Problems third year english majored student encounter when studying public speaking subject at thu dau mot university and suggestions for improving public speaking skills

THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES  GRADUATATE PAPER TILTLE: PROBLEMS THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS ENCOUNTER WHEN STUDYING PUBLIC SPEAKING SUBJECT AT THU DAU

THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES



GRADUATATE PAPER

TILTLE: PROBLEMS THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS ENCOUNTER WHEN STUDYING PUBLIC SPEAKING SUBJECT AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY AND SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING PUBLIC

Binh Duong, December 2020

Binh Duong, December 2020

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Student full name: Nguyen Duc Anh

Title of paper: Problems third-year English-majored students encounter

when studying public speaking subject at Thu Dau Mot University and suggestions for improving public speaking skills

I hereby confirm that I am the sole author of the paper presented Where I refer to someone else’s work I have made it clear and appropriate in the bibliography of the article I also have not consulted any unnamed online sources The text has explicitly indicated some verbatim or referential use of the sources referred to in the bibliography

Binh Duong, December 15th

Signature

Nguyen Duc Anh

iii

ACKNOWLEDGE

To teachers of the Faculty of Foreign Language at TDM University Firstly, I would like to express thanks to the Thu Dau Mot University and the Faculty of foreign languages for creating favorable conditions for me to finish the graduate paper During the research period, I received plenty of enthusiastic help and support that guided and encouraged me to overcome all difficulties and finish this hard but meaningful time

Secondly, sincerely thank Ph.D Tran Ngoc Mai, my supervisor, gave me useful guidance and advice to finish my research paper successfully Thanks to the people who always create conditions for us to have the best and most effective learning environment to help me with my future

In short, I really thank all people helping me to finish this internship

report

ABSTRACT

Speaking is a complicated skill because it needs many elements to be simultaneously used at a time In learning speaking English, especially in public speaking, students should have speaking ability to speak well because public speaking emphasizes the ability to speak and the ability to communicate ideas Therefore, in Thu Dau Mot University, this skill has been applied for training the students.The purpose of this study is to know the problems the students face in public speaking and know what the solutions to the problem they face in public speaking are This study’s research design is descriptive research to obtain information about this study’s problems and methods Data were collected through an online survey The English department students in Thu Dau Mot University are the population of this study There were 62 participants take part in the survey This study aimed at the third-year English-majored students, specifically those studying the fifth semester at this university The online survey conducted in this study showed that the students’ public speaking problems were limited to selecting topics, anxiety, accuracy, clarity, no idea, and the methods relate to the information source and debating skill Most importantly, this research paper helps me summarize the difficulties faced by 3rd-year students in the public speaking subject and so that I can find

the right solution to help them overcome the challenges of this skills

v

TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE PAGE i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii

ACKNOWLEDGE iii

ABSTRACT iv

TABLE OF CONTENT v

LIST OF FIGURES vii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to study 1

1.2 Scope 2

1.3 Objectives of the study 2

1.4 Research questions 3

1.5 Significance of the study 3

1.6 Thesis outline 3

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Definition of public speaking skills 5

2.2 Problems that learners face with public speaking skills 6

2.2.1 Psychology 7

2.2.2 Topical knowledge 7

2.2.3 Listening skills 7

2.2.4 Learning environment 7

2.2.5 Performance condition 8

2.3 Reason for student’s difficulties in speaking skills 8

2.3.1 Lack of good language learning environment 9

2.3.2 Fear of making mistakes 9

2.3.3 Lack of motivation 9

2.3.4 Lack of confidence 9

2.3.5 Shyness 10

Chapter 3: METHODOLY 11

3.1 Research methods 11

3.2 Participants 11

3.3 Instrument 11

3.4 Procedure for data collection 12

3.5 Data analysis 12

Chapter 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 13

4.1 Difficulties students encounter in public speaking skills 13

4.2 Reasons for these difficulties in public speaking skills 17

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 19

5.1 Summary of main findings 19

5.2 Limitations and recommendations 19

5.2.1 Limitations 19

5.2.2 Recommendations 20

5.3 Implications 20

5.4 Conclusion and suggestions 20

5.4.1 Conclusion 20

5.4.2 Suggestions 21

5.4.2.1 For students 21

5.4.2.2 For lecturers 21

REFERENCES viii

APPENDIX xi

vii

LIST OF FIGURES 4.1 Difficulties student encounter in public speaking skills

Figure 1 Students’ English speaking frequency

Figure 2 The factor affect in public speaking

Figure 3 Information sources applied in students’ speech

Figure 4 Difficulties often encounter when speaking English in public

4.2 Reason for these difficulties in public speaking skills

Figure 5 The percentage of students encounter difficulties in public speaking

Figure 6 Reason why student encounter difficulties in public speaking

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to study

English has become a crucial part of most of the Vietnamese students Many students nowadays spend their time from kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, high school to college studying English The diversity and hybridization of the English language now require learners to acquire a standard

"international" variety that is intelligible (i.e., broadly recognizable or comprehensible outside the local culture), while at the same time "local" in terms of identity (Crystal, 2001) The English major is one of the most popular departments for high school post-graduate students in Vietnam It is a fact that the older they grow, the harder the lessons require so that the basic skills such as: listening, speaking, reading, writing has been upgraded, specialized by some universities in Vietnam in order to help students familiarize themselves with higher requirements in the future jobs One of them is public speaking skills Public speaking is not easy It is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced regularly

Public speaking is a special form of communication to convey information, share experiences, call out actions, influence listeners’ emotions, and then have the direction of action According to Anwar (2010), public speaking can speak in front of an audience to speak in a planned manner to convince, inform, or entertain the audience A study by Weber (2013) stated that public speaking is the biggest fear of people, and death is second Raja (2013) said that about 75% of those surveyed admit that they have this fear Husnawati (2017) conducted research investigating the challenging factor that affects students’ English speaking performance and the problems encountered

by students in speaking

As speaking is essentially a communicative act, studying the nature of L2 oral communication is crucial in understanding the causes of the problems mentioned above Communication in a target language is a highly complex, demanding and multi-faceted skill that involves different competencies and mechanisms (Kormos, 2006; Levelt, Roelofs, & Meyer, 2000) It is also a skill that cannot be transferred automatically from the speaker’s first language into their second (Thornbury, 2007) He also said that everyone needs to equip public speaking skills to catch employers’ eye with employers’ rapid development and strict requirements Moreover, when mastering this skill, it

Page 2 of 21

will have much confidence when communicating with many different audiences, flexibly handling arising out of the script, having personal branding skills, and influencing the community, develop leadership skills Moreover, when mastering this skill, it will have much confidence when communicating with many different audiences, flexibly handling arising out of the script, having personal branding skills, and influencing the community, develop leadership skills Moreover, speaking is an activity generally performed in real-time but learned in the classroom where there are insufficient opportunities for practicing the command of English skills for real-world communication (Karnnawakul, 2004; Kimsuvan, 2004)

In reality, there are many kinds of jobs needing public speaking skills and people who do the job have to utilize this skill, turn it into a tool for earning their lives These are politicians, motivational speakers, professors, and a normal employee who sometimes needs to contribute his idea in a meeting Public speaking is considered to be an important role for students to enhance their careers in general Those who equip themselves with effective speaking skills can handle their interpersonal communication problems magnificently during their working life That’s the reason for Thu Dau Mot University to decide this subject is a must-learned for English department students Obviously, majors, including translation and interpretation, business English or English education, all require performing a speech in front of audiences Many and juniors of the English department assumed that they had difficulties in passing the subject

1.2 Scope

This paper’s emphasis is to focus on the problems in public speaking subject of third-year English-majored students in TDMU and provide them the solution The research topic was conducted for about three months, from October 10 to December 9, 2020 Because of the limited time, this study does not cover the problems of public speaking It only focuses on investigating all problems that students face and solutions to help students majoring in English

at Thu Dau Mot University complete subjects that require public speaking

1.3 Objectives of the study

This study focuses on two main issues Firstly, it finds out the fundamental mistakes that 3rd-year students often make in subjects that need public speaking Secondly, it points out the reasons to help students overcome their

fear of public speaking and improve their self-confidence Lastly, this study will help readers who will soon graduate prepare themselves and provide the information they lack to perform better after they graduated

1.4 Research questions

This study is done according to the following questions:

1 What are the problems that TDMU students usually encounter during the time learning public speaking?

2 The reasons why do third-year students at TDMU have difficulty in public speaking?

1.5 Significance of the study

This report is done to reveal the solution for developing public speaking skills of 3rd-year students in Thu Dau Mot University It provides sample discussion on how to deal with difficulties in studying the subject with public speaking skills

Benefiting the study are the various sectors as follows:

For students to find out why they are having trouble speaking in public Based on these reasons, find the appropriate solutions that give them the confidence to speak in public Besides, I also wish that this study can touch the teacher to understand the problems that student lack, thereby giving out suitable lesson plans so that students can change their perceptions and personal views

so that the subjects that need public speaking skills can complete easily

1.6 Thesis outline

This study is divided into six chapters that follow a certain order:

Chapter 1 (Introduction) introduces the background to the study It provides the scope and objectives of the study Research questions and the significance

of the study will be shown It presents the thesis outline

Chapter 2 (Literature review) defines public speaking skills, above all the problems that 3rd-year students majoring in language encounter when meeting subjects that require public speaking skills and the reasons for those problems Chapter 3 (Methodology) introduces the research methods, participants and instrument It also shows the procedure for data collection as well as data analysis methods

Page 4 of 21

Chapter 4 (Results and Discussion) results from questions in the questionnaire, focusing on analyzing data collected from reality through specific figures, charts, and discusses this topic’s research purpose

Chapter 5 (Conclusion) summarizes the main findings, presents the research limitations, recommends further study, describes the study’s implications, and gives some suggestions for students and teachers

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides definitions of speaking skills from many previously studied authors It covers common problems in speaking and the reasons for those problems

2.1 Definition of public speaking skills

When a person making a speech among audiences, he has to talk about a specific topic Ganguly (2018) stated the following:

Public speaking (sometimes termed oratory or oration) is the process or act of performing a presentation (a speech) focused around an individual directly speaking to a live audience in a structured, deliberate manner to inform, influence, or entertain them Public speaking is commonly understood as the formal, face-to-face talking of a single person to a group of listeners It is closely allied to "presenting", although the latter is more often associated with commercial activity The art of speech’s goal can be from conveying information to exhorting the public to take action or simply telling a story A talented ore not only provides information to listeners but can also change their emotions In speaking English in public, students always encounter difficulties related to the fear of public speaking, low self-esteem

Public speaking is considered one of the four well-researched contexts that contribute to overall communication apprehension—the others include dyads, meetings, and groups (Richmond & McCroskey, 1998) According to Verderber, Sellnow & Verderber (2011), public speaking is just a protracted official presentation of a speaker in front of an audience and is only a form of communication Therefore, to be an effective communicator in work and learning environments, learners need to learn how to be an effective public speaker Associates (1973) about human fears said that public speaking has a much higher position than altitude, insects, financial problems as well as illness

or death According to a survey by Chapman University in the US, up to 25.3%

of Americans are afraid of speaking in public

Besides, the public speaking skill is also a means to attract the attention of the crowd from which we can express our personal views on a certain aspect of life Leaders like Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill are examples of speakers who know how to use rhetoric to influence society Some speeches are viral and well researched many years after they are published

Page 6 of 21

Public speaking and rhetoric are ranked the most important skills an individual can possess Most successful speakers have a natural talent for practicing this skill effectively to help them influence the audience in terms of the intent they are aiming for Language and rhetoric are two important factors

in rhetoric Knowledge and a thorough understanding of the method and set communication goals can help speakers successfully convey their message Public speaking skill is defined differently by many authors, but public speaking is to persuade the audience most of the time

2.2 Problems that learners face with public speaking skills

After learning and referencing many research papers of previous researchers, many reasons affect students’ ability to speak publicly Those barriers can come from internal factors as well as external factors

Zhang (2009) argued that speaking public remains the most difficult skill

to master for most English learners, and they are still incompetent in communicating orally in English According to Ur (1996), many factors cause difficulty in speaking, and they follow Inhibition, nothing to say, low or uneven participation, mother-tongue use

Besides, Rababa’h (2005) pointed out that many factors cause difficulties

in speaking English among EFL learners Some of these factors are related to the learners themselves, such as psychology, the teaching strategies, the curriculum, and the environment For example, many learners lack the necessary vocabulary to get their meaning across, and consequently, they cannot keep the interaction going Inadequate strategic competence and communication competence can be another reason for not being able to keep the interaction going

Learners complain that they cannot memorize anything to say and do not have any motivation to state themselves Rivers (1968) supported this, considers that learners often have nothing to say perhaps since their teachers had chosen a topic that is not suitable for them or have enough data about it Besides, Baker & Westrup (2003) also backed the above idea and stated that it

is complicated for learners to answer when their teachers request them to say something in a foreign language because they have little opinions about what

to say, which vocabulary to put in, or the way to use grammar correctly

2.2.1 Psychology

Internal factors refer to factors that come from the learner self It’s including physiological aspects and learners’ language competence (ability) Schwartz & Thornbury (2005) argue that psychological factors such as anxiety

or shyness, lack of confidence, lack of motivation, and fear of mistakes commonly hinder students from speaking Furthermore, Brown (2012) claimed that no successful cognitive or affective activity could be carried out without some degree of self-stem, self-confidence, knowledge of yourself, and belief in your own capabilities for that activity Liu (2007) explained that some students are reluctant to speak due to anxiety This is also mentioned in Pull CB (2012) that public speaking anxiety symptoms are the same as those that occur for social anxiety disorder, but they only happen in the context of speaking in public

2.2.2 Topical knowledge

Topical knowledge is defined as knowledge structures in long-term memory (Bachman & Palmer, 1996) Knowledge about the given topic helps speakers feel much more confident before speaking in public Lack of vocabulary to talk about a subject in English causes them to become lazy gradually This will decrease their ability to speak in public Bachman & Palmer (1996) stated that certain test tasks might be easier for those who possess the relevant topical knowledge and more difficult for those who do not

2.2.4 Learning environment

In their research, Minghe & Yuan (2013) stated that another eternal factor affecting students speaking English in public is the lack of a good language learning environment English is a language used in communications, so a good language environment can effectively promote learning But for most Vietnamese students, English is a foreign language they learn at school, and

Page 8 of 21

mostly, students communicate in their everyday life in their native language and too lazy to practice their English outside the class or teaching-learning process

2.2.5 Performance condition

According to Moulida (1997), students perform a speaking task under various conditions, and they believe that performance conditions can affect speaking performance They suggest four types of performance conditions include time pressure, planning, the standard of performance and the amount

of support

Besides, Dr Ahmed Maher Mahmoud Al Nakhalah (2016) exploring the speaking difficulties encountered by English language students at Al Quds Open University The participants of the study are English students who study the English Language at Al Quds Open University in the Branch of Gaza for the academic year 2014/2015 The researcher discharged and analyzed the interview by using the program The researcher used the percentages in the study after the results showed and indicated some difficulties in the speaking

of the students, such as fear of mistakes, shyness, anxiety and lack of confidence

2.3 Reason for student’s difficulties in speaking skills

Besides these difficulties, there are always reasons attached afterward that the reasons for having difficulty in major require speaking public skills have also been explored and discovered by researchers

This may be caused by low English proficiency, lack of practice, competition and task difficulty The awareness of performing badly in English also will lead to the loss of self-esteem among the students Besides, speaking was frequently described as an anxiety-provoking activity

Minghe & Yuan (2013) pointed out why students encounter in public speaking skills such as lack of learning environment; Fear of making mistakes, shyness,…

These reasons are also mentioned a lot in other research papers as argued

by many theorists, fear of mistake becomes one of the main factors of students’ reluctance to speak in English in the classroom (Nunan, 1999)

2.3.1 Lack of good language learning environment

In their research, Minghe & Yuan (2013) stated that another eternal factor affecting students speaking English in public is the lack of a good language learning environment English is a language used in communications, so a good language environment can effectively promote learning But for most Vietnamese students, English is a foreign language they learn at school, and mostly, students communicate in their everyday life in their native language and too lazy to practice their English outside the class or teaching and learning process

2.3.2 Fear of making mistakes

A study conducted by Sato in Minghe & Yuan (2013) finds that English students are not highly competent in speaking because of their fear of making mistakes The same finding is also shared by another research conducted by Ballard in Yan (2007), who finds that students fail to join in the English discussion because of their vocabulary problems and fear of making mistakes resulting in their inability to speak English well In addition, she says that students find speaking English a stressful activity, especially if they have to perform something using English We can see that psychological problem is a huge barrier affecting most people’s ability to speak in public

2.3.3 Lack of motivation

Motivation is key to students’ learning success Songsiri (2007) Every success comes at a cost with practice So motivation is a necessary condition to develop public speaking skills

Gardner in Nunan (1999) elaborates the causes of the students’ lack of motivation e.g., uninspired teaching, boredom, lack of perceived relevance of materials and lack of knowledge about the instructional program’s goals

2.3.4 Lack of confidence

Confidence is an essential element of success Confidence plays an important role in public speaking skills This problem occurred with several factors One of them is the student inability to maintain their emotions It can cause shyness when speaking Many people are afraid of public speaking because they are afraid of being judged by others, afraid of being ashamed, afraid of being criticized or rejected Causes of these fears can come from unpleasant experiences in the past, such as having been scolded or humiliated