changed insignificantly, from 16.7% down to 7.8% for students with no interest, from 4.4%

up to 20% for highly interested students One student also expressed her opinion in the interview: “When I started to learn English, I like it very much However, the teaching method demotivated me Now, my interest has considerably increased” The researcher‟s observation pointed out that students‟ interest in English speaking had been changed Most of them were more eager to learn

Question 8 How often do you speak English in English class time?

Chart 8 Students‟ frequency of speaking English in class time

The frequency of speaking English in class time also shows how much effort students wanted to master it Chart 8 represents that only 10% of the respondents spoke English willingly whereas 35.6% spoke it rarely and 5.6% never spoke except from the teacher‟s requests

It was understandable that students‟ changes in interest would lead to the changes in the frequency of the participation in speaking The students who never spoke except when asked by teacher reduced to 3.3% while the students who usually spoke increased by 25.6% The changes also happened to the number of students who sometimes spoke in classroom with a decrease of 12.3%, from 35.6% down to 23.3%

3.1.3 Factors making students reluctant to speak English in class

Question 9 Do you feel reluctant to speak English in class?

The figures shown in chart 9 reveals that before treatment, the majority of them (46.7%) claimed they often felt reluctant to speak, while only 7.8% of the respondents spoke English willingly In observation, the researcher also found out that most students did not speak English voluntarily Only when the teachers got oral test marks or required, did they have to spoke up in front of the class When answering researcher‟s questions, one student said: “I don‟t want to speak in class although I know class is a good environment for me to practice I don‟t feel self- confident” Shared the same idea, another student also said: “I know the importance

of speaking English in my study and future, but I don‟t know why I can‟t speak willingly Indeed, I am afraid every one will laugh at me ”

Surprisingly, the number of reluctant speakers dramatically reduced after the treatment (from 46.7% down to 24.4%) The students who like speaking increased nearly half of the total In the follow-up interview, one student gladly said: “At first,

I felt very difficult to express my opinions in English Now, it is easier I can talk with my friends and teachers in English.”

Chart 9 Students‟ reluctance of speaking English Question 10 Factors making students reluctant to speak English in class

There are learners‟ factors, teacher‟s factors and teaching and learning conditions that make learners unwilling to speak Here I only mention two factors: learners‟ factors and teacher‟s factors

Factors Students Percentage

Being not accustomed to speaking 51 56.7%

Teacher‟s intolerance of silence 33 36.7%

Table 2 Factors making students reluctant to speak English in class

Table 2 represents the most influential factor was teacher‟s boring teaching

(64.4%) The second factor was the fear of mistakes and derision (62.2%)

Similarly, when answering the researcher‟s question, one interviewee said: “I am

not self-confident enough to speak in front of my teacher and classmates I am

afraid of making mistakes.” The next one (56.7%) was the students who were not

accustomed to speaking because they lacked of knowledge background or new

vocabulary but they had the habit of preferring to listen more than speak 43.3%

students blamed their reluctance of speaking for low proficiency in English In the

interview with the researchers, two students stated: “I like speaking English But I

sometimes cannot find words and structures to express my ideas” Another

complained: “My English knowledge is not very good That‟s why I don‟t speak

much in class” Besides, some other students suggested that the way teachers

behaved in teaching also had a great impact on their speaking motivation 40%

complained their teachers favored the better students when soliciting responses

That was the reason why some lower proficient students in class had few chances to

speak out The smaller number of the students (36.7%) mentioned to the teacher‟s

intolerance of silence that made them unwilling to speak Teachers often gave them

little or no wait time for speaking After instruction, teachers required them to speak

up immediately, which caused them pressured and stressed

In short, there are a variety of the factors that students had to face with These factors came

from students as well as from teachers In order to be better in English speaking activities

in class, the changes need be done between both teachers and students Teachers change teaching methods and students change the way they learn

Question 11 Factors preventing students‟ speaking process

Difficulty in finding words or structures 51 56.7%

Table 3 Factors preventing students‟ speaking process

As can be viewed from the table, 56.7% of the students could not find words or structures to express their opinion when speaking as the result of the lack of vocabulary and grammatical knowledge for learning The next, learners could not find ideas for their speech (47.8 %) because most students lacked the background knowledge in English Other factors which related to teachers included teacher‟s unenthusiasm (33.3%), teacher‟s interruption or anger (26.7%) and teacher‟s too much talking time (22.2%) In researcher‟s observation, she had found out that teacher‟s characteristics played an important role in students‟ speaking process She followed two lessons at one class In the first lesson, the teacher taught with friendly, enthusiastic, joyful and a bit funny attitude, she realized that most students were eager to take part in lesson including even lower proficiency ones In the second, the teacher was a bit stricter with no smile The results, certainly, were very different Not many students wanted to participate in the lesson except from the teacher‟s requirements Some better students‟ talking time was reduced The class atmosphere was rather quiet and all students seemed very uncomfortable It, therefore, can be said that teacher‟s factors were not the most important but the decisive ones that maintain students‟ speaking process