An investigation into the learners needs for developing speaking skills (intermediate level) at iwep europe usa international english school

With several years of teaching English, the researcher believed that it is important to take learners' needs in consideration to help students improving speaking skills.. As a foundation

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN HOÀNG TUẤN, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY – 2010

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS (INTERMEDIATE LEVEL) AT IWEP EUROPE – USA INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH SCHOOL

in terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued

by the Higher Degree Committee of Department of English Linguistics and Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University of Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh, September 2010

NGUYỄN THỊ ÁNH PHƯỚC

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Nguyễn Thị Ánh Phước, being the candiate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requiments of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the library should be for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh, September 2010

NGUYỄN THỊ ÁNH PHƯỚC

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the assistance I received from a number of people in the course of carrying out this thesis paper I highly treasure the important role they played in making the completion of this thesis a success

Firstly, this thesis paper wouldn’t be complete without my supervisor, Dr Nguyễn Hoàng Tuấn I would like to express my deepest gratitude to him for painstakingly reading through my work from the beginning to the end Without his constant advice and invaluable comments and suggestion, I may not have come this far Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to my Department of English Linguistics and Literature, for offering me help and giving me opportunities in the course of completing this thesis

Thirdly, I wish to extend my thanks to the teachers and students from IWEP International English School for their precious help and cooperation during my research time at school

Lastly, millions of thanks go to my beloved family, especially my husband whose constant support and spiritual encouragement contributes a significant part to the completion of this research

ABSTRACT

Located in the center of Ho Chi Minh City, IWEP EUROPE – USA INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH SCHOOL is among the most chosen place for learners to practice speaking English With several years of teaching English, the researcher believed that it is important to take learners' needs in consideration to help students improving speaking skills As a foundation, this research has come into being with the aim of identifying the actual needs of the intermediate learners and making some suggestions for upgrading the teaching and learning quality at IWEP

The study was carried out with the cooperation of 120 students together with

18 teachers First of all, the researcher conducted the classroom observations to find out the real activities of a typical speaking lesson at IWEP After that, a questionnaire with seventeen questions was delivered to the students; and another questionnaire with eleven questions was handed to the teachers

The results of the research reveal that the students’ learning needs should be

considered carefully when designing a speaking lesson – there should be interesting

and practical activities, and the appropriate patterns of interaction should be

carefully employed on the part of the teachers As far as the target needs of the learners are concerned, there is a notable importance that the teachers should keep

in mind that most learners enroll in learning English wish to have a good job and promotion in their career The analysis of the findings also proved that the three factors affecting the learners' progress in speaking English the most are the learners' shyness, the lack of ideas for topic discussion and using L1

From the findings, the researcher believes that needs analysis should be done

in order to enhance the teaching and learning quality of the speaking skills at IWEP

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURE

4.1: Learners’ reasons for learning English

4.2: Learners’ preferred English communication skills

4.3: The frequency of learners’ practicing speaking English

4.4: The speaking ability of learners

4.5: The frequency of teachers in creating speaking opportunities for learners

4.6: The learners’ speaking ability from the teachers’ opinion

4.7: The frequency of teachers in creating speaking opportunities for

learners

LIST OF TABLES

4.1: Characteristics of learner subjects

4.2: Characteristics of teacher subjects

4.3: The purposes for which learners like speaking English

4.4: The location in which learners practice speaking English

4.5: the factors affecting the learners’ preferences for speaking English

4.6: The levels of learners’ enjoyment for some popular speaking activities

4.7: The frequency the learners prefer to take part in different kinds of interaction

in class

4.8: The difficulties affecting the learning speaking English

4.9: The methods learners can employ to improve their speaking skills

4.10: The factors affecting the learners’ preferences to speak English

4.11: The speaking activities the teachers often conduct in class

4.12: The interactive organization of speaking activities in class

4.13: The motivating activities to encourage students

4.14: The difficulties affecting the learners’ speaking English

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate of originality i

Retention and use of the thesis ii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract iv

List of abbreviations v

List of charts and figure vi

List of tables vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 The Problem 1

1.3 Statement of Purpose 3

1.4 Significance of the Study 3

1.5 Research Questions 4

1.6 Assumptions 4

1.7 Limitations 5

1.8 Delimitations 5

1.9 Overview of the Thesis 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Definition of terms 7

2.1.1 Definition of needs 7

2.1.2 Definition of needs analysis 9

2.2 Classification of needs analysis 10

2.3 Learners' needs and improvement of their speaking skills 11

2.3.1 The problems of learners’ speaking skills 12

2.3.2 Learners' motivation 13

2.3.3 Teaching method: learner-centeredness 15

2.3.3.1 Definition of learner-centered approach 15

2.3.3.2 The relationship between learner-centeredness and the

learners’ needs 16

2.3.4 Teaching authentic materials 17

2.4 Summary 18

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 19

3.1 Research setting 19

3.2 Research design 20

3.3 Subjects 21

3.3.1 The learners 22

3.3.2 The teachers 22

3.3.3 The classes 22

3.4 Instruments 23

3.4.1 Class observation 23

3.4.2 Questionnaires 24

3.5 Data collection procedure 27

3.6 Summary 27

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 28

4.1 Sample analysis 28

4.2 Class observation analysis 30

4.2.1 The real activities of a speaking lesson conducted by teachers 31

4.2.2 The learners' participation and problems 33

4.3 Responses to the learners' questionnaire 34

4.3.1 Learning motivation 34

4.3.2 Opinions about speaking English in and out of the classroom 38

4.4 Responses to the teachers' questionnaires 45

4.4.1 Opinions about teaching speaking English in EFL classroom 45

4.5 Discussion of the findings 52

4.5.1 The characteristics of a typical speaking lesson 52

4.5.2 Learners' motivation regarding the reasons and purposes for

their learning speaking 53

4.5.3 The preferred learning and teaching styles 54

4.5.4 The problems affecting the process of learning speaking 56

4.6 Summary 57

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 58

5.1 Conclusion 58

5.1.1 The learners’ target needs 59

5.1.2 The learners’ learning needs 59

5.2 Recommendations 60

5.2.1 Appropriate topics 60

5.2.2 Using authentic materials 61

5.2.3 Appropriate activities 63

5.2.4 Appropriate patterns of interaction 65

5.2.5 Consideration of the learners’ problems 67

5.2.5.1 Shyness 67

5.2.5.2 Lack of ideas for topic discussion 68

5.2.5.3 Multi-level classes 69

5.2.5.4 Use of L1 70

5.2.5.5 Lack of time for self-study 71

5.3 Summary 71

Bibliography 72

Appendices 77

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for Students 77

Appendix 2: Questionnaires for Teachers 83

Appendix 3: Class Observation Checklist 87

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Together with integration trend in the world, English has been considered as the vital means of communication in all aspects of society such as politics, international trade and education, etc More and more people desire that they can be good at English in the hope to meet all society requirements and needs This is not

an exception for Vietnamese people, who rush to English language centers, hoping for improvement of their English

One of the most important skills that a learner of English wishes to improve

is undoubtedly speaking When asked for the reasons one comes to language center,

probably the most common response will involve “I want to speak English well.”

Such a situation has brought about the demands in innovating the ways speaking is taught Great attention has been paid to this issue, and there have been many techniques and methods that a teacher can employ to teach speaking in his classroom Some most recent and updated teaching methods such as Audio lingual Method and Communicative Language Teaching Method came into existence as a result A teacher can conduct lots of oral repetition for his learners to acquire the native accent and produce immediate sentences in certain situation He can also give the students lots of chance to practice speaking in class However, after years of teaching English to Vietnamese students at IWEP, the researcher of this thesis paper believed that the teachers should first take the needs of the learners into consideration before applying any techniques or methods into teaching

1.2 The problem

The matter of individual differences in learning a foreign language, i.e learners’ needs in receiving new information has been discussed a great deal in language teaching books and journals because needs analysis always takes an

important role in the success of teaching-learning process However, the subject of needs analysis has not yet received sufficient attention from researchers and language teaching professionals in our country Most teachers have no time to listen

to what the students think and prefer and maybe they neglect one of the factors that make a happy and effective class atmosphere, which is learners’ needs in language learning As a result, Vietnamese learners rarely have input in their language teaching context

Development of learners’ communicative competence should be the aim of any language teaching approach as it is this ability which helps in establishing successful communication Communicative Language Teaching is a widely used approach in the field of ELT as its focus is the development of this ability However, implementation of CLT has not been successful in many contexts as it was in conflict with local learning culture One way to avoid this difficulty is to conduct a needs analysis before introducing CLT in an ELT context This can help

in finding means for constructive interaction of CLT and contextual constraints Thus, this research is an attempt to shed some light on this subject by offering a generic and critical reflection on some of the needs analysis - related educational ailments that are common in Vietnam context

Just as many language centers in Ho Chi Minh City, IWEP received a high number of learners coming to learn English, especially for improving their speaking skills IWEP has more than two thousands students whose age range from five to forty five Fifty night classes of different levels are held each day, and students have six two-period lessons per week

Knowing that most learners want to improve their speaking skills, IWEP

places an emphasis on English speaking development and the popular series Let’s

Talk, Second Edition published by Cambridge University Press has been used for

such classes The teachers are well-qualified and eager in their teaching The students are hungry for knowledge and want to improve their ability to speak

English as fast as possible However, teaching and learning speaking quality at IWEP has proven unsuccessful, and such has led to some discussion

The problem of ineffective teaching and learning has caused a number of teachers at IWEP to consider their teaching methods and techniques Several teachers have begun to pay attention to the matter of needs analysis; that is to say, they have started to think about what their students really want and prefer to learn Some teachers have even conducted some sample analysis by giving out forms for students to complete They also conduct the trial teaching regarding the findings from the students, which has produced some promising results

Such a situation at IWEP, where the researcher has been teaching with great enthusiasm, has motivated me to write this study about needs analysis The main focus of this thesis is about how analyzing the learners’ needs can affect the teaching and learning speaking To be more specific, this paper looks at what is meant by assessing learners’ needs, why it’s so important, how it is carried out and how can it be utilised to help students and teachers in the field of improving the teaching and learning quality in the setting of IWEP in Vietnam

1.3 Statement of purpose

The aims of this study are (1) to identify the needs of intermediate learners in terms of target needs and learning needs in individual speaking process.(2) to estimate students’ strengths and weaknesses for English speaking skills, (3) to suggest some recommendations for teaching speaking skills

1.4 Significance of the study

So far many educators and theorists in the world have tried to attract teachers’ attention to the field of individual differences in language learning, as Nunan (1999: 10-14) realized that teachers needs to find out what their students feel they want to learn, and how they go about the task of learning He also comes to the belief that a key difference would be that in a learner-centered classroom, key

decision about what will be taught, how it will be taught, when it will be taught and how it will be assessed will be made with reference to the learners

However, this situation seems to be quite new for Vietnamese educational system There are hardly a lot of researches into differences in learners’ needs, especially for the speaking Therefore, the researcher hopes that the study will help teachers recognize that they should teach what students need and they meet students’ needs in order to create the environment of the English language Moreover, intermediate students have opportunities to promote their autonomy which is really important for their higher education Finally, this study may also provide some of pedagogical and ethnic recommendations in the field of using material and teaching methods for enhancing speaking skills to intermediate students

1.5 Research questions

One main question of this study is:

What are intermediate learners’ needs in improving speaking skills at IWEP? Two sub-questions are also mentioned:

1 What are their target needs?

2 What are their learning needs in terms of teaching approach and use of teaching materials?

1.6 Assumptions

The study consists of the following assumptions:

1 The sample population of 120 students from all the six classes at IWEP is representative of the majority of students at this school

2 The methods and procedures of data collection and analysis are reliable and appropriate to obtain the information to answer the research questions

3 The teachers, students are ready to cooperate in the study and serious while giving information

4 The other teachers are very enthusiastic to the project

5 The students and teachers have no difficulty in understanding the items of the research questions and sub-questions

1.7 Limitations

Due to the nature of the study and the research methods of data collection, generalization and recommendations will be limited to one in four skills of learning English, speaking skills at this school The scope of the study will be narrowed down to 120 students over the number of students at this school in Ho Chi Minh City, focusing only on the students’ needs The particular structure of the sample of population taking part in the study may also restrain generalization of the results The recommendations from this study may not be beneficial to others in similar situations

1.8 Delimitations

If properly modified, and another bigger sample population can be selected, the study may be proven valuable and of great use at other educations in Vietnam

where the issue of speaking skills is concerned

1.9 Overview of the thesis

Chapter I introduces the background for the research

Chapter II covers a literature review related to the study in terms of the theoretical background and some previous researches

Chapter III focuses on research methodology employed in the study, including research questions, a discussion of the research design, a brief description

of the study’s subjects and instruments, and finally the data collection procedures

Chapter IV analyses the research findings in terms of the subjects’ responses

to the instruments, and a brief discussion of the findings is provided at the end of this chapter to give the foundation for the next chapter

Chapter V provides some recommendations for improving the quality of teaching and learning English, especially the speaking skills to the IWEP learners The conclusion of the research is also included in this chapter

1.10 Summary

This chapter has presented a brief overview of the thesis in terms of the background, the problem, and how the thesis paper is organized The next chapter will be provided with a literature review about related reading in the issue of needs analysis in teaching and learning speaking

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter will be presented with a brief theoretical introduction about the definition of needs analysis and be also introduced related matters, which should provide teachers of English with an overall idea about their learners' needs It can also offer a look at the relationship between learners’ needs and teaching speaking English in the context of IWEP

2.1 Definition of terms

2.1.1 Definition of needs

According to Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary, seventh edition, ‘need’

is defined as ‘the things that somebody requires in order to live in a comfortable way or achieve what they want’

In that sense, ‘need’ describes an item or an ability which is so important to

a person and which he does not have or is not very good at Without it, the person cannot live a contented life; therefore, he is assumed to try his or her best to achieve the so-called ‘need’

In a linguistic context, “needs” can have different meanings; however, the common definition that most authors would agree on is that “needs” are those skills which a learner perceives as being relevant to him (Dickinson, 1991:91)

Needs can also be divided into target needs and learning needs (Hutchinson and Waters, 1996:55) It’s essential to distinguish between the two Target needs are

“what a learner needs to do in the target situation, concerning with the important area of language use like necessities, lacks, and wants On the other hand, learning needs are interpreted as what a learner needs to do in order to learn In this light, learning needs seem to be involved more with the learners’ feeling They also account for the situations of language learning, such as why learners come to

classes, what learners need to achieve, what their attitudes towards learning actually are (Hutchinson & Waters, 1996:62) Learning needs also explain how students can improve their language competence from a starting point (nearly nothing) to their destination (some achievement of the language)

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), learning needs must be considered when designing a course, not just the target needs The learning situation

is of great use and is the key to successful language teaching and learning In this respect, the learners’ knowledge, skills, strategies, and motivation should be taken into account

Learners’ needs are the gap between the starting point (where a student is now) and the final destination (where they want to get to) Understanding learners’ needs means bridging the gap in their knowledge and ability, and a set of criteria for accessing learners’ needs is needed so that they can get what they are looking for in the process of learning In other words, learners’ needs are approached from two directions; target needs and learning needs (Hutchinson and Waters, 1996:55)

Figure 1: Definition of needs

Based on Hutchinson and Water (1987:55)

2.1.2 Definition of needs analysis

Needs analysis is an information gathering process When needs analysis first appeared, it was not very much related to the field of language teaching It

came to the world of English language teaching when Tudor (1996:66) stated that

the development of a perception of need within CLT in the 1970s had a widespread

influence on needs analysis work

According to Robinson (1991:8), needs analysis is seen as the fundamental key of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Initially, most of the information on

needs analysis came from ESP (West 1994:7) Hutchinson and Waters (ibid)

support the use of needs analysis for learning purposes since there is always a perceptive need of some kind when it comes to the case of language learning

Needs analysis is considered as ‘fundamental’ to the planning of general language courses and in language curriculum planning needs analysis can be utilized as means to a number of things, such as a device for gathering input (Richards 1990:1), the helper in setting goals, objectives and content for language programme (ibid:2), provider of data for reviewing and evaluating programs (ibid), etc

A learning programme which is not relevant to the needs of learners cannot result in productive learning experience The answer to this matter can be interpreted as because need is connected with motivation, which definitely affects the learning process

According to Dudley – Evans & Jo St John (1998:125), a throughout description of needs analysis should cover several areas The first item should be

taken into consideration is target situation analysis & objective needs, which gives

some basic professional information about the learners and answers the question

“Why do learners need English?” The next item determines the wants, means,

subjective needs through which personal information of the learners is revealed, one

example is what their attitudes towards learning English are Present-situation

analysis identifies the learners’ position in terms of language competence, such as

their skills and ability to use the target language The learners’ lacks can be easily

understood as a gap between where the learners are now and whether they want to

get to, of course in terms of the language Learning needs get the idea of language learning information, such as ways to effectively learn a language What is wanted

from the course gets access to the true needs of the learners Analyzing this will

certainly be of great help in improving the learners’ method of learning And last but not least, the area that needs analysis should not ignore is the environment of the

language learning course through Means Analysis

Broadly defined, needs analysis is a procedure to collect information about learners’ needs (Richards, 2001) Needs analysis is important in several different areas, such as Specific Purpose (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) and English for Academic Purposes (Jordan, 1997), and also in general language courses espousing learner-centered curricula (Nunan, 1988; Tudor, 1996), task-based curricula (Long

& Crookes, 1992), as well as performance-assessment (Norris, Brown, Hudson, & Yoshioka, 1988)

2.2 Classification of needs analysis

Needs analysis covers a lot of different areas and can be classified into different key groups, each of which focuses on different factors contributing to a

successful language learning process Target-situation analysis (TSA) focuses on

learners’ needs at the end of the course and target level performance (Jordan, 1997: 23) What the learners wish to have at the finishing point of a language learning

course is the focus of TSA In contrast, present-situation analysis (PSA) places the

emphasis on the level of the learners at the beginning of the course, which can be determined using their ability to use the skills and language (Jordan, 1997: 24)

Another kind of need analysis is the learning-centered approaches, which put its

spotlight on the learning-centered approach In this sense, needs are grouped into three different categories: necessities, lacks, and wants (Jordan, 1997: 25)

Different from that of learning-centered approaches, the focus of strategy analysis

(SA) is the methods of learning The preferred learning styles and strategies of learners are given emphasis in this kind of needs analysis (Allwright, 1982; Nunan, 1991) So what is meant by learning style? According to Reid (1987), learning style

is the learners’ preferred way of learning, such as auditory, visual, kinesthetic /tactile In other words, learning style determines learners’ most effective learning method, whether they prefer to learn by listening to language tapes, looking at pictures, or by using their sense of touch On the other hand, learning strategy has to

do with the mental process the learners use to learn the language That is to say, how the learners use their mind to take in the language itself (Nunan, 1991: 168)

West (1994:10) also gives a focus point on the lack of learners in Deficiency

Analysis (DA) Using a three-point rating scale (as of none/ some/ a lot of) through

which the priority is set up to the necessary ‘lack’, West tried to determine what learners lack so that a relevant measure can be taken to fulfill their ‘lack’ The last

definition of needs analysis could be discussed is Means Analysis (MA) whose

focus is put on the local situation of learning – the facilities, teachers and teaching methods (Holliday & Cook 1982 cited in Jordan, 1997: 27) In this light, the underlying implication is that the better the local situation is, the better the outcome

of the learning process can be produced

2.3 Learners’ needs and improvement of their speaking skills

Needs analysis has been given a notable weight in the field of language teaching and has focused on learners’ communication needs A needs analysis conduction at the beginning of the course is seen as the determination to whether the course will be successful or not

It is a common problem that learners find it difficult to exactly state their language needs Moreover, they cannot make a difference between needs, wants,

and lacks A good teacher must be aware of the concepts and able to adjust the course to make it for the learners’ needs

This paper presents learners’ needs analysis project or approach which the researcher has studied for enhancing speaking skills in classes of intermediate level

at IWEP

When analyzing learners’ needs in terms of speaking, a clear picture of what and how students need to learn will be given and in return an enhancement to their

speaking skills will improve the situation To do so, we must look at (1) the

problems of learners when it comes to speaking English, (2) the learners’ motivation, (3) the teaching method of learner-centeredness, and (4) the use of authentic materials in teaching

2.3.1 The problems of learners of speaking skills

We have looked at the importance of speaking in the aforementioned section and that most language learners would want to improve their communication skills prior to other skills However, during the learning process problems may arise and should be carefully considered so that appropriate measures can be taken

According to Byrne (1991: 75), problems of learners regarding the speaking

skills can include linguistics, psychology, cognitive aspect, L1 (L1), personality, and

social-cultural factors In terms of linguistics, a certain problem for language

learners is that they do not know enough necessary language to express themselves

in communication The problem can involve a lack or wrong use of grammar,

vocabulary items, etc The psychology matter is related to the so-called “shyness”

This can be easily understood when you call a student to express his or her opinion

in front of the class, this is when shyness takes over him or her, and no appropriate

spoken language can be produced Cognitive aspect has something to do with the

learners’ ideas Nothing can be got out of the learners’ mouth when they do not have anything in their mind to talk about

Tackling this problem requires the teachers’ teaching competence to provide

learners with suitable ideas and topics Mother-tongue use is a terrible disaster that

may prevent learners’ progress in L2 acquisition learning According to Ur (1996: 121), learners who share the same L1 tend to use it rather than the target language

due to several reasons: L1 is easier and more natural to use In addition, personality

can strongly affect the learners’ speaking skills (Stevick, 1976; Brown, 1994; Ellis,

1994) The socio-cultural factors also enhance learners’ communicative

competence It places an emphasis on the society and the culture of the target language speaking community According to Brown (1994), learners have to learn and understand something of the culture of the speakers and of that language if they

want to successfully learn it In this sense, learners have to know when and where to

say what to whom in a social context in terms of language competence

is enthusiastic or willing to pursue and improve his performances One very simple example of motivation is the incentives such as good pay, promotion, etc given to one during his work When receiving such, they will try to work harder and more efficiently; by that he s trying to achieve his desired goals with his motivation

In the matter of language learning, Williams and Burden (1997:94) identify motivation as “a state of temporary or prolonged goal-oriented behavior which individuals actively choose to engage in” This is to see motivation as being long-termed and short-termed motivation On another hand, Gardner (1985; cited in Ellis, 1985:117) classified motivation into two types: the integrative motivation and the instrumental motivation Integrative motivation deals with the learners’ willingness

of blending with the cultures of the native-speakers’ society to become part of that speech community That shows how the word “integrative” means in the context

To give an example, people who immigrate to new countries will have this motivation Compared to integrative motivation, Brown considered instrumental motivation as the means “for attaining instrumental goals: furthering in career, reading technical material, translation” in the language learning context

It’s important that the learner motivation in learning language involves

“communicative needs”, according to Little (1995) Generally understood,

“communicative needs” is the use of language to communicate However,

“communicative needs” is interpreted differently in different language contexts If learners live in a bilingual or a multilingual community, they need to use the second

language to communicate inside the speech community On the other hand, if

learners live in a foreign language situation, for example, the learning of English in

Vietnam, the language is used mainly for communication with outsiders

The situation stated above in Vietnamese contexts can lead to the answer as

to why some learners don’t have a clear conception of themselves when they use the language to fulfill their communicative needs Since the communication is with

outsiders, learners are in circumstances which don’t require from learners’ the use

of immediate English This can be a lack of motivation in learning English

For the students, the successful application of Communicative Language

Teaching (CLT) is strongly affected by the learners’ motivation Harmer (1991, p.3) views motivation as “some kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to

pursue a course of action” Also, he classifies motivation into the two kinds which the students possess: extrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation The former, which includes integrative motivation, focuses on factors outside the classroom, instrumental motivation The latter related to those inside the classroom is affected

by factors as physical conditions, method, the teacher and success

Harmer (1991) indicates that the integrative motivation creates for the learners a strong desire to engage themselves into the target language community Learners strongly wish to know as much as possible about the culture of the target language community On the other hand, the instrumental motivation indicates learners who wish to get better language competence for practical purposes, such as

a better job, a higher position, or a higher status

Harmer (1991) also states that the intrinsic motivation plays a key role in the learners’ success or failure when learning a new language Learners who have extrinsic motivation will be significantly affected by what takes place in the classroom For those who have no extrinsic motivation, the factors that exist in the classroom affect their motivation to learning language, as well Physical conditions which include the classroom atmosphere, number of learners, light in the classroom, the board, etc can increase or decrease the learners’ motivation Of course, learners will feel better to work in a well-equipped room rather than a poorly organized one

2.3.3 Teaching method: learner-centered approach

2.3.3.1 Definition of learner-centered approach

The simplest understanding of the concept of “learner-centered approach” is that it puts an emphasis on the learners themselves Learners are the ones to take up the responsibility for the learning process themselves, not the teachers as in the traditional methods

Leaner-centeredness has put predominant and innovative changes into the teaching methods in several different areas Learners are required to be truly separate individuals, not together as a group (Ellis, 1985; Skehan, 1989; Stevick, 1976, 1981) Moreover, teaching is no longer the predominant factor in language acquisition, but the learners themselves and the learning process now gain the focus (Cotterall, 1995; Gremmo & Riley, 1995; Little, 1995) Different learning styles and different strategies are also implemented (Wenden & Rubin, 1987; Willing, 1989) Various manifestations of humanism are also considered (Asher, 1981; Underhill, 1989)

2.3.3.2 The relationship between learner-centeredness and the learners’ needs

According to McCombs and Whistler (1997), learner-centered teaching has been proven effective to help teach the students what they really need to know They also asserted that the students are well motivated and can improve their learning and performance when this method is applied Silberman (1996) claimed that one can only learn if his brain can process the information so that it can be stored and recalled In this light, a learner can keep the material he acquires during class time longer and can recall it when needed, thanks to the learner-centered approach

The learner-centered teaching method has special effects when it comes to learning a foreign language The nature of using a language involves retaining it rather more than just hearing it Therefore, the students who are engaged in a learner-centered classroom will have a chance to actively produce conversation and participate fully in the activities, for example, filling out worksheets by the teacher (Benson & Voller, 1997) The learner-centered activities put a stress on the learners and give them a chance to improve their creativity, which acts as a surprising element and a bore-killer in every lesson Thanks to that, the learners “stay engaged and willing to learn” (Tudo, 1996)

With respect to its implication in teaching speaking skills, the centered approach will fully engage the learners in the process of learning That is

learner-to say, when the students are “engaged and willing learner-to learn”, they will try their best

to participate in the lessons, and their speaking development will be results

2.3.4 Teaching authentic materials

There can be different ways to define authentic materials, but for this thesis,

Nunan’s definition seems to be adequate As Nunan (1999) defined, authentic materials are spoken or written language data which has been produced in the course of real communication He also pointed out that authentic materials are not specifically written or spoken for any purposes of language teaching There are different kinds of authentic materials, and Gebhard (1996) has given some popular

examples of authentic materials used in the language classroom Authentic listening

or viewing materials are the first kind, which learners will listen to the radio or tape

or they can watch directly on the TV screen Some examples of this kind are clips, songs, documentaries, etc The next kind of authentic material, according to

Gebhard, is authentic visual, such as slides, photographs, paintings, etc which learners are asked to look at visually One more type of authentic material is

authentic printed materials which learners are asked to read Some certain authentic

printed materials can be newspaper articles, movie advertisements, lyrics to songs,

etc Last but not least, realia (or real world objects) are the last type of authentic

materials They are of great help and can directly get the learners to understand the language, such as coins, wall clocks, phones, etc

When the use of authentic materials is employed to teach speaking, the learners are exposed to real situations where they will need to use the language naturally, and such a situation will force them to naturally get used to the situations, then the language that they are supposed to produce

2.4 Summary

This chapter has provided the theoretical background for the research The

following areas are covered: (1) definitions of terms regarding needs and needs

analysis, (2) classifications of needs analysis, (3) the role of needs analysis in

language learning and improvement of the learners’ speaking skills The next chapter will be presented with the research methodology employed for this thesis paper

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

The previous chapter has given a brief presentation on the theoretical

framework used for the development of this paper This chapter will report on the methods used to collect the necessary data to find answers to the following research question and two sub-questions:

One main question:

What are intermediate learners’ needs in improving speaking skills at IWEP? Two sub-questions:

1 What are their target needs?

2 What are their learning needs in terms of teaching approach and use

of teaching materials?

This is a descriptive study consisting basically of the questionnaires and class observations checklist The quantitative techniques employed in this study are aimed at a full analysis of the descriptive data related to questionnaires of teachers and students towards improving speaking skills In contrast, the qualitative method

is used to analyze the data collected from class observations

3.1 Research setting

The research was conducted in the period of 4 months (from 8th April 2009

to 12th August 2009) at IWEP, which is a very popular place in Ho Chi Minh City for Vietnamese learners to come and practice their English IWEP has more than 2,000 students ranging from the age of 5 to 45 with 50 night classes of different levels held each day Students have three two-period lessons every week

Most of the students and teachers had not participated in this kind of survey before They felt particularly interested in answering the questions basically based

on their needs It is a chance to improve the quality of English language teaching and learning, especially the speaking skills

3.2 Research design

The research was aimed at one hundred and twenty intermediate learners

who took evening classes at IWEP, where Let’s Talk 2, Second Edition was used as

their primary textbook for intermediate speaking classes Its purposes are to (1) understand the learners’ needs of the language learners at intermediate level, (2) apply those needs in a relation with the improvement of their speaking skills, and (3) find the suitable approaches to help improve the learners’ speaking

Concerning the technique of choosing samples, the convenience sampling

technique was taken use of, i.e the researcher chose the samples that are close to her the most Since the researcher has taught six classes at IWEP, and there were twenty students in each class, the total number of students is one hundred and twenty

The researcher conducted twenty four two-period class observations of the speaking lessons in the first place The research took detailed notes basing on a list

of questions, paying careful attention to the primary aim of the observations, which

are to (1) investigate the speaking activities of the teachers used for the learners and (2) determine the participation of the students in the lesson The observations were

done in different classes in a period of 8 weeks, that is to say, 3 observations for each week

After the observations were done, teachers’ and students’ questionnaires were designed and delivered to 120 students and all of them were kindly asked to return the questionnaires right afterwards 18 teachers of different age and

experience in teaching also had their questionnaires and were given a period of 3 days to fill them in The students’ questionnaire aimed to gather information on (1)

the language background of learners and (2) how they really wish to learn and improve their speaking Also, the teachers’ questionnaire collected the data about

(1) the preferred teaching activities of speaking and (2) the perceptions of the

teachers on the problems of speaking and ideas on how to solve them Each student

and teacher subject was carefully informed of the purpose of the research in general, and the meanings of the question items in the questionnaires so that their responses could be accurate

The data collection was done mainly through the qualitative method with the class observations and the quantitative method with the data collected from the questionnaires

With respect to data processing, the researcher employed the use of Microsoft Office Excel (the 2007 version) to process the data It was also used for drawing the figures for illustrations (i.e., pie charts and bar charts) in chapter 4 – data analysis and findings

After the data has been process, there will be an analysis drawn out to answer the research questions stated at the beginning of the chapter

3.3 Subjects

The subjects participated in this research were put into two groups: the learners and the teachers There were 120 learners and 18 Vietnamese teachers of English All of them were learning and teaching English at IWEP at the time of the research (from 8th April 2009 to 12th August 2009)

3.3.1 The learners

Most learners attending English classes at IWEP have the same purpose: to improve their English so that they can achieve academic success or satisfy society needs Coming to night classes, they are highly motivated to learn and improve their English The learners chosen for this study are at intermediate level; that is to say, they have a decent understanding of English grammar and can use English to communicate quite decently using the language, though several mistakes are noticed when they speak English

All the students attending IWEP classes have to take a placement test so that they can be grouped into the suitable classes according to their skills In other words, all the learners chosen for this study are good representatives of the so-called

“intermediate learners”

It is essential that the learning atmosphere in classes is learners-centered Learners should take up every opportunity to use the language in various activities organized by the teachers Different learning styles and different language backgrounds of learners are the common problem, since they have already studied English for a long while before coming here

3.3.2 The teachers

Most teachers in charge of intermediate classes have a good Bachelor Degree

in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Some of them have

a in Master Degree the same major All are experienced and dedicated to teaching

It is a policy at IWEP that teachers have to engage students totally in the learning process Teachers just act as a facilitator, advisor, organizer, etc during the lesson but aren’t actually responsible for the learners’ practice

3.3.3 The classes

Twenty four classes were involved in the research, all of which were at

intermediate level The primary textbook was Let’s Talk 3 and aimed at improving

the learners’ speaking skills

3.4 Instruments

The main source of data for this research comes from the learners themselves In order to get the accurate information, different kinds of instruments have been used

3.4.1 Class observation

Twenty four speaking lessons were observed during the study The observation form was used for each time the observation was conducted The observation purposes were to investigate throughout the actual activities of the teachers and the students’ participation during the lesson

The teachers were well informed of the observations beforehand The purpose of the observation was also stated clearly before the classes, which was done for getting relevant information The teachers were also advised to continue teaching in their usual way and not to change it by any means, so that the research would get the accurate information

The observation forms were presented as an appendix at the end of this research paper Several elements that need special attention during the speaking lesson are presented in the observation form under a 5-choice check-list type, which are interpreted as below:

Question 1 accesses the time for the speaking lesson which the teacher

conducted

Questions 2 – 4 determine the preferred teaching style of the teacher During

class observation, we will recognize whether the teacher did enough preparation for

the students’ speaking activities (otherwise, the students just kept silent and say nothing!), whether the teacher engaged students in pair work and group work activities, whether the teacher monitored the students during the speaking time and gave the students enough help when they needed

Questions 5 – 8 determine the activities of the students in a real speaking

lesson Their speaking ability and level of active participation in activities were well taken notice of Moreover, a lot of attention was also paid to the difficulties they had when speaking, one of which was the Vietnamese use during activities

Question 9 verifies the teaching activities of the teacher at the end of the

lesson By this, the researcher meant the correction and feedback for learners’ speaking improvement Careful observation of the post-stage was of great importance in this means

Question 10 seems to be of little use and somewhat impractical since one

may argue that we cannot access students’ improvement by how they seem to feel However, the appearance of students is also important at the end of the lesson That the students look happy and pleased means that they have got something useful out

of the speaking lesson On the other hand, when the students look bored and sleep, it’s a sign that the speaking lesson doesn’t actually give them anything useful Element 10 pays attention to the students’ achievement at the end of the lesson so that a better teaching practice can be produced later

3.4.2 Questionnaires

Both of the questionnaire versions, one for the learners themselves and one for the teachers, were written in English with questions which has several different options to choose or to write in Learners had to answer 17 questions while teachers had 11 questions to deal with The questionnaires were designed to meet two

aspects of the research: learning motivation and opinion about the learning or

teaching English in and outside the classroom

It is common that the questionnaires for learners were written in Vietnamese

to avoid misunderstanding However, the questionnaire for this research used English since the subject learners were at intermediate level, so it was an assumption that they could understand decent English writing

Specifically, the questionnaire for learners is structured as followed:

Part 1 – Personal Information:

Questions 1-5: students are asked to give their personal information such as

gender, age, the time they first studied English, and their jobs The information collected will be useful in determining the needs of learners of different genders, age groups, jobs, and English learning background

Part 2 – Learning Motivation:

Question 6 determines the reasons why learners study English; in other

words, why they have come to IWEP

Question 7 accesses learners’ most favorite English skill Four options –

listening, speaking, reading, and writing – are listed

Question 8 finds out the purposes for which students enjoy the speaking skill

This question is of great help in this research since it goes directly into the topic of research: to investigate the learners need to improve their speaking skills

Questions 9 and 10 specify the way students practice their English – how

often and when The data collected will usefully contribute to the improvement on how learners can practice their English well

Part 3 – Opinions about speaking English in and out the classroom:

Question 11 accesses learners’ ability to use English in the classroom

Question 12 confirms the situation in which learners study speaking, that is,

whether the teachers spend too much, just enough, or too little of the class time teaching speaking to learners

Questions 13-15 find out about learners’ preferred learning style These

questions will help analyze how they wish to learn, whether they enjoy role-play

activities or presentation on topics, whether they wish to do speaking activities individually, in pairs, or in groups

Question 16 asks for learners’ opinions about the difficulties they may have

when practicing speaking in class This question will give a brief overview of how students perceive the difficulties themselves, and will help teachers lessen the difficulties by providing them enough help

Question 17 accesses the most suitable method students prefer to practice English speaking

To restate, the questionnaires for students are designed to answer the one big

question in the research, which is “What do learners need in a speaking lesson?”

The questionnaire for teachers is structured as followed:

Part 1 – Personal information: teachers are asked to give their personal

information regarding their gender, qualification (Bachelor of Art – B.A., or Master

of Art – M.A.) and their teaching time (ranging from different time duration)

Part 2 – Opinions about teaching speaking English in EFL (English as a

Foreign Language) classroom

Question 5 accesses the ability of the learners; of course it has to be in the

teachers’ opinion

Question 6 finds out about the time teachers spend on speaking sessions in

class This will help to answer the question whether there are enough speaking

practice opportunities for the learners or not, based on the opinion of the teachers themselves

Questions 8 – 10 determine “how” the teachers conduct speaking lessons in

class Different speaking activities, preferred speaking organizations (pairs, groups,

or individually) are given so that teachers have a choice to reflect their experience and methods Teachers can also specify their own choice if it is not on the list

Question 11accesses the perception of teachers on the so-called difficulties

that may affect the process of learning speaking

3.5 Data collection procedure

First of all, permit for the research was obtained from the principal of IWEP so that the research can be carried out

Concerning the observation sessions, the teachers were well informed

of the observations They took place in twenty four classes in 8 weeks The researcher took detailed notes of the class activities and the students’ participation and use such as an important element to consider in designing the questionnaires

The questionnaires were given to 120 learners of different classes and

18 teachers Learners completed the questionnaires on the very same day while the teachers were given a duration of 3 days to work on them before giving them back

3.6 Summary

This chapter is presented with the methodology the researcher based on to get the information to answer the research questions given at the beginning of the research Information regarding the setting, the subject teachers and learners, and more detailed of the instruments as the observations and questionnaires were included in this chapter The data analysis and findings of such will be presented in the next chapter