The effects of online dictionaries on facilitating vocabulary learning a case study at an english center in ba ria vung tau province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA - VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY --- MASTER’S THESIS OF TESOL SECOND YEAR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AT LAM DONG MED

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

BA RIA - VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY

- MASTER’S THESIS OF TESOL

SECOND YEAR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AT LAM DONG MEDICAL COLLEGE

PHẠM MINH HIỀN Student’s code: 18110088 Supervisor: TRƯƠNG THỊ MỸ VÂN, Ph.D

BA RIA-VUNG TAU, 2021

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY

-

MASTER’S THESIS OF TESOL SECOND YEAR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AT LAM DONG MEDICAL COLLEGE

Pham Minh Hien Student’s code: 18110088 Supervisor: Trương Thi My Van, Ph.D

BA RIA-VUNG TAU, 2021

DECLARATION

The thesis titled “Second year students’ speaking competence in English for specific purposes at Lam Dong Medical College.” was conducted under the supervision of Ph.D Truong Thi My Van, senior lecturer of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Dalat University

I hereby declare that the information reported in this study is the result of my own work, except where due reference is made The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently submitted to any candidature for any other degree or diploma

Candidate’s name: Pham Minh Hien

Ba Ria – Vung Tau, 2021

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

My name is Pham Minh Hien, being a M.A candidate of Tesol at Ba Ria – Vung Tau

University I accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of my study deposited in the Library

I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established

by the Librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of theses

Candidate’s name: Pham Minh Hien

Ba Ria – Vung Tau, 2021

I acknowledge my gratitude to the lecturers of Ba Ria - Vung Tau University (BVU) for their dedication to teaching me during my study time

I would like to express my sincere thanks to my participants including my students,

my colleagues and all members of the training department of Lam Dong Medical College, without whose unconditional participation, this research could not have been completed

I am grateful to my workplace, the leaders, the board of directors, all members of Department of Medicine – Basic Science, Lam Dong Medical College for the support

of time and other favorable conditions for me to complete my thesis

Sincerely thank you!

ABSTRACT

Speaking is one of the most important skills that needs to be focused on and enhanced because it is an effective means of communication It is an important aspect to acquire when learning a second or foreign language, and the success of learning the language

is measured from the performance of learners to speak the language learned because students who can speak English well will have the self-confidence to face and even interact with English native speakers However, this skill is also considered one of the most difficult aspects of the language learning process Many students find it difficult to fully express their thoughts in English; they are afraid of communicating

in English even though they have learnt this language continuously for many years Some students understand English texts but they cannot speak English fluently I am working in the medical field in tertiary level, and I would like to focus on the challenges faced by nursing students in Lam Dong Medical College (LMC) in learning speaking English for specific purposes (ESP) classes and the factors affecting students’ speaking competence in my research The purposes of the study are to investigate the challenges and the factors affecting medical students’ learning speaking ESP The research method used in this study is qualitative Data collection instruments are surveys, interviews and class observation One hundred students of the Nursing department in Lam Dong Medical College were involved in answering a questionnaire, three interviews conducted with three nursing students and three other interviews for three groups of nursing students selected purposively in order to support the research aims The findings of the study revealed that there were several major problems and many factors affecting students’ speaking competence that hindered students' development of ESP English speaking ability and led to their low quality output in the context of LMC

Key words: Speaking skills, communicative skills, English for specific purposes, Medical English

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

ABSTRACT iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES ix

LIST OF FIGURES xi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem 2

1.3 Research Objectives of the Study 3

1.4 Research Questions 4

1.5 Scope of the research 4

1.6 Significance of the research 4

1.7 Organization of the Thesis This thesis includes 5 chapters as follows: 5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Communicative competence 7

2.1.1 Definition 7

2.1.2 Characteristics of speaking competence 9

2.1.2.1 Fluency 9

2.1.2.2 Accuracy 10

2.1.2.3 Pronunciation 10

2.1.2.4 Vocabulary 11

2.1.3 The methods of teaching English speaking skills 11

2.1.4 Factors affecting English speaking learning 15

2.1.5 The challenges of Speaking Deficiency among EFL Students 17

2.1.5.1 Linguistics problems 17

2.1.5.2 Motivation for learning 19

2.1.5.3 Psychological problems 20

2.1.5.4 The problems relating to topical knowledge 22

2.1.5.5 The environment of speaking 22

2.1.5.6 Fluency 22

2.1.5.7 Mother tongue use 23

2.1.5.8 Low or uneven participation 23

2.2 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 24

2.2.1 Definition of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and types of ESP 24

2.2.2 Characteristics of English for Specific Purposes 28

2.2.3 English for Medical Purposes (EMP) 29

2.2.4 The Problems in Teaching ESP amongst EFL Students 30

2.2.4.1 Difficulties Related to Students 31

2.2.4.2 Difficulties Related to Teachers 33

2.2.4.3 Difficulties Related to environment and others 34

2.3 Theoretical framework 35

2.4 Previous studies 36

2.4.1 Review of studies related to the speaking problems faced by EFL learners 36

2.4.2 Review of studies related to the problems faced by EFL learners in learning ESP in general and in learning English of Medical Purposes 38

2.5 Chapter summary 41

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 42

3.1 Research questions 42

3.2 Research design 42

3.3 Research site 43

3.4 Research participants 44

3.4.1 The students 44

3.4.2 The teachers 45

3.5 Research instruments 45

3.5.1 Questionnaire 46

3.5.2 The semi-structured interview 47

3.5.3 Class observation 49

3.6 Data analysis methods 50

3.7 Chapter Summary 51

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 52

4.1 Research question 1: What are the challenges faced by the second-year students at Lam Dong Medical College in English speaking classes? 52

4.1.1 The description of ESP teaching and learning at Lam Dong Medical College 52

4.1.2 The challenges in teaching and learning ESP English speaking skill in Lam Dong Medical College 54

4.1.2.1 The quality of admissions on the training process 54

4.1.2.2 Motivation on studying speaking skills in ESP classrooms 54

4.1.2.3 Psychological issues 54

4.1.2.4 The abuse of the mother tongue in ESP speaking 55

4.1.2.5 Students’ speaking abilities 56

4.1.2.6 Other problems students faced when learning ESP speaking skills 58

4.2 Research Question 2: What are the factors affecting the students’ English speaking competence? 62

4.2.1 Mass entry admission 62

4.2.2 Perceptions of teaching and learning Medical English 63

4.2.3 Unreasonable distribution of training programs 64

4.2.4 Little time being spent on studying speaking medical English 65

4.2.5 Time to self - study medical English of students 66

4.2.6 Teaching and testing methods of lecturers 68

4.2.7 Textbooks and materials 70

4.2.8 Facilities for teaching and learning specialized English 73

4.3 Chapter summary 73

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION 74

5.1 Conclusions 74

5.2 Implications 75

5.2.1 Recommend for administrators 75

5.2.2 Recommend for teachers 75

5.2.3 Recommend for students 75

5.3 Limitation of the research 77

5.4 Suggestions for further research 77

REFERENCES 79

APPENDICES 89

APPENDIX A: QUESTIONAIRES 89

APPENDIX B: SEMI – STRUCTURED INTERVIEW 99

APPENDIX C: CLASS OBSERVATION 101

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Components of Communicative Competence 8

Table 2.2: Some common methods of teaching English speaking 12

Table 2.3: The factors that influence the learning of English 15

Table 2.4: The Problems of Speaking Deficiency amongst EFL Students 24

Table 2.5: The characteristics of ESP 28

Table 2.6: The main speaking problems during the process of teaching and learning English speaking skills 37

Table 2.7: The problems faced by EFL learners in learning English of Medical Purposes 39

Table 2.8: The problems and the recommendations of solutions in the Teaching of English in medicine 40

Table 4.1: The challenges faced by LMC students in learning speaking Medical English 61

Table 5.1: Some solutions to improve the quality of teaching and learning speaking skill in the Medical English Course of LMC 76

LIST OF GRAPHS

Graph 4.1: The students’ Perception on their issues in ESP Classes 56

Graph 4.2: Students' communicative ability in ESP classroom 57

Graph 4.3: Students' levels of speaking skills of Medical English in the nursing department 60

Graph 4.4: Comparison of student results of learning speaking Medical English in 3 consecutive academic years 61

Graph 4.5: Survey result of staff and lecturers on the importance of studying 63

Medical English 63

Graph 4.6: Student survey results of importance of studying Medical English 64

Graph 4.7: Survey results of lecturers, staff and students on appropriate level of duration of Medical English training 65

Graph 4.8: Students' time to learn to speak specialized English 66

Graph 4.9: Time to study Medical English of students 67

Graph 4.10: Evaluation of teaching methods of speaking skills in ESP classroom 69 Graph 4.11: Resources for specialized English learning 71

Graph 4.12: Survey on facilities for studying specialized English 73

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 2.1 The Tree of ELT (Adapted from Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p 17)) 27 Fig.2.2 The conceptual framework 36

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT Communicative Language Teaching

EFL English as a Foreign Language

EMP English for Medical Purposes

ESL English as a Second Language

ESP English for Specific Purposes

GE General English

LMC Lam Dong Medical College

TPLT Task Based Language Teaching

TPR Total Physical Responses

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Language is a very essential instrument that enables speakers to state their existence and others ask something, express agreement and refusal For this reason, oral language or speaking is regarded as of utmost importance to language learners Achieving fluency in oral communication is the main dream and the main motivation which a large number of learners bring to language classes (Richards &Renandya, 2002) Bailey and Savage (1994) states that speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills Most people learn a language to have a goal of being able to speak so that they can communicate well in that language Thus, the demand for speaking fluently is higher than that of other language skills

English is considered as a global language and thus both the West and the East have become equally busy promoting this language (Imam, 2005) English has become the international language used in business, technological and academic communication This trend of English globalization, as a worldwide phenomenon, makes it necessary

to communicate with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds Nowadays, the majority of English users can be found in countries where the language is employed as a foreign or second language Effective use of English as a second language (ESL) or foreign language (EFL) in oral communication is one of the most common but also highly complex activities people need to learn for their interpersonal communication English speaking skill requires speakers to use the authentic language where it means that students need to use the language in any occasions or when communicating with the other students in an academic context When students speak, they construct ideas in words, express their perceptions, their

feelings, and their intentions, so that the interlocutors grasp the meaning of what they mean

It is not surprising that to Vietnamese students, the English language is very essential

to the development of their country in general and their city in particular They are aware of the crucial role of this international language which plays an increasingly important role in the development of science, technology, politics, economics, culture and international relations Good speaking skills in English will be very helpful for students in daily communication and in finding good jobs at big companies and multi-national corporations that have been invested in Vietnam English speaking skills are considered as a tool to work effectively Therefore, the demand for teaching and learning English, especially English for specific purposes is rising, not only for communication purposes

English for specific purposes (ESP) has been developed worldwide since the 1960s and it is receiving a lot of attention, especially in universities In different countries, the specialized English also develops at different levels In Vietnam, teaching of ESP has been applied for a long time and has become an important subject in the training program at universities, colleges and professional secondary schools to meet the needs of improving the learners' expertise However, according to Vietnam Department of Higher Education, teaching and learning English for specific purposes

in Vietnam are still ineffective and has not met the society’s needs Along with that trend of development, ESP has also been taught and studied at Lam Dong Medical College (LMC) in order to equip students with professional knowledge in English, meeting the professional needs, as well as the needs of communication, information exchange, study, research or working with foreigners

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Regarding medical students in general, and students in LMC in particular, they are aware of the essential role of English in their future jobs In the future, students in Lam Dong Medical College can work as pharmacists or nurses in a popular city of

tourism – Da Lat, so it is necessary for them to use English to help foreign tourists who are their patients or customers They need English to communicate with foreigners to find out their health problems and then help them to take care of their health Furthermore, English language is one of their most valuable resources in the labor market Practically, the better medical students in LMC can use English, specially ESP, the more opportunities they will have to apply for a good job with a high salary in Vietnam or abroad However, many students in LMC don’t like English because they are not good at this language They learn English because it is one of the modules in the training program They feel afraid of learning English, they feel shy when their lecturers ask them to practice speaking English, they do not want to actively participate in English classes and do not want to give the contribution to the classes The students in Lam Dong Medical College seem to face many challenges in learning English in general and in learning speaking skills in ESP in particular Therefore, this study makes an effort to find out the challenges and the factors affecting in learning English speaking in ESP classrooms of the medical students in this context

1.3 Research Objectives of the Study

Speaking is not only one of the most important skills that need to be focused on and enhanced because it is an effective means of communication but also is one of the most difficult aspects of the language learning process One researcher states,

“Although speaking is considered a main language skill that students should improve,

it has been widely noticed that they face many difficulties in speaking English” (Samira, 2014, p.22) Enhancing the quality of teaching and learning speaking English, specially English for specific purposes, for non-English major students at universities and colleges throughout the country is an issue that draws great attention from educators There have been many English language researchers, lecturers, articles, research papers and books about the challenges of learning a foreign language, as well as in learning speaking skills to language learners This study does

the same, but aims at non-English major students in the medical field in Vietnam It

is designed to investigate the possible challenges of teaching and learning speaking skills in ESP medical classrooms at a college in Lam Dong province, Viet Nam and the factors affecting students’ speaking skills

1.4 Research Questions

This study is designed to have insights about the possible challenges in learning speaking skills in ESP classroom of Lam Dong Medical College students It is planned to address the following questions:

1 What are the challenges faced by the second-year students at Lam Dong Medical College in English speaking classes?

2 What are the factors affecting the students’ English speaking competence?

1.5 Scope of the research

This study focuses only on one skill in learning ESP, speaking skills, and two aspects which include the challenges and the factors affecting in learning speaking skills of medical students Besides, the research only concentrates on the speaking skills of the second-year nursing students of Lam Dong Medical College, the study does not cover all students of the college

1.6 Significance of the research

This study is hoped to shed light into the challenges that medical students in a Vietnamese context may encounter in learning speaking skills in ESP classrooms and the factors affecting the students’ English speaking competence The identification of the challenges and the underlying factors can be helpful for the teachers and students,

as well as for the college authority to look for solutions or adjustments to improve the quality of teaching and learning of this subject This can be also a reference source for those teachers who are interested in teaching ESP at other medical institutions

1.7 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis includes 5 chapters as follows:

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Chapter 2 presents the theoretical background of some previous studies and it is composed of 2 main sections: Communicative competence and English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

Chapter 3: Methodology

Chapter 3 describes research methodology employed in this study, which consists of research questions, research design, research site, research participants, research instruments and data analysis procedures This chapter accesses the designed methods of collecting, analyzing, and illustrating the data to answer the research questions

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion

Chapter 4 reveals the findings and discussions of the study according to the research questions This chapter presents results of the collected data from questionnaire, semi-structured interview and class observation and then analysis and discussions are taken place The findings are presented and then discussions of the findings are provided

Chapter 5: Conclusions

The last chapter is composed of a summary of research findings, as well as an explanation about unavoidable limitations of the thesis and suggestions for further

field-related studies Ultimately, suggestions for further studies are put forward It also recommends some theoretical and pedagogical implications and concludes the study

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents an overview of related studies investigating speaking skills and the importance of the speaking competence, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and some contents related to ESP, the methods of teaching speaking skills, the widespread problems of speaking deficiency among students in non-English speaking countries, some problems encountered by students in learning ESP speaking The literature review presents results of both foreign studies and Viet Nam’s that discuss the issues

in learning EFL speaking skills in ESP classrooms from teachers as well as students’ perspectives

2.1 Communicative competence

2.1.1 Definition

Hymes (1971) believes that L2 learners need to know not only the linguistic knowledge, but also the culturally acceptable ways of interacting with others in different situations and relationships According to Hymes's belief, communicative competence is concerned both how grammar/lexis is managed and the socio-cultural rules of appropriate language use Canale and Swain (1980) suggest that communicative competence consist of four components:

- Linguistic competence (knowing how to use the grammar, syntax and vocabulary of a language)

- Sociolinguistic competence (knowing how to use and respond to language appropriately, given the setting, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating)

- Discourse competence (knowing how to interpret the larger context and how

to construct longer stretches of language so that the parts make up a coherent whole)

- Strategic competence (knowing how to recognize and repair communication breakdowns, how to work around gaps in one's knowledge of the language, and how

to learn more about the language in the context)

These components reflect the use of linguistic system and the functional aspects of communication Probably the most difficult competence to acquire is sociolinguistic which is concerned with choosing the right words for the situation Sociolinguistic competence differentiates between a good speaker and a native-like speaker This aspect often differs greatly from culture to culture and errors can often make a speaker sound rude, arrogant or just strange

This definition of communicative competence has become canonical in applied linguistics However, not everyone agrees with it Some linguists see lexical and grammatical competence as separate components whereas discourse and strategic competences are considered as subsections of sociolinguistic competence Table 2.1 below summarizes some components of communicative competence

Table 2.1: Components of Communicative Competence

Discourse

competence

- The rules of cohesion and coherence are very important in each discourse, whether formal or informal to hold the communication together in a meaningful way

Sociolinguistic

Factors

To enable learners to use target language which is socially and culturally acceptable by native users

To speak effectively and appropriately, EFL learners should:

- know both the knowledge of language and the culture of the native speakers

- figure out the sociolinguistic sides of language which help them distinguish appropriate comments, how to ask questions during interaction, and how to respond nonverbally according to the aim of the talk

comprehension problems

- the ability to make up for faulty knowledge of linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discourse rules

Interaction Spoken language usually has two functions: interactional and

transactional Much of our daily communication are interactional in order to keep social relationships and to pass information and ideas

This table is synthesized from Scarcella& Oxford (1992), Richards & Renandya (2002), Berns (1990), Rivers (1987)

Speaking is one of many forms of communicative competence According to Nolasco (1987), speaking ability is not fluent speaking but conversation Speaking competence means conversation ability or conversation skill It performs mutual interdependent, interactive nature of conversation

2.1.2 Characteristics of speaking competence

Based on the definitions of communicative competence, speaking competence also has its own characteristics In a major study, Brown (2001) proposed four various aspects of speaking competence namely fluency, accuracy, pronunciation, and vocabulary Both fluency and accuracy are important criteria of communicative proficiency There are many different definitions of accuracy and fluency which are concerned and so closely related that they are inseparable

2.1.2.1 Fluency

The first characteristic of speaking performance is fluency and it is the main aim of teachers in teaching speaking skills Fluency is defined as the ability to speak communicatively, fluently and accurately According to Hughes (2002), fluency is the learners’ ability to speak in understandable way in order not to break down

communication because listeners may lose their interest Fluency usually refers to express oral language freely without interruption Hedge (2000) expresses that fluency is the ability to answer coherently by connecting the words and phrases, pronouncing the sounds clearly, and using stress and intonation In teaching and learning process, if the teacher wants to check students’ fluency, the teacher allows students to express themselves freely without interruption Then, its aim is to help all students speak fluently and easily

2.1.2.2 Accuracy

The second characteristic of speaking performance is accuracy Generally, accuracy

is the ability to produce correct sentences using correct grammar and vocabulary in natural interaction (Brown, 2001) It means that accuracy is gained by allowing the speaker to focus on the elements of grammar, phonology In other words, it refers to the ability to produce grammatically correct sentences while fluency refers to the quality or condition of being able to speak or write a language or perform an action smoothly, accurately and easily Accuracy is the basis of fluency while fluency is a further improvement of a person's linguistic competence and a better revelation of his/her communicative competence Along with speaking fluency, oral accuracy has been the focus of foreign language teaching methods so far Teachers should emphasize accuracy in their teaching process The aspect of accuracy in the speaking class is set by providing opportunities for the learners to be engaged in the context of daily life Communicative tasks and activities such as conversation, role play, games, debates, etc should be given to students because those kinds of activities can engage the learners in the natural interaction process whenever possible

2.1.2.3 Pronunciation

The third aspect of speaking skills is related to pronunciation Having a good pronunciation, the language can be helpful in a normal communication (Derwing and Munro,2005) Pronunciation is the way for students to produce clearer language when

have good pronunciation and intonation even though they have limited vocabulary and grammar Thornbury (2005) declares that pronunciation is the lowest level of knowledge learners typically pay attention to In order to speak English language accurately, learners should master phonological rules and they should be aware of the various sounds and their pronunciations Learners should also know the stress, intonation, pitch, rhythm, phrasing, and even gesture, body language and eye contact All of these elements help learners speak the English language easily and effectively

2.1.2.4 Vocabulary

And the last aspect of speaking skills is vocabulary It is one of the important aspects

in learning a foreign language People will have a limited understanding in terms of speaking, reading, listening, and writing with limited vocabulary One researcher states that without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed (Willis,1990) Someone cannot communicate effectively to express ideas in both oral and written forms without having a sufficient vocabulary Vocabulary is essential for successful second language use because without an extensive vocabulary, we will be unable to use the structure and function we may have learnt for comprehensible communicative It can be said that the power of words

is one key success in communication To gain accuracy in terms of vocabulary means

to select suitable words in the suitable contexts Learners sometimes apply similar words or expressions in various contexts which do not mean similar things Therefore, learners should be able to use words and expressions correctly

2.1.3 The methods of teaching English speaking skills

There are many methods of teaching English in general and methods of teaching English speaking skills in particular, such as Communicative language teaching, Direct method, Task-based language teaching, Audio-lingual method, etc All teaching methods have certain advantages, but which method to apply, at what time and what activities to achieve the highest efficiency are the art of teaching of each

teacher in class The effective teaching methods and suitable activities organized in English classes are good opportunities for students to practice speaking skills Teaching activities and learning tasks must be cleverly designed to create the most opportunities for students to improve their speaking skills

The definitions and the advantages, the disadvantages of some common methods of teaching English speaking are presented in table 2.2 below

Table 2.2: Some common methods of teaching English speaking

- Teachers are often native speakers or have strong

foreign language skills, often using pictures or

opinions to explain new words, often related to

modern living situations,

- Grammar rules are avoided

- There is emphasis on good pronunciation

-Students have a lot of language exposure conditions

- Students apply the language learned in real communication in the target language -It is good for multicultural students

-No dealing with feelings of students -Explanation is time consuming -Teachers have to prepare many materials for teaching

-No structure, no controlled presentation of vocabulary or grammar

Audio-Lingual Method:

-Learning a language means acquiring habits

-There is much practice of dialogues of every

situation

- Provides ‘contextualized’ language practice in

true-to-life situations including dialogue with a

wide variety of activities to help maintain interest,

and makes extensive use of visuals

-Emphasizes teaching through oral presentation

prior to written presentation

- Teaching materials are scientifically and systematically

prepared

- Students enjoy learning the target language because the teaching materials are specially designed

to interest students, avoiding boring passages

-No dealing with feelings of students

-Cannot be successful in the absence of a qualified, trained, inventive and resourceful teacher

Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT)

-Offers students opportunities to use the language

they already have to actively engage in

communication in order to achieve a goal or

complete a task

-The focus of the teaching is on the completion of

a task which in itself is interesting to the learners

- Makes the performance of meaningful tasks

central to the learning process

-Students tend to be active and participate with great motivation towards tasks and activities in a TBL environment

-Learners communicate through interaction in the target language

- Learners are able to display and produce meaningful interaction

on a given topic

- Everyone works together and assesses the whole outcome of the lesson

-Three stages of a TBL lesson enable students

to explore previous and new features of

language

-TBLT emphasizes too much on tasks and

communicating meaning and this could have an impact on how to use the language with the correct form

-There is little correction of errors

Total Physical Responses (TPR)

- The method stresses the importance of aural

comprehension

- The process of learning a foreign language is like

the process of perceiving the mother tongue of a

child, they also go through the "silence" period,

that is, they sense the sound, the complicated

structures before speaking

- Understanding the structure is made easier if

students are perceived by the specific actions of

those around them

- The structures used are mostly in the form of

final commands

-Reducing the stress which people feel when studying the foreign language

-Allowing learners to speak when they are ready

-Language learning is fun and enjoyable through funny commands and humorous skits -It could be used in mix ability class

-It takes many lessons to perform this method and see the result

- It is more complicated to explain at higher level

-It is a challenge for shy students

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

-An approach to language teaching methodology

that emphasizes authenticity, interaction,

student-centered learning, task-based activities, and

communication for the real world, meaningful

purposes

-The purpose of learning and teaching is to

achieve communicative grammar, which means

gaining the ability to not only apply grammar rules

to form correct sentences but also know how to

use the right time, right place, right opposites

satisfy three requirements: fluency, accuracy, and

appropriately

- The focus is to enable learners to communicate

effectively and appropriately in the various

situations they would be likely to find themselves

in

-Teachers often design programs based on the

need analysis of learners

- The content of CLT courses are functions such as

inviting, suggesting, complaining or notions such

as the expression of time, quantity, location

- Class activities are closely linked with the use of

language, through which students master the

communication strategies

- Skills such as listening, speaking, reading and

writing are conducted interwoven rather than

separately

- Learning the language is really a creative

process, accepting mistakes

-Learners play an active role in the class, learn what they want and consider necessary

-Emphasizes the students' use of foreign languages, learning awareness without encouraging memorization, the ability to present problems fluently

- Due to the emphasis on meaning and ability to present problems well, teachers often overlook errors

This table is based on Celce-Murcia (1991), Brown (2001), Richards and Platt (1992), Nunan (2004), Harmer (2007), Skehan (2003) and Seedhouse (1999)

In general, it can be seen that there is no one optimal method for all cases Each method has certain advantages and disadvantages Teachers need to be able to select, synthesize and exploit to harmonize the use of methods so that they are appropriate for the subjects being taught Harmer (1984) believes that effective speaking activities

organized in the classroom not only help students practice speaking skills, but also motivate and stimulate learning for students

2.1.4 Factors affecting English speaking learning

Some students learn a new language more quickly and more successfully than others because of their sheer determination, hard work and persistence However, there are other crucial factors influencing success that are largely beyond the control

of the learner These factors determine the speed and facility with which the new language is learned According to Lightbown, Patsy, and Spada (2013), and Macaro, Ernesto (2010), these factors can be broadly categorized as internal and external and presented in table 2.3 below:

Table 2.3: The factors that influence the learning of English

The factors that influence the learning of English Internal

Age: Children, who already have solid literacy skills in their own

language, seem to be in the best position to acquire a new language efficiently Motivated, older learners can be very successful too, but usually struggle to achieve native-speaker-equivalent pronunciation and intonation

Personality: Introverted or anxious learners usually make slower

progress, particularly in the development of oral skills More outgoing students will not worry about the inevitability of making mistakes They will take risks, and thus will give themselves much more practice

Motivation: Both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are

significant factors They have been found to correlate strongly with educational achievement Clearly, students who enjoy language learning and take pride in their progress will do better than those who don't

Experiences: Learners who have acquired general knowledge and

experience are in a stronger position to develop a new language than those who haven't

Native language: Students who are learning a second language which is

from the same language family as their first language have, in general, a much easier task than those who aren't

Cognition: In general, it seems that students with greater cognitive

abilities (intelligence) will make the faster progress According to Levelt (1989), the speaking processes include conceptualization (information can be selected to express the meaning), formation (the speaker figures out proper words which use in appropriate grammatical structure), and articulation (the speaker produces the speech with his articulatory organs) Since all the three processes happen simultaneously, it is possible for learners to make mistakes especially in face-to-face communication Therefore, their speaking maybe filled with "hesitation, false-starts, grammatical inaccuracies, and limited vocabulary" (Hughes, 2002, p 77) Besides, it is difficult to focus on everything at the same time because human's mind is a "limited capacity processor" (McLaughlin & Heredia,

1996, p 214) Over-focus on fluency may cause the lack of accuracy, and too much emphasis on accuracy may lead to the lack of fluency (Skehan& Foster, 1999)

Curriculum: It is important that the totality of ESL students’ educational

experience is appropriate for their needs Language learning is less likely

to take place if students are fully submersed into the mainstream program without any extra assistance or, conversely, not allowed to be part of the mainstream until they have reached a certain level of language proficiency

Instruction: Students will make faster learning progress if their language

teachers are better than others at providing appropriate and effective learning experiences for them in their classrooms

Motivation (extrinsic): Students who are given continuing, appropriate

encouragement to learn by their teachers and parents will generally fare better than those who aren't For example, students from families that place little importance on language learning are likely to progress less quickly

Culture and status: There are some evidence that students in situations

where their own culture has a lower status than that of the culture in which they are learning the language make slower progress

Access to native speakers: The opportunity to interact with native

speakers both within and outside of the classroom is a significant advantage Native speakers are linguistic models and can provide appropriate feedback

2.1.5 The challenges of Speaking Deficiency among EFL Students

Speaking skills in a second or foreign language is a challenge for the learners, because

to speak a foreign language such as English requires not only more than knowing grammar but also the use of English in a real context Hayriye (2006) states that speaking is to select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting, audience, situation, and subject matter Being a fluent speaker requires much knowledge towards the language learnt itself and its usage in the real communication Having the same ideas, Celce-Murcia and Olshtain (2000) also believe that in many respects, speaking is considered as the most difficult skill to comprehend and achieve, because it requires learners to integrate many skills, using vocabulary, choosing appropriate words, using grammar and needing social knowledge related to the topic

of practice, etc Therefore, it can be affirmed that there are many factors affecting the development of students’ speaking skills, there are many speaking problems that make someone lack speaking competence The following presents some main problems

2.1.5.1 Linguistics problems

According to Spolsky&Hult (2008), generally linguistics comprises the details of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation The training and communication process requires learners to have a rich vocabulary, good listening ability and the application

of appropriate grammar structures According to some researchers, there are some typical learner’s problems in speaking, they are some linguistics problems that affect someone in speaking, such as poor use of grammar, lack of vocabulary and pronunciation or failure to recognize English sounds (Richards, 2008); linguistics problems actually serve as one of the important reasons that make students speaking competence become poor (Doris and Jessica, 2007) These problems may become the obstacles for the students to enhance and improve their speaking ability If students are poor in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation or they do not have appropriate listening skills and certain knowledge about grammatical structures, the process of

learning and practicing speaking skills will be much more difficult Students are not only demanded to use grammar correctly or having good pronunciation and vocabulary, they are also demanded to have the knowledge of how to use the language

a) Vocabulary: The problems of vocabularies occur when someone is lack of

vocabulary needed to talk and does not know how combine the vocabularies into a good sentence English vocabulary helps speakers convey the right thoughts and content to be exchanged Khan (2005) once again states that the numbers of students who learn English as a foreign language have difficulties to use words and expressions to speak In addition, Doris and Jessica (2007) also share that in the real communication, nobody pays much attention to the correct grammar expression, but emphasize the content and how to reply Students clearly know what they are going

to say in the source language, but when they have to switch the language itself into the target language such as English, they often get confused to combine and use the proper vocabularies needed

b) Grammar: Grammar is a study in which sentences are structured and formatted

and affect the process of establishing sentences in verbal communication in a concise, easy-to-understand and effective way Grammar is seen as an important component

of communicative competence If learners do not know the rules of grammar, they will never be able to communicate using English effectively Moreover, grammar helps students to convert hidden semantics from special structures, without having to use words and lengthy explanations In addition, speakers can identify their own ability to speak English through accumulated linguistic knowledge (Thornbury, 2000) However, according to Celce-murcia (2001) grammar becomes difficult because learners do not learn structures one at a time; errors may appear when the students speak since they have not mastered the English grammar

c) Pronunciation: English has become a language which connects people all over the

world The second or foreign language learners are also demanded to speak English

naturally like native speakers According to Hinkel (2005), a second language learner needs to master the individual characteristics of the sound of a new language Furthermore, it will be good for the students to be able to speak naturally like the native-speaker itself Burns (2003) points out that it is more important that the English speakers can achieve: a) Intelligibility (the speakers produce sound patterns that are recognizable as English), b) Comprehensibility (the listeners are able to understand the meaning of what is said), c) Interpretability (the listener is able to understand the purpose of what is said) Pronunciation is as important as any other aspects of foreign language learning like syntax or vocabulary Correct pronunciation is very necessary

to develop speaking skill Pronunciation also has close connections to the other fields such as listening and even grammar Once a person can pronounce correctly the endings of the words, for example, he can at the same time give grammatical information (Burns, 2003)

2.1.5.2 Motivation for learning

According to Reece and Walker (2003), “Motivation is a key factor in successful learning A less able student who is highly motivated can achieve greater success than the more intelligent student who is not well motivated” (p.78) It is obvious that motivation is an important factor in the success of teachers' teaching and learning process of students Students who have a good and clear motivation will make greater efforts in learning and practicing, will tend to overcome learning difficulties, will be more interested in learning, be active in the activities organized by teachers and will

be able to improve foreign language skills in general, and English communication ability in particular In reality, however, many students who do not have rich vocabulary and no effective practice methods gradually lose their passion and love to learn to speak; since then, they often neglect learning, become passive when going to class and have no motivation to practice speaking skills They often feel bored in learning English, especially in practicing their speaking and communication skills,

then students tend to self-assess that they have "poor" foreign language skills, and do not want to make efforts in learning to speak that foreign language

2.1.5.3 Psychological problems

Psychology is the science or the study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interaction with the environment Xinghua (2007) states that psychological problems are those problems which often interfere in your emotional and physical health, the relationships, work productivity, or life adjustment such as nervousness, lack of self- confidence and hesitation of speaking These psychological problems may become a barrier for the students to become good English speakers and these may affect students’ performance in their speaking They may bring negative effects towards students’ speaking performance Therefore, if the students themselves do not believe that they are able to speak, it has become a big problem for them As Lawtie (2004s) states that speech difficulties can be affected

by a person’s emotional state, speech is often clearer when a person is feeling confident and relaxed, and this is one of the most important factors to consider when communicating with people who have speech difficulties Most foreign language students experience frustration of not being able to participate in speaking activities Most of them and perhaps some of the teachers believe that oral communication problems can be solved through more practices in vocabulary and structure Learning and using language in a foreign context is strongly connected to the learner’s constructions of self (Arnold, 2000) In fact, achieving fluency in speaking is not easy Hinkel (2005) claims that communication problems occur because the learners encounter a word they do not understand, a form of word they do not know how to use, or find that they are unable to express their intended meaning Khan (2005) asserts in his research that some of his participants have psychological problems which affect their speaking performance These problems originate from a lack of self-confidence and anxiety Learners may confront with certain feelings that affect

their speaking competence such as being unconfident, shy, anxious, nervous, and worried

a) Lack of Self-Confidence: Self-confidence is knowing that we have the capacity to

do something good and having positive thinking According to Elliot (1998), concept

of self-confidence relates to self-assuredness in one’s personal judgment, ability, power, etc, which sometimes is manifested excessively Good self-confidence comes from a focus on the self (self-consciousness) Lack of self-confidence can be made-

up of several different aspects such as guilty feeling, shyness, unrealistic expectations

of perfection, false sense of humility, fear of change or making mistakes, depression, etc Depression can actually be a result of a lack of self - confidence Lack of self-confidence becomes a big problem which affects students’ speaking performance It may bring the students into a threat of believing that they are not going to be a good English speaker It is difficult for the students to master English speaking if they are not confident with their own speaking ability Hence, for improving second language skills, students should practice more First, they should improve their general vocabulary and after that they should listen to simple sentence to complex sentences, then they should read simple stories and sometimes memorize them With listening and speaking student should be more confident (Chastain, 1988) Furthermore, students should spend more time on speaking English in their daily life because the use of L1 language is too often in the classroom and there are few opportunities to use English in everyday life, in a living environment, which makes students less confident and find it difficult to develop sufficient ability to speak English

b) Anxiety: Generally, anxiety refers to a transitory emotional state or condition

characterized by feeling of tension and apprehension and heightened nervous system activity (Spielberger, 1972), a state that can have negative and positive effects, and which motivates and facilitates or disrupts cognitive actions such as learning In this case, the students may end up with nothing to say towards their interlocutors or the audiences They may confront certain feelings such as being nervous, anxious, worry,

shy, feeling afraid or fearing that something worse will happen whether they are trying to speak better or not Students themselves have to realize their own psychological problems and they also have to deal with their own anxiety states Hence, they can speak English better in the future

2.1.5.4 The problems relating to topical knowledge

Teachers choose a topic that is not suitable for students so they do not have enough information to talk about this topic Baker and Westrup (2003) support this idea and argue that it is very difficult for students to tell what teachers require while they have almost no knowledge about what will be said, about what vocabulary to choose to express or how to use grammar correctly

2.1.5.5 The environment of speaking

According to Jabeen (2013), “the first causes that makes the students difficult in speaking English is that the environment does not support the students to speak English frequently” (p.34) This statement seems to be consistent with those of Hafsaand Aban (2016) who found out that learners do not get any chance either in the class room or outside to speak English then there is also lack of exposure to authentic English language environments that allow them to use English for communication and expression Learning to speak also demands a lot of practice and attention She also added that the students want to show off when they speak English for daily conversation but the response that they get makes them lose their self-confidence to improve their speaking Since the students do not want to be rejected

by the people around them, so they use their native language in daily conversation That makes the students unable to communicate in English fluently outside the class

2.1.5.6 Fluency

Oral fluency is one of the characteristics of speaking competence It is an important, but elusive for many foreign language learners In countries where English is not widely spoken outside the classroom, learners of English as a foreign language often

build a substantial knowledge about the language through study of its grammar and vocabulary, but have difficulty in developing oral proficiency because they lack exposure to the language, and experience using it For such learners, fluency is perhaps the major speaking problem they encounter Their speech tends to be slow,

hesitant, and full of repetitions and self-corrections (Schemitt, 2010)

2.1.5.7 Mother tongue use

According to Ur (1996), one of the difficult problems is that students use their native language during the practice of speaking English because it helps them to present an idea more easily and they have more ideas to say And the reason why students like using their mother tongue in English classes is that when teachers ask them to talk about a topic that they do not have enough knowledge to present, they will try to use their mother tongue instead of English to express the topic They find it easier and more natural to talk to each other in their native language If teachers do not remind them to speak in English, they will automatically use their own language to explain everything related to the topic for other classmates to listen to Regarding solution for this issue, Kannan (2009) explains that all problems pertaining to speaking EFL will

be resolved when teachers give attention to each learner individually Teachers should motivate students to participate and to speak in English only Lots of practice must

be given to learners Furthermore, the atmosphere of the classroom should be friendly and appealing Kannan concludes that extra attention and coaching must be given to slow learners However, the great number of students in one classroom can hinder this solution

2.1.5.8 Low or uneven participation

The other problem in the classroom that Ur (1996) mentions is that the percentage of students who participate in activities is very low In a large class of students, each student often has very little time to participate in communicative activities because there is only one speaker at a time and other students have to listen In fact, there are some students who participate in communicative activities very well and they can be active all the time while others just speak a little, sometimes even never say anything

The speaking problems that hinder students’ speaking ability are summarized in Table 2.4 following

Table 2.4: The Problems of Speaking Deficiency amongst EFL Students

The Problems of Speaking Deficiency amongst EFL Students

Linguistics problems - lack of vocabulary needed to talk

- not knowing how combine the vocabularies into a good sentence

- lack of knowledge of grammar

- unable to pronounce correctly Motivation for learning - lack of a good and clear motivation

Psychological problems - lack of self-confidence

- being anxious The problems of the students’

attitude toward language

- being too shy to speak

The problems relating to topical

knowledge

- having no motive to express themselves

The environment of speaking - not getting many chances to speak English

Fluency

Mother tongue use - tending to overuse their mother tongue

Low or uneven participation - having few chances to speak in class

2.2 English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

2.2.1 Definition of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and types of ESP

There are a lot of definitions of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) that have been suggested by the researchers in language According to McDonough (1984), ESP was defined as “courses where the syllabus and materials are determined in all essentials

by the prior analysis of the communication needs of the learner” (p 3) and ESP was

a kind of teaching activity with its own range of “emphases and priorities” (p 4)

Lorenzo (2005) has defined that ESP focuses more at the contextual situation rather than on teaching and learning of grammatical structures and rules of language (p.1) Robinson’s (1991) definition of ESP is based on two assumptions: that ESP is normally “goal-directed”, and that ESP courses are developed from a need analysis The need analysis determines students’ goals with respect to their English language abilities and the courses are developed based upon this, creating a homogenous classroom Dudley Evans and Johns (1991) have claimed that ESP is “the careful research and design of pedagogical materials and activities for an identifiable group

of adult learners within a specific learning context” (p 298) Hutchinson and Waters (1992) defined English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as a language learning approach based on learners’ needs They have rationalized that ESP is an approach and not a product, “in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning” (p 19) In the other studies, Far (2008, p.3) claims that “ESP is

as recognizable activity within the broader professional framework of English language teaching (ELT), with implications for the design of syllabuses and materials

as well as its presentation and then evaluation.” Đỗ and Cái (2010) suggest that ESP

is English courses based on survey results and needs analysis in order to determine the specific activities that students have to do as well as the final goal they have to achieve

Based on these definitions, it can be said that each ESP class is different, learners have various needs and purposes for studying, they pursue their own specific goals and ESP can be inferred to be an English course of which the syllabi, the textbooks and materials are adjusted to learners’ desires and purposes Habtoor (2012) notes that it is an essential practice to create ESP programs for the students in universities and vocational institutions He argues that ESP addresses the specific needs of specific learners and in turn becomes a defining element that determines the direction, content, and goals, of a course Thus, ESP is a unique domain of teaching and learning English in the sense that materials and methods are set in accordance with the learner’s needs Strevens (1988) observes that ESP emphasizes English language and

is designed to meet specific learning needs that relate to content, particular disciplines, occupations, and activities

Educationalists have offered different types of ESP For example, Carver (1983, p 20) identifies three types of ESP: (1) The first is English as a restricted language, the language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters Knowing a restricted 'language' would not allow the speaker to communicate effectively in novel situations, or in contexts outside the vocational environment (Mackay and Mountford, 1978, p 4-5) (2) The second type of ESP identified by Carver (1983) is English for Academic and Occupational Purposes In the 'Tree of ELT' (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), which is mentioned in the diagram below (Figure 1), ESP is broken down into three branches: a) English for Science and Technology (EST), b) English for Business and Economics (EBE), and c) English for Social Sciences (ESS) Each of these subject areas is further divided into two branches: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) There are many examples for EOP: English for Business Purposes, English for Medical Purposes, English for Occupational Purpose, English for Computer students, or English for Accounting, ect These subdivisions are based on the needs analysis to meet the significance mentioned above Since ESP

is intended for specific disciplines, the methodology used in class should be designed

in such a way to fulfill the learners’ need (3) The final type of ESP identified by Carver (1983) is English with specific topics which is uniquely concerned with anticipated future English needs of, for example, scientists requiring English for postgraduate reading studies, attending conferences or working in foreign institutions