An investigation into demotivating factors in speaking lessons among high school students

Section 1: Teachers’ perception of demotivating factors in learning English speaking skill among high school students .... As one of the first attempts to explore the demotivation in th

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

I, Hoang Thi Hieu, certify that this thesis is the result of my own study and

that it has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially

Author:

Hoang Thi Hieu

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, my sincere thanks are due to my respectful supervisor Trinh Thi Thom, Ph.D for her continual, invaluable support, encouragement, guidance and ideas

I would like to express my great gratitude to all the teachers and colleagues at Le Van Huu high school for their help in answering surveys and their willingness to share their ideas on the relevant problems with me

I would also like to give my special thanks to the students in classes 10A5, 11B3 and 12C6 who actively participated in doing the surveys and responding to

of the course work

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

ABSTRACT viii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS x

Tables x

Charts x

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 4

1.3 Research questions 4

1.4 Significance of the study 4

1.5 Scope of the study 4

1.6 Method of the study 5

1.7 Thesis organization 5

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 7

2.1 Overview of demotivation 7

2.1.1 Definition of demotivation 7

2.1.2 Research studies on Demotivation 10

2.1.3 Demotivation in learning speaking 13

2.1.3.1 The features of spoken language 13

2.1.3.2 Demotivation in learning speaking 15

2.1.4 Demotivating factors in English speaking lessons 17

2.1.4.1 Teachers’ factors 17

2.1.4.1.1 Roles of the teacher 17

2.1.4.1.2 Teacher as a demotivating factor 19

2.1.4.2 Equipment: 21

2.1.4.3 Classroomutility: 22

2.1.4.4 Learners’ factors: 22

2.1.5 OvercomingDemotivation ‘Remotivation’ 23

2.1.6 The relationship between Demotivation and speaking skill 24

2.2 Overview of speaking skill 24

2.2.1 Definitions of speaking skill 24

2.2.2 The importance of learning speaking skill 25

2.2.3 Teaching speaking skill 25

2.2.3.1 Approaches of teaching speaking skill 25

2.2.3.2 Stages of a speaking lesson 29

2.2.3.3 Assessing students’ speaking competence 29

2.2.3.4 Teaching speaking in rural high schools 30

2.2.4 Characteristics of a successful speaking activity 31

2.2.5 Problems with speaking activities 32

2.2.6 Ways of organizing speaking activities 33

2.2.7 Principles in teaching speaking skills 34

CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY 36

3.1 Research questions 36

3.2 Study setting 36

3.2.1 Theoretical setting 36

3.2.2 Practical setting 37

3.3 The role of textbook and curriculum 38

3.4 Participants 40

3.5 Materials 41

3.5.1 Questionnaire for students 41

3.5.2 Questionnaire for teachers 42

3.5.3 The structured interview 42

3.5.4 Class observation 43

3.6 Procedure 44

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 46

4.1 Findings 46

4.1.1 Data analysis from students’ survey questionnaire and structured interview 46

4.1.1.1 Section 1: Demotivating factors in students’ learning to speak English 46

4.1.1.2 Section 2: The students’ attitude towards English speaking skill 50

4.1.1.3 Section 3: The students’ interest and motivation 53

4.1.2 Data analysis from teacher’s survey questionnaire and structured interview 56

4.1.2.1 Section 1: Teachers’ perception of demotivating factors in learning English speaking skill among high school students 56

4.1.2.2 Section 2: Teachers’ attitude towards unwilling speakers and mistake makers 58

4.1.2.3 Section 3: Their current teaching techniques and communicative activities used in class to encourage the students to speak 60

4.1.3 Data analysis from classroom observation 62

4.2 Discussions 63

4.2.1 Demotivating factors in English speaking lessons among high school students at Le Van Huu high school 63

4.2.2 The teachers’ perception of the demotivating factors in classroom 65

4.2.3 Possible solutions to overcome the demotivating factors in speaking lessons among high school students at Le Van Huu High school 66

4.2.4 Recommendations for increasing students’ participation in speaking activities 68

4.2.4.1 Teachers should vary speaking activities 68

4.2.4.2 Teachers should help students to improve their knowledge of grammar and enrich their vocabulary 68

4.2.4.3 Teachers should manage speaking turns suitably 69

4.2.4.4 Teachers should build a cooperative atmosphere in class 69

4.2.4.5 Teachers should help students to be confident 70

4.2.4.6 Teachers should be enthusiastic, friendly, helpful and tolerant 70

4.2.4.7 Teachers should create interesting and appropriate topics 71

4.2.4.8 Teachers should form a habit of speaking English in the class 71

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 72

5.1 Conclusion 72

5.2 Pedagogical implications 74

5.3 Limitations of the study 78

5.4 Suggestions for further research 78

REFERRENCES 79

APPENDICE 84

APPENDIX 1: STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE 84

APPENDIX 2: TEACHERS’ QUESTIONNAIRE 88

APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW (FOR STUDENTS) 90 APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW (FOR TEACHERS) 92 APPENDIX 5: CHECKLIST FOR CLASSROOM OBSERVATION 93

MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Tables

Table 4.1 - Students’ demotivating factors in class 48

Table 4.2 - Students’ attitude towards the learning of English speaking skill 52

Table 4.3 - Students’ opinion on communicative teaching activities 54

Table 4.4 - Teachers’ perception of demotivating factors in speaking lessons 57

Table 4.5 - Teachers’ attitude towards unwilling speakers and mistake makers 59

Table 4.6 - Activities used by the teachers 60

Table 4.7 - Frequency of activities used by the teachers 61

Charts Chart 4.1 -The importance of learning English speaking skill 51

Chart 4.2 - Students’ ideas on what motivates them to learn to speak English 55

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Nowadays English as an international language has become increasingly essential in most countries around the world Thus, a large number of students are being required to learn it through compulsory programs in schools and universities

As a result, in Vietnam English plays a crucial role on the path of industrialization and modernization of the country as well as in the process of integration and globalization in the world

The current state of teaching and learning English has been investigated in a lot of research (e.g Le: 1999; Pham: 2007) There is a fact that students have to pass English examinations to graduate, but many of them fail to learn it successfully Students have lost their communicative competence, which means little attention has been paid to communicative skills such as listening and speaking

In addition, under the effect of traditional methods, students are believed to be indifferent to such skills They mentally withdraw or look for strategies to pass the required exams with minimum effort

Language learning is influenced directly or indirectly by numerous factors One of the most major factors is ‘Motivation’; over the past decades, researchers, as well as educators poured much ink in an attempt to illustrate this key term which affects the learning process to a large extent It is seen as the desire that directs ones’ behavior.In the book “Motivation factors in language learning” (2009), Makiko Ebata says that motivation plays the vital role in language learning; provides the primary impetus to initiate learning L2 and later driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process Without sufficient motivation, students cannot accomplish long-term goals and teachers cannot ensure their achievement According to Trang and Baldauf (2007):

Motivation is crucial for L2 learning because motivation

directly influences how much effort students make, how much

often students use L2 learning strategies, how much students

interact with native speakers, how much input receive in the

language being learned, how well they do on curriculum

related achievements tests, how high their general proficiency

level becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain L2

skills after study is over

Moreover, research studies on motivation show that a student with high motivation is likely to be a successful learner Currently, ‘Demotivation’, which is considered as the other side of motivation, has been an interest point on many research studies unlike in the past, when it was totally a neglected subject especially

in the EFL field (English as a foreign language) Whereas motivation is the desire that guidesa learner to achieve his goal, demotivation is the lack and the loss of this desire due to some factors and therefore the learner is not able to achieve his learning goals or improve his skills including the speaking skill

Demotivation can be regarded as the negative counterpart of motivation Likewise, demotivation can be considered as the negative counterparts of motives Moreover, a demotivated learner is someone who has lost his interest for some reasons The loss of interest can originate from different sources of demotivation For instance, an unprepared teacher or an uninteresting textbook can act as a demotivator for a learner However, not all researchers agree that demotivation is only external Many researchers (e.g., Arai, 2004, Falout& Maruyama, 2004 and Sakai &Kikuchi, 2009) go on to expand Dornyei’s original definition to cover both external and internal factors (i.e., demotivators) which reduce or diminish the motivation to study English

Thespeakingskillisoneofthefourskillsnaminglistening,reading,writingand speaking.Itis an essentialskillthatenableslearnerstoexpresstheirthoughtsandideas Speakingcanbeaffectedbymanyfactorsthatmaydiscouragelearnerstospeakwhenthey areaskedto.Howarth (2006)discusses the problems facing teachers trying to increase oral interaction among learners The first one is learner resistance: learners in monolingual classes may feel that group work and pair work are not authentic and

that it is unnatural to speak a language with partners who speak the same L1 A second problem is self-consciousness, when learners feel nervous and embarrassed when asked to speak English Next, Howarth points out the fact that it is difficult to monitor large classes who are doing pair or group work There are also the associated risks of noise, bad behavior and the use of the mother tongue Howarth identifies two further factors: firstly, lack of motivation, so if the learners do not want to interact, they will not; secondly, insufficient language, so if the learners do not have enough English language, it will be difficult for them to interact

I have been a teacher of English at Le Van Huu High School in Thanh Hoa for twelve years Le Van Huu high school is located in a poor countryside with a number of difficulties English is a compulsory subject and there are three English periods per week, I am very disappointed to realize that most of the students in grade 10 are interested in learning English, but their interest is gradually reduced in grade 11, and they are almost not motivated in learning English any more when they are in grade 12 Why this happens? What factors make them de-motivated? This is

the reason why I decided to choose this title of the study: “AN INVESTIGATION

INTO DEMOTIVATING FACTORS IN SPEAKING LESSONS AMONG

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS” As one of the first attempts to explore the

demotivation in the context of learning English speaking at Le Van Huu High School, this paper also explores the current techniques utilized by teachers and learners in fostering motivation in speaking learning and students’ perceptions about those techniques The paper begins by reviewing the current literature on demotivation, speaking learning and related studies This is a case study conducted with 80 per 1500 students at Le Van Huu High school who undertook the survey questionnaires The analysis of the collected data demonstrated students’ learning realities in the demotivation within learning of speaking The findings analyzed suggest a way to eliminate the demotivating factors in English speaking lessons in order to better students’ English learning

1.2 Aims of the study

The study is carried out to meet the following aims

- to identify the demotivating factors in English speaking lessons among high school students at Le Van Huu high school

- to suggest some possible solutions to eliminate the demotivating factors in English speaking lessons in order to improve students’ speaking skill

1.3 Research questions

In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims, the following research questions were asked in the study:

1 What are the main factors that demotivate high school students’ speaking skills at

Le Van Huu High school?

2 What are possible solutions to overcome the demotivating factors in speaking lessons among high school students at Le Van Huu High school?

1.4 Significance of the study

Firstly, the study is conducted to find out the demotivating factors in learning

to speak English at a certain learning condition among high school students at Le Van Huu High school in Thanh Hoa province

Secondly, the study is carried out with a view to giving some possible solutions to help students overcome demotivation in learning to speak English

Finally, the study will be the first investigation into demotivating factors in learning to speak English at Le Van Huu high school Therefore, it is recommended that not just speaking skill but others skills or even other subjects might be developed this way

1.5 Scope of the study

In some previous studies, demotivation in learning English was mentioned in general and they aimed at several levels of learners In this, I only investigate students’ demotivating factors in learning English speaking The survey questionnaires were used for both students and teachers The two structured interviewswere also used for both students and teachers and five speaking

classroom observations were carried out Truthfully, this topic cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper; therefore, the subjects chosen for this study are students and teachers at Le Van HuuHigh school Thus, it cannot be said that the results of this study are general to other language elements and Vietnamese high school students

1.6 Method of the study

To achieve the aims of the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed and the following steps are involved:

- Collecting data by survey questionnaires for students and teachers

- Conducting two interviews with students and teachers who were randomly chosen for further information of the study

- Observing classes

All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion are based on the data analysis This data hoped to confirm and support the results obtained from other sources

1.7 Thesis organization

This thesis is divided into five chapters

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION, gives the rationale of the study, aims of the study, the research questions, the significance of the study, the method of the study, the scope of the study, and the thesis organization

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND, presents various concepts related to the research topic such as definition of demotivation, speaking, teachers and student’s demotivation in second language teaching and learning

CHAPTER 3: THE STUDY, describes the methodology underlying the research which includes the general information about the subjects of subject, the current state of teaching and learning English speaking at Le Van Huu High School This chapter also focuses on the methods of data collection

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DICUSSIONS, gives a detailed presentation

of data and a detailed description of data analysis Some explanations and interpretations of the findings of the study are also presented

CHAPTER 5: IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION, summarizes the findings, and pedagogical implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Overview of demotivation

Demotivationhasbeentraditionallyconsideredaslowmotivationorathirdtypeof motivationratherthanasaphenomenoninitsownrights(TrangandBaldauf,2007)

However,SoureshjaniandRiahipour(2012)statethatdemotivationisthelackofsufficientmotivationtodoaspecificgoal;therefore,ademotivatedpersonisonewholacks

deliberateeffort,readiness,willingnessandexcitementforachievingatargetgoal.Similarly,ademotivatedlearneristheonewhowasformerlymotivatedbuthaslost his interest because of some factors Aydin refers to demotivation as “the lack of effort, needand desire (2012)” Falout (2005) believes that “if motivation pushes learning for life, demotivation cuts learning short” (Cited in Bahramy and Araghi, 2013)

2.1.1 Definition of demotivation

Motivation plays a very important role in L2; many teachers are looking for the best ways to motivate students Past motivation research has mainly concentrated on the positive motivational influences as seen in the previous chapter “A motive has been seen as a kind of inducement whose force ranges on a continuum from zero to strong In addition to positive influences there are, however, negative effects that de-energize action” Dornyei(2001) The darker side

of motivation, demotivation, has been found to play a crucial role in the learning process but yet it has been neglected as a research topic until recently Christophel and Gorham found that the strongest influence on motivation was not the presence

of motivators in the classroom, but the absence of demotivators At the beginning, the absence of context demotivators and teacher behavior demotivators positively affected motivation Therefore, the question set is “ what is demotivation?”

In light of Dornyei’s considerations, “demotivation” concerns “specific external forces that reduce or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention” and describes demotivation as various negative influences cancelling out existing motivation He introduces “demotives” as being negative counterparts of

“motives on going action” (p.143) A demotivated learner is someone who

“motivated but has lost his or her interest for some reasons” In terms of demotive,

it decreases learners’ demotivation to the study of language while motive increases

it

However, not all researchers agree with Dornyei’s definition, Sakai and Kikuchi (p.58)refer to several studies where researchers have included also internal forces, such as a learner’s lack of self-confidence and negative attitudes of the learners in addition to external forces They pointed out that in fact Dornyei himself has listed reduced self-confidence and negative attitude towards the foreign language as source of demotivation Thus Sakai and Kikuchi feel the need

to expand Dornyei’s definition stated above to comprehend both internal and external factors that reduce or diminish the motivation to learn a L2 Dornyei aims

to form a portrait of a demotivated learner by giving hypothetical examples of learners who are demotivated Firstly, a demotivated learner can be a learner whose study group was divided into two groups depending on the ability, and the learner was put among the “slow” students Secondly, a learner’s motivation can

be diminished as a result of not understanding what the teacher is talking about in class Thirdly, a learner can feel demotivated because he has suffered an embarrassing experience of having to speak in front of the class In short, according to Dornyei, a demotivated learner is someone who once was motivated but for one reason or another has lost his or her commitment or interest in learning These reasons for losing interest can be called demotives which area the negative counterparts of motives, and whereas motives increase action tendency, demotives de-energize it

Concerning teachers’ communication behavior and learners’ motivation, Gorham and Christophel had identified three categories of the sources of motivator and demotivators: context, structure/format, and teacher behavior motivators and demotivators Context factor is antecedent to the teacher’s influence which is beyond the teacher’s control such as; personal laziness, length of class, desire to do well belongs to the context factors Structure/format factors are like the

organization of the class material, grading, and opportunity to participate in which the teacher has some degree of control Lastly, teacher behaviors are related to the teacher’s characteristics, for instance, the enthusiasm, humor, and accessibility of the teacher Christophel and Gorham investigated college students’ perception of the sources of motivation and demotivation They suggested that context factors are student-owned source of motivation and demotivation, while structure/format decisions and teacher behaviors are teacher-owned The results of their study showed that most students perceived the sources of motivation as student-owned and demotivation as teacher-owned In a word, negative behaviors of teachers are the main sources of demotivator in students’ view

However, the notion of demotivation cannot be related to every reluctant learner Dornyei has distinguished at least three negative factors that cannot be referred to as demotivators Firstly, an attractive alternative action that serves as a powerful distraction (e.g., watching television instead of doing one’s homework) These cannot be seen as demotivators because they do not carry negative value Therefore, instead of reducing motivation they distract a learner by presenting a more attractive alternative Secondly, gradual loss of interest in a long-lasting, ongoing activity cannot be regarded as a demotivator because demotivators are specific factors or incidents that reduce motivation on a single event Thirdly, the sudden realization that the costs of pursuing a goal are too high is raised (e.g., when someone recognizes how demanding it is to attend an evening course while working during the day) This is the result of an internal process of deliberation, without any specific external trigger Conversely, if something triggered the termination of action (e.g the persuasion of an influential friend), that would be a case of demotivation

Dornyei also points out that demotivation does not mean that a learner has lost his or her motivation completely On the contrary, the positive influences that originally made up the motivational basis of behavior can still be there For instance, a learner may still be highly motivated to learn English; it is an important

world language, even if his or her teacher were incompetent or malevolent

2.1.2 Research studies on Demotivation

Dornyei started a qualitative analysis by conducting structured long interviews in 10 to 30 minutes of 50 high school students who were studying English as a foreign language Nevertheless, in his study the participants were not

of cross-sectional students but were those who had been identified by the teachers

or peers as being particularly demotivated He identified nine types of demotivators:

- the teachers (personality, commitment, competence, teaching method)

- inadequate school facilities (group is too big or not the right level; frequent change of teachers)

- reduced self-confidence (experience of failure of lack of success)

- negative attitudes towards the second language (L2)

- compulsory nature of L2 learning

- interference of another foreign language being studied

- negative attitudes towards L2 community

- attitudes of group members

- course book used in the language class

The compulsory nature of L2 studies and the interference of a L2 were first discovered in this study The negative effect of the compulsory nature of L2 learning is obviously related to the lack of learner autonomy and lack of self-determination Among nine factors, teacher factor ranks first The teacher’s personality commitment to teaching, attention paid to the students, competence, teaching method, style and rapport with students can have a direct impact on student’s demotivation Students also attribute their lack of confidence to teacher’s indirect negative influence, such as rigid classroom management, their perception

of teacher’s strict marking Such results were consistent with previous studies Therefore, it is of vital importance to analyze the teacher factor in order to find possible solutions to demotivation

Hamada, Y and Kito, K.carried out a study to find the answer to two questions: “What are the primary demotivating factors in Japanese high school students?” and “What are the roots of those factors?” Hamada and Kito conducted

a quantitative research by means of questionnaire on 100 second-year students, in a public high school in Tohoku The English proficiency level of most the students are slightly below the national average for the Japanese high school students The students were asked to answer the questionnaire focused on finding the factors of the demotivation, for example, “Some friends around you do not like English Has

it demotivated you? “Has teacher’s pronunciation demotivated you?”, “Have you lost interest in English?” etc Then, they exercised the interview with 26 second-year students selected randomly from 100 students who had responded to the questionnaire to have deeply understanding the roots of these factors

In this study, five factors about demotivation were found: 1) Learning environment and facilities, 2) Teacher’s competence and teaching style, 3) Little intrinsic motivation, 4) Non-communicative methods, 5) Textbooks and lesson Moreover,Hamada, Y and Kito, K found out one notable factor that some students said they had started having negative feelings toward English when they were in Junior high school However, other students revealed that they had not interested or had any purpose in studying from the beginning

Despite may integral findings, Hamada, Y and Kito, K research has some limitations They did not make a distinction between de-motivated learners and motivated ones and they could not investigate more about when the students started getting demotivated

TrầnThị Thu Trang and Baldauf Jr., Richard B used Stimulated recalled

method to collect retrospective data of demotivation in English learning The research was carried out on 100 second-year students fromUniversity of Economics in central Vietnam with the aim at riding the answer to four questions:

1 To what extent, demotivation is a problem?

2 What are the factors that are likely to contribute to demotivates?

3 Are demotivates different in terms of their levels of impact?

4 What are factors that assist students to overcome demotivation?

The students in this study were asked to recall their English learning experiences, to think back across the whole learning process, then write an essay With the use of this method the writers discovered that out of the sample of 100 students, 88 indicated that they had been demotivated to a greater or lesser extent There are two groups of demotivation: group 1 is internal attribution The former included students intrudes towards English, their experiences of failure or lack of success, and incidents related to their self-eastern The later consisted of teacher - related factors, the environment, and other external factors They also found out that internal factors occupy 36% and external factors are 64% More surprising in 64% of external factors, teachers are blamed most with 35%

Students had overcome demotivation basing on internal factors (71%) and external factors (29%) Five factors that might contribute to students’ overcoming demotivation were: an awareness of the importance of English, personal reasons, self-improvement, self-determination, and positive attitudes towards English External factors might include: changes in teacher behaviors, teaching method, learning condition, and external encouragement

Trang and Balduaf’s research truly gave out many recommendations to overcome demotivation in learning English for English students However, the study only focuses on the students in the university, so there is a need to examine more the high school students

An investigation into English learning demotivation of DươngXá High School students was carried out by Nguyễn Kim Dung to investigate the demotivators in English classes of 11 form students at DươngXá High School, Hanoi city In this case, the writers investigate students with the hope to answer two questions:

1 What are the factors that are likely to contribute to demotivates?

2 What are factors that assist students to overcome demotivation?

Demotivation is a relatively new issue in the field of L2 motivation In this study, several previous studies were reviewed to investigate demotivation of learners of English in order to identify common demotivating factors It also reports a survey study which explored demotivating factors for students at DươngXá High School A survey questionnaire was completed by 90 11form students In addition, in order to clarify the data collected, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 10 students who were randomly chosen after they finished the questionnaire Through the data analysis, two demotivation factors were extracted: internal and external factors in which internal factors related to personal matters and attitude towards learning English, external factors consist of learning environment, textbook and learning materials, teacher’ competence and personalities, test and evaluation system Contrary to what previous studies suggested, internal factors were a very strong source of demotivation Based on the results, some pedagogical implications were put forward for solving the problem

To conclude, those above studies are very helpful in providing researcher with general views on the study of the demotivating factors in lessons The most popular data collections tools the previous researchers used were the combination

of questionnaire, interview to seek information related to the demotivation factors

in learning English speaking Most of them prove that demotivation in learning L2

is not a strange problem; it happens in almost every L2 lessons However, there are still few researches in demotivation in English speaking lessons and there has never been any research on demotivated factors carried out by Le Van Huu’s teachers With the hope of improving my students’ learning and my teaching, I really want to implement the investigation into demotivating factors in English speaking lessons That the reason why I do this thesis

2.1.3 Demotivation in learning speaking

2.1.3.1 The features of spoken language

To be able to find out students’ demotivation to help students develop their ability in spoken production in English, it is necessary to think about some typical

features of the spoken language in general It is essential to have that insight in order to be able to find an appropriate methodology for teaching it

According to Bygate, facilitating rises four typical features of the spoken language:

“Firstly, it is easier for speakers to improvise if they use less complex syntax

In addition, people take short cuts to avoid unnecessary effort in producing individual utterances This often leads speakers to abbreviate the message and produce “incomplete” sentences or clauses Thirdly, it is easier for speakers

to produce their message if they use fixed conventional phrases And finally, it

is inevitable that they will use devices to gain time to speak.” (p.14)

As Brown and Yule assume that the spoken production is relatively undemanding in terms of syntax, as it mostly requires simple phrases or clauses and a very few subordinate structures Each of the above mentioned aspects needs deciding and therefore producing of speaking is determined by operating these aspects The more learners of the foreign language are able to understand and handle these aspects, the more confident speakers of the language they become Considering conversations in terms of purposes, people produce oral interaction for two intentions: to keep the relationships within the society and to carry out or exchange some new information According to Brown and Yule( 1983), the main function of communication is to create and maintain social relationships They distinguish between the function of the language where the speaker is oriented more on the listener without any important transfer of information, which they call interactional, and the other where transmission of information is the main function of spoken production In the first one - interactional - the purpose for communication is nothing more than to be polite and nice to a person talking to us and to gain overall impression rather than the detailed information Concerning the choice of language forms - interactional speaking contains such forms that refer to expressing greetings, farewells, giving opinions and agreement or disagreement with those opinions In such conversations

participants assume a lot of shared information, so the language tends to be relatively inexplicit

In the second function, called transactional, the speaker is concentrated more

on the transmission of information than on the listener, as the purpose of the speaker is primarily to communicate his message In that case, the speaker aims to make his message clear and understandable If the listener does not seem to understand or appear to misunderstand, the speaker exerts greater effort, for example in repeating what has been already said, to assure himself that the message is finally transferred and understood clearly In cases, where the transfer

of information is the main purpose for oral interaction, the language tends to be more specific, explicit and accurate in comparison with interactional use In transactional conversations the details of what happened are important and it matters that the listener gets the details correct

Therefore, participants of such conversation spell out more and repeat what they have already said because the clear understanding depends particularly on clear production

2.1.3.2 Demotivation in learning speaking

It is clear that demotivation and speaking are among the most important issues in the process of language learning Therefore, considering them and conducting researches like the present one about the relationship between them could help language teachers and students to be more efficient in process of language learning and teaching To put it more clearly, by taking into account these factors, language teachers can become aware of factors which may hinder their speaking activities From that may encourage language learners to speak

Howarth discusses the problems facing teachers trying to increase oral interaction among learners The first one is learner resistance: learners in monolingual classes may feel that group work and pair work are not authentic and that it is unnatural to speak a language with partners who speak the same L1 A second problem is self-consciousness, when learners feel nervous and embarrassed

when asked to speak English Next, Howarth points out the fact that it is difficult

to monitor large classes who are doing pair or group work There are also the associated risks of noise, bad behavior and the use of the mother tongue Howarth identifies two further factors: firstly, lack of motivation, so if the learners do not want to interact, they will not; secondly, insufficient language, so if the learners do not have enough English language, it will be difficult for them to interact

The impact of demotivating factors is more conspicuous when language learning occurs in an EFL context where, due to the lack of opportunity to communicate with native speakers, language learners don't have much intrinsic and integrative motivation In such a context, it is of paramount importance to be aware

of the factors that demotivate language learners, particularly when speaking skill is concerned In other words, it is important to know what factors can be claimed to adversely affect the speaking intention of language learners It is said that motivating students is seen by teachers as one of the most significant factors of success in the classroom

Being corrected several times the learner begins to feel uncomfortable, as being considered to be silly or at least not so clever A student experiencing panic anytime when he is exposed to another task and faces other mistakes expects a priori not to be able to make a correct speech since he has often failed to before Therefore, he stops trying to do so as soon as he fails again It can be compared to going upstairs where making mistakes equals going backwards Stepping on the first two or three stairs with ensuing going backwards would not cause too many troubles yet But stepping to higher stairs with several times going back (because

of made mistakes) would elicit greater effort and the climbing would become harder and harder The effort endeavored does not equal the results, which evokes anxiety or feeling of dissatisfaction and so it can lead to ceasing doing that and finally giving up attempting to reach the top These facts implicate that the teacher should treat the learner with a lot of awareness of the psychological background of every individual and should help and support students “ by building self-

confidence through positive early experiences, through providing reassuring feedback and through promoting self-perception of developing proficiency.” (p.21) Dornyei also states that just in direct opposition to motivation are demotivating factors which teachers see as one of the most serious aspects of teaching Furthermore, as English teachers, we often find that in the language-learning classroom, English practitioner can easily find that quite a few students are demotivated They are unwilling to get involved in activities and various tasks They seem to have lost interest and become more and more numbed or frustrated with their learning Consequently, they lose their confidence

Demotivation has detrimental impact on students’ foreign language learning outcomes Consequently, studying the demotivating factors of language learning is

a crucial responsibility of language teachers, researchers and anyone who is somehow related to language learning and teaching process

2.1.4 Demotivating factors in English speaking lessons

Demotivationhasbeenfoundtoplayacrucialroleinthelearningprocess,butithas beenneglectedasaresearchsubjectuntilrecently.IntheEFLclassroomcontext,thelearningandtheskillsareaffectedbynumerousfactors,includingTeachers,Equipment,learnersandClassutility

2.1.4.1 Teachers’ factors

Most of the previous studies about demotivation found the teacher as the most common factor in lessening students’ motivation

2.1.4.1.1 Roles of the teacher

The teachers’ roles may vary according to the role he is playing Harmer (2001) asserts that teachers’ effectiveness will be enhanced if they knew how to play their roles; he states eight roles that the teacher should perform: controller, organizer, assessor, prompter, participants, resource, tutor, and observer

- Controller: the teacher is in charge of the whole class and activities, tell students

things, organize drills, and read aloud However, acting always as a controller may

lead to: students are unable to access to their own learning experience, lack of opportunities to speak, and lack of activities variety and atmosphere of the class due to over- reliance on transmission teaching Certainly, in some situations, the teacher should act as a controller e.g., announcement, explanations, and question- answer session

- Organizer: Harmer (2001) asserts that this role is so important and teachers

should consider that The teacher is supposed to organize students into pairs or groups There are certain steps when we are to organize a class to do an activity, firstly, get the students involved, engaged, and ready by informing them that they are going to do an activity that they may enjoy and telling them the purpose behind

it Secondly, introducing them with new activity and giving them the necessary instructions in a logical clear order Thirdly, notifying them about the initiating and stopping time Finally, when the time is up, teacher tells them to stop Sometimes, teachers should stop the activity before the end of the devoted time if he notices that the students feel bored or some of them have already finished and others have not

- Assessor: as Harmer (2001) believes, the teacher is supposed to offer student

with feedback, correction, handing out grades, and determining who passes to the next level Moreover, Students should be given the opportunity to know what to be asked and how; besides, the teacher has to be fair in giving constructive criticism for the poor performance and give credits for the good performance

- Prompter: the teacher should act as prompter i.e motivator, he should be

supportive and caring and hearten students to think creatively and intelligibly Still, when the teacher is to act as a prompter, he should do that sensitively and encouragingly and mainly with discretion

- Participants: traditionally, teachers take part only in the end of the activities such

as students‟ discussions or role-play by offering feedback or correct mistakes Sometimes, Harmer (2001) suggests teachers would like to engage in the discussions to see things from the inside rather than the outside, besides; students

enjoy having their teachers in discussion with them

- Resource: the teacher is the most important resource that students return to when

they want to ask how to say or write something or what a word of phrase means, when they want to know information about something in the activity, or when they want to look for a books or websites Indeed, teachers do not know everything; and sometimes, students keep asking some sort of questions that carry complex knowledge that most of teachers do not have, the role of the teacher here is to provide them with guidance for instance showing them where they can find the piece of information they are looking for in a certain website or a title of a book Another feature of this role is to encourage students to employ resource materiel by themselves Accordingly, Harmer (2001) states that acting as a resource does not necessarily mean being a spoon- feeder to students

- Tutor: is a combination between being a prompter and resource In situations like

preparation for a debate or a discussion, the teacher can act as a tutor when he works with individuals or small groups via giving them instructions and directing them Students feel supported and helped since this role implies personal contacts more than the other roles, so it is vitally important to act as a tutor, even if it is not easy, to improve the class’ level

- Observer: Usually, the teacher uses this role in oral communication; he observes

his students in order to give them useful and constructive feedback Harmer (2001) indicates that the teacher should not been noticed that he is observing by his students, and should be cautious not to be intrusive by commenting on everything orally or written It is quite useful taking notes when observing the performance of the students to get an overview of their level in general and to depict what did they wrong and what did they right in order to help them improve their level either in using actual language or in conversational strategies Overall, teachers should know how to switch between the roles smoothly, wisely, and intelligently, and be aware of how to perform the role efficiently

2.1.4.1.2 Teacher as a demotivating factor

The teacher is a vital component in the learning process However, Dornyei and Ushioda(2011,p.28-29) asserts that “everything teachers say or do and how they communicate and behavein the classroom may potentially influence student motivation in different ways”, issues related toteachers’ behaviors, his/her competence, teaching methods, commitment, personality and grading may be considered

Teachers’ behavior and personality:“how teachers behave in class affects the

students’ motivation and the learning tendency Behaviors including angriness and discrimination are seen to be more responsible for making students demotivated When the teacher gets angry and shouts at any of the learners, that can bear a detrimental impact on the motivation of the students” (Soureshjani&Riahipour,

2012, p 331) The discrimination made by the teacher among the strong and poor students is also influential because when he focuses on the excellent students and neglects the slow ones, he is leading the weak students to consider themselves of

no importance to him or to the class and eventually to lose the desire to learn or tospeak (Soureshjani&Riahipour, 2012) Teachers’ personality is also a key concept in student’s demotivation A teacher with a rigid restriction is considered also as demotive In addition, some students, however, find themselves bored due

to the teachers’ long explanations, their failurein giving interesting materials, or they are ‘out of the subject’ matters that teachers put forward

Teachers’ competence and commitment: Sakai and kikuchi (2009) found that the

teachers’ competence as well as commitment has a major role in lowering students’ motivation Teachers’ lack of competence may represent in their way of explanation or answering the students’ questions etc However, teachers’ commitment is a key concept as well, when students feel that their teachers are not taking the teaching process so seriously, they start to lose their interest in learning and accordingly lose their motivation

Teaching method: other important point is how teachers are managing their

teaching, organizing the class and actually teaching the course syllabus Some

teaching methods depend completely on the teacher as the only source of knowledge e.g Audio-lingual method and other methods depend partially on teachers and give more focus on learners Richards and Rodgers (1986) asserted that teachers’ roles in methods are associated to the subsequent Issues:

- The types of functions teachers are expected to fulfil, whether that of practice director, counsellor, or model, for example

- The degree of control the teacher has over how learning takes place

- The degree to which the teacher is responsible for determining the content of what is taught

- The interactional patterns that develop between teachers and learners

Dornyei’s study (1998 cited in Dornyei&Ushioda 2011) shows that the methods used by the teacher may have a positive of negative effect on the students’ willing to learn

Grading and assessment: Students tend to like having good grades Covington

(1999) asserted that ‘many students are grade driven, not to say, “Grade grubbing”, and this preoccupation begins surprisingly early in life’ (cited in Dornyei&Ushioda2011, p 128) How students are assessed and the grades they get are seen as influential factors in demotivation If a student gets a bad mark, this will reduce his self-confidence, which may lead to demotivation eventually

Adequate change of teachers: generally, students wish to initiate and end the

school year with one teacher and dislike the changes of teachers, because they find

it difficult and exhausting to get used of his ways and methods and then when he gone they start over again with the new teacher, Dornyeis’ study (1998 cited inDornyei&Ushioda 2011) found that the adequate change of teachers may affect their motivation to learn

2.1.4.2 Equipment:

Usingmoderntechnologycanenhancethelearningprocess,itisassumedthattheappropriateuseofICThelpsintheprogressionofstudentslearning.GoodandBrophy

statethattechnologycanbequiteusefulifitusedappropriatelytoteachcontent;itcan

Themoderntechnologymaterialsincludeusingcomputers,videos,CD/DVD,TV,projectors,LCDscreensetc Al-Kairy (2013) found that the lack of the technological facilities hinders students’motivation (a demotivating factor)

Classroomenvironment:Onefactoriswhenastudentfindsoutthathisclassmates

donotspeakEnglishinclass,thatwillleadhimtoquitspeaking,anotherfactoristhelackofspeakingactivitiesduetotheinsufficientclasstime.Afrough,Rahimiand

Zarafshan(2014)founded that there is a quite tight relationship between students’ demotivation and unfavorable classroom environment

Time:whenalearnerdoesnotfindthesufficienttimetopracticeandexpresshisthought,he

maylosehismotivationafterwardsandbecomedemotivated

Soureshjani&Riahipour(2012)foundthattimeisoneofthemostdemotivatingfactorsamongstudents

2.1.4.4 Learners’ factors:

Somedemotivatingfactorsarerelatedtothelearnersthemselves.Studiesinthefieldfoundthatself-confidenceandpeerinfluenceareofthemostaffecting ones

Self-confidence:the learner’ psychological state affects his performance to a large

extent.Ifthestudentishavingahighself-confidenceandbelievinginhimself,hisperformancewillbeenhanced;however,ifhehasnotconfidenceinhimself,hewillfailinmakinganyprogressinhislearning.Reducedself-

confidenceisduetoexperienceoffailureorlackofsuccesse.g.despitethehardworkthelearnermade, he had bad grades in the exam Dornyei’s study 1998 has shown that

mistakenansweringthequestionforinstance.Peersreactionsareofsignificantfactorinmotivatingordemotivatingthestudent

2.1.5 OvercomingDemotivation ‘Remotivation’

Definitely, finding the ways to motivate are not the same as finding the ways toremotivate.Remotivation is the practice of recuperating motivation after disappearing; Ushioda (1988) defines it as a process of “getting your motivation online again”(cited in Falout,2012).Ushiodahas identified, in order to remotivate and maintain motivation, four motivational strategiesforshort-term application and four thinking patterns (mindsets) for long-termapplication

Themotivationalstrategiesofgettingmotivationbackare,focusingonincentivesor pressures, focusingontheL2studyusinggoal–oriented self-regulation,seeking temporary

relieffromL2study,whichhelpslearnerstoreconnectwithenjoyableaspectsortheL2, andtalkingovermotivationproblemswithothers

The mindsets that pave the way for motivation are, reinforcing one’s self- concept byattributing positive L2 outcomes to one’s abilities e.g effort, attributing negative L2 outcomes to temporary and changeable aspects e.g lack of effort disassociating demotivational andnegative affective experience with L2 learning

to something outside of one’s self e.g.institutional shortcomings or demands, and believing that one can be self-motivate throughpersonal resourcefulness and initiative (2001, cited in Falout, 2012)

2.1.6 The relationship between Demotivation and speaking skill

Considering the fact that Demotivation is newly subject in the field of EFL learning, few studies are conducted on the effect of the demotivating factors on students’ learning and even fewer studies dealt with its effect on speaking skill

SoureshjaniandRiahipourstatethatMotivation,DemotivationandSpeakingareofthemostsignificantissuesintheprocessoflearningingeneral, and EFLlearninginparticular, thus,consideringthemandresearchingtherelationshipbetweenthemmaypossiblyhelpteachersaswellasstudentstobemoreefficientintheprocessofEFLteachingand

learning.Furthermore,bearinginmind,thattheawarenessofthesefactorsallowsteachers tobeacquaintedwithwhatencourageordiscouragetheirlearnerstospeakinvarious

activitiesinclass(2012)

2.2 Overview of speaking skill

2.2.1 Definitions of speaking skill

Speaking is crucially important for the whole learning process "speaking makes you a more fluent language user, speaking is a chance to notice the gaps between what you want to say and what you can say, it is a chance to test hypotheses about language." The term "speaking" catches much attention of linguistics Therefore, many definitions have been offered to this term so far

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2004, p.414), speaking is "the action of conveying information or expressing ones' thoughts and feelings in spoken languages."

Chaney (1998, p.13), however, considered speaking as "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal or non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts"

Sharing the same viewpoint, Florez (1999, p.1) added that speaking is an

"interactive" process, which consists of three main stages "producing, receiving and processing information."

In language teaching and learning, speaking is considered a skill to practice

and master In this light, Nunan (2003, p.48) put it that "speaking is the productive oral skill It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance to convey meaning." Also considering speaking as a skill, Bygate (1987, p.3) investigated the distinction between knowledge and skill in speaking lessons, which he considered

to be crucial in the teaching of speaking Indeed, to be a good learner of speaking, studying knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, intonation, etc is not enough but the skill to use this knowledge to communicate successfully is indispensable He also discussed further at great length the two sub-skills of interaction skills that the speakers use when they speak: the routine skills and negotiation skills Routines are the conventional ways of presenting information such as descriptions, comparisons, story-telling They can be either expository, concerning presenting factual information, or evaluative where the speakers explain, reason, justify, predict and draw conclusions They can also be interaction routines that can be found in interactions in different specific situations like interviews or discussions, etc

In brief, there are different concepts of speaking: speaking as an action, a process and a skill In this study, the term "speaking" will be used to refer to a skill related to language teaching and learning

2.2.2 The importance of learning speaking skill

Speaking plays an important role among four skills since it identifies who knows or does not know a language Pattison (1992) points out that when people mention knowing or learning a language, they mean being able to speak the language

In a social context, social roles are likely to be taken by those who do not have this skill It cannot be denied that speaking deserves as much attention as or even more attention than written skill

2.2.3 Teaching speaking skill

2.2.3.1 Approaches of teaching speaking skill

There are some different approaches have been used over the years to teach

languages Among these, three methods have dominated language teaching in the past sixty years, which are discussed in this part

The Grammar-translation Method

In the Grammar-translation method, students are taught to analyze grammar and to translate (usually in writing) from one language to another The main characteristics of the grammar –translation method are that it focuses on reading and writing; the vocabulary studied is determined by the reading texts; “sentence is the basic unit of teaching and language practice” (Richard and Rodgers, 1986) The important thing is that, the Grammar-translation Method does not really prepare students to speak English, so it is not entirely appropriate for students who want to improve their speaking skills In fact, in the Grammar-translation Method, students “developed an intellectual understanding of language structure and maybe the ability to read, but instead of gaining oral fluency they suffered from what could be described as second language learning” (Hammerly, 1991:1).It can be inferred that the method is not consistent with the goals of increasing English learners’ fluency, oral production, or communicative competence In grammar –translation method, speaking consists of largely of reading translations aloud or doing grammar exercises orally There are few opportunities for expressing original thoughts or personal needs and feelings in English Unfortunately, this method has ever dominated in teaching and learning English in Vietnam for so long and it seems to be that it still has certain impact on the current situation of teaching and learning English these days, especially, in rural areas Thus, speaking

is not assessed as important as it is and little appropriate things have been done for

it

The direct method and Audiolingualism

Unlike the Grammar-translation Method, the Direct method focuses on

“everyday vocabulary and sentences” (Richard and Rodgers, 1986:9) and the lessons were conducted entirely in the target language

The Direct Method emphasized speaking in that “new teaching points were

introduced orally” rather than in writing From this, lessons emphasized speaking and listening, which were practiced in “in a carefully graded progression organized around question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students” (Richard and Rodgers, 1986:10)

In Audiolingualism, speaking is taught by having students repeat sentences and recite memorized dialogues from the textbook Repetition drills are designed

to familiarize students with the sounds and structural patterns of the language Lessons are followed by the sequence of presentation, practice, and production In audiolingual lessons, intense repetition and practice are used to establish good speaking habits to the points that they are fluent and automatic, so the learners do not have to stop and think about how to form an utterance while they are speaking

Communicative Language Teaching

The Communicative Approach in language teaching starts from a theory of language as communication The goal of language teaching is to develop what Hymes (1972) referred to as “communicative competence”.At the level of language theory, CLT has a rich, if somewhat eclectic, theoretical base Some of the characteristics of this communicative view of language as follow:

- Language is a system for the expression of meaning

- The primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication

- The Structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses

- The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified

in discourse

- CLT, particularly from the high beginning to more advanced levels, features more interaction-based activities, such as role plays and information gap tasks (activities in which learners must use English to convey information known to them but not to their speaking partners)

- Pair work and group work are typical organizational features of interaction-based lessons in CLT

In short, current approaches to the teaching of speaking thus reflect the following principles:

- Speaking and oral interaction is seen as the basis for learning

- Non-native usage as well as native usage both serves as models

- English for cross-cultural communication is a primary goal

-Models in classroom materials are often informed by corpus analysis

-Functional or other types of communicative syllabus predominate

- Both accuracy and fluency are a primary goal with a greater tolerance of errors

- Oral proficiency is viewed as dependent upon mastery of lexical phases and conversational routines

- Cultural awareness is addressed

- Pair and group activities predominate in the classroom

Accuracy or fluency

Accuracy in language teaching involves the correct use of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation In controlled and guided activities, accuracy is usually the focus and the teacher makes it clear from feedback that accuracy is important Ongoing correction is often appropriate during accuracy activities In freer activities, the teacher’s hopes are the students’ correct use of language and ability

to communicate as well

Fluency in speaking, on the other hand, is the ability to speak fluently, spontaneously and confidently, and at the rate consistent with the norms of relevant native speech community When speaking fluently students should be able

to get the message across with whatever resources and abilities they have, regardless of grammatical and other mistakes

An important concept to teachers to understand is that while students are at the beginning and intermediate levels of language, that is, while they are still developing their proficiency, fluency and accuracy often work against each other Before grammar rules become automatic and while learners are still acquiring Essential vocabulary items, applying the rules and searching one’s memory

for the right words can be laborious mental processes, which slow the learners’ speech and make them seem fluent Likewise, language learners can sometimes speak quickly, without hesitating to apply the rules they have learnt, but doing so may decrease their accuracy (that is, the number of errors they make in speaking may increase)

In short, students should be encouraged during fluency activities In feedback afterwards, on the other hand, favorable comment on strategies is needed to increase their fluency

2.2.3.2 Stages of a speaking lesson

In Terry's (2008) presentation about "how to teach speaking in an EFL class", it was proposed that a speaking lesson consists of three main stages

Specifically, in the pre-communicative stage, teachers are supposed to introduce the communicative function, highlight the fixed expression, point out the target structure and provide students with the necessary vocabulary and the language of interaction

In the practice stage, teachers prompt and correct students if necessary In the last stage of communicative interaction, teachers encourage language negotiation among students, take notes of any aspects that may hinder communication such as pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc

After this stage, teachers give students feedback on pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary and ask students to repeat the task if necessary

2.2.3.3.Assessing students’ speaking competence

A question for teachers is how students’ speaking ability can be assessed in the foreign language In some points, testing speaking is not as straightforward as testing grammar or vocabulary However, a speaking test also has to follow four criteria for testing: validity, reliability, practicality and washback (or instructional impact)

There are several kinds of speaking test

A direct test of speaking involves a procedure in which the learners actually