Strategies of learning speaking skill by second year English majors at Thuongmai University

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ABSTRACT
It is undeniable that nowadays English has become the main communication
means of a great number of non- English as well as native English speaker. English
is no longer the language used solely in English speaking countries, rather it is
internationally used. Undoubtedly, people around the world use English as the
global language. In the era of globalization, as the English language has become an
essential factor in strengthening trade and culture exchange in many countries, the
demand of knowing and using this communication through modern technology and
media communication devices such as mobile phone, email and social networks
also increased. In fact, with the spread of globalization and the rapid expansion of
information technologies, there has been an explosion in the need for English
worldwide.
Therefore, more and more people are learning English with the desire to keep
up with the advances of science and technology and globalization trends. English is
most widely taught not only at schools and universities but also at many language
centers. Among the 4 basic skills of English: listening, speaking, reading and
writing, speaking skills are considered to have the greatest impact on learners. Most
of them agree that speaking is always on the top of demand because it is the
necessary tool which help them pass the oral examination at schools or have a good
position in a foreign company. Therefore, it is important for them to be able to
speak English fluently.
Speaking is one of the important subjects for students majoring in English in
general and students of the English Faculty, Thuongmai University in particular.
However, students studying at the Faculty often encounter some speaking problems
which directly impact on their learning achievement. Therefore, I decided to
conduct a survey to identify common difficulties in learning speaking skill in order
to find effective strategies to help students learn better in this module. Research is
limited to the area and research object within the second year students of English

Faculty, Thuongmai University.

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This is the researcher’s proposal, has not been specifically applied in practice.
I would like to be given the steps to conduct the research, and at the same time
predict the results of the research. Due to the limited implementation time, there are
unavoidable errors in the implementation process, the researcher sincerely hopes to
receive the sympathy of the teachers.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
No one can make their success without the help of others, no matter how small
or big is it. In the process of completing this graduation paper, I have received a
great deal of help, guidance, and encouragement from many teachers, friends and
my family. I have faced to many difficulties, but thank to your help, I overcame all
troubles and completed my graduation paper.
First of all, I would like to express my grateful thanks to Mrs. Hoang Thu Ba
M.A – my supervisor – for her constant and tireless support throughout this study.
During my studying process, she has willingly and readily, suggested and given me
valuable advice and detailed comments about my study.
Furthermore, my sincere thanks also go to other teachers in English Faculty
who have taught me subjects in the English major in the past semesters. The
knowledge and experience I learned from the teachers during the time at school play
an important role in completing this essay. Especially, I am profoundly grateful to
all the members in my family and friends, who have always been by my side and
been a positive encouragement to help me complete this essay.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have kindly given their advice and
helped me with source material during the writing of this graduation paper.
Sincerely,
Nguyen Thi Thuy

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

No.

Abbreviation

1

ESL

2

EAL

6

English meaning

English as a Second
Language
English as an Additional
Language

Vietnamese meaning
Tiếng Anh như ngôn ngữ thứ hai
Tiếng Anh như ngôn ngữ bổ
sung


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

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CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1 Rationale

Speaking skill is one of the most important factors in evaluating an
individual's English proficiency. Samuel Johnson once said: Language is the dress
of thought. In international relationships, good English communication ability is a
valuable key which can open the door of working advancement. Language is the
direct means of showing education level as well as personal behaviour. A student
mastered English, in any case,will have quick reflexes, good brainstorming to solve
the problem. This fact makes parents ask their children to study English harder.
But in fact, it is not easy to learn well a foreign language like English, because
each individual's level of cultural absorption is different. Most students find it
difficult to learn a new language, including linguistic students. Culture originates
from sound, and language is the prerequisite for human civilization. When writing

was not created, humans used voice to transmit information. Indeed, learning
English should also start from improving speaking skills - the most basic skill,
which forms the background of communication. Although learning English
communication has gradually become saturated, but how to learn well still is a
difficult problem. Most of the first and second year students are still quite shy when
speaking English because they have many mistakes such as: incorrect grammar,
stuttering, squash, wrong pronunciation, etc. These errors often come from weak
communication skills and some external environmental impacts. It has become the
psychological barrier of language students in general and students of English
Faculty at Thuongmai University in particular.
From the above reasons, I decided to choose the topic: Strategies of learning
speaking skill by second year English majors at Thuongmai University. Through
this research, I want to find out the difficulties that students are facing and propose
many effective strategies to help students overcome that situation. From there,
students will have a solid foundation of knowledge to prepare them for the future.
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1.2 Previous studies

To complete this research, the researcher has consulted a lot of articles,
scientific reports, dissertations, which are related documents to the thesis topic, in
order to identify the basic knowledge, study the hypotheses as well as reinforce the
argument for this content.
Over time, there have been quite a few different studies focusing on aspects of
speaking skills. Samer Al Zoubi, Abdel Rahman Al Eiadeh, Mahmoud A. Al.Sobh,
Fadi Al Khasawneh (2016) conducted a survey about oral communication skill
which aimed to enhance the speaking skill of Ajloun National University students.
The results also showed that the most frequent problems were the limited amount of
vocabulary among students, while the least frequent problems were the difficulty in

understanding questions. This study also presented some of appropriate solutions to
overcome the weakness in speaking skill, such as practicing speaking English inside
and outside the classroom effectively, using the modern social media to
communicate in English and to express the student’s feelings and needs.
Backlund, (1990) also assigns three aspects of knowledge that influence
directly oral communication effectiveness: social knowledge, self-knowledge, and
content knowledge. If any one of these areas is weak, the communicative result will
be decreased. Besides, there are some other problems that hinder oral
communication are: dominating the conversation, using inappropriate volume and
pitch, using excessive small talk ignoring someone and constantly interrupting
people. He emphasized that only when students overcome these barriers will the
problem be solved.
Lopez (2011) research aimed to find out which speaking strategies are mostly
used by students of five Mexican public universities, which used a self-designed
questionnaire with 14 speaking strategies. The results showed that the three
speaking strategies were most used by students in their language learning, including
a complementary strategy (using paraphrasing or a synonym for unknown words) in
the direct strategy and two social strategies (requiring for repetition and
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clarification) in the indirect strategies. His research also emphasized the position of
strategic training and encouraged teachers to apply and impart predetermined
strategies in communication classes. This implies that the more strategies students
use, the more successful they got in learning to speak.
To explore the use of students' learning strategies in developing their speech,
Gani, Fajrina, and Hanifa (2015) conducted a survey on 16 students who has
speaking performance being low and high at a high school in Indonesia. Data was
collected through a 53-item questionnaire and interviews. The results acknowledge
that the high-performing speaking students are more likely to balance in using all

kinds of learning strategies developed by Oxford (1990) to enhance their speaking
skills. The low ow-performing students focus on only two learning strategies:
compensation and social strategies. In contrast, high performing students knew how
to use more appropriate learning strategies than low achievers.
Besides, there are few domestic studies that are remarkable. Dinh Thuy Linh
( 2011) discovered the reason why existing student’s laziness in speaking period.
Then she pointed out that motivation is considered to be one of the key factors to
success on mastering foreign language. Without sufficient motivation, even
individuals with the most remarkable abilities cannot accomplish long- term goals,
and there are no appropriate curriculum and good teaching to ensure student
achievements. Each student needs to know how to motivate themselves to learn
English.
Tran Thi Thuy (2013) proposed using role play activities to improve speaking
skills of the students because this action can help learners enhance reflex ability.
Role playing is something which can be included in language teaching to help make
classes the dynamic, energetic, harmonious, speaking focus – experiences. These
activities are effective methods to create a vibrant learning atmosphere, as well as
exploiting the potential of each student.
Moreover, Truong Minh Hoa, Phan Thi Mien Thao (2020) study a research
aimed at exploring speaking learning strategies employed by 82 English-majored
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sophomores at College of Foreign Economic Relations (COFER), Ho Chi Minh
City, Vietnam. The most frequently used learning strategy in each strategy consisted
of structuring or planning of ideas and language input, using dictionary for
vocabulary learning, compensating for linguistic limitations by code-switching,
non-verbal forms, synonyms, paying attention, deeply breathing, and asking for
clarification. However, activating prior knowledge, self-training language input,
self-evaluating speaking performance were less frequently used among many

students. Overall, it is a positive signal that the majority of the participants, in their
EFL oral acquisition, usually employed a diversity of speaking learning strategies to
facilitate their learning process, improve their speaking performance in terms of
fluency, accuracy and appropriacy, and nourish their motivation and self-confidence
in oral production.
Every study is valuable material. Although the time and scope of research are
different, they do not negate each other, but complement defects in harmony.
Previous studies in this field have provided a huge amount of information to help
authors complete this essay. Taking ideas from prior works, the author decided to
apply and analyze the way to learn speaking skills at Thuongmai University.
1.3 Aims of the study
With the hope of helping the second year students of the English Faculty at
Thuongmai University find better strategies in learning speaking skill, this thesis
will point out problems and expectations in learning foreign languages. In addition,
I also give many useful suggestions to improve your communication skills.
Hopefully the students will be more and more excited about learning to speak
English.
The research paper has three main purposes as follows:
•

Investigating the current learning situation of speaking skills of English sophomores
at Thuongmai University.

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•

Exploring the most commonly used speaking strategies for second- year English
majors at Thuongmai University.

•

Proposing some suggestions to improving teaching and learning English speaking
skill at Thuongmai University.
1.4 Research Subjects
Speaking is a practical subject that not only requires learners to understand
theory but also apply in practice. In fact, there are lots of various techniques to
study English communication. However, not everyone can find an effective way to
learn and get good results. Therefore, the object of research that the researcher aims
to develop the topic is difficulties in learning English speaking and useful strategies
of second year English majors at Thuongmai University.
1.5 Scope of the study
The research idea comes from the time studying in the Speaking Skills module
of the Practice of Language Department. As an experienced person, I found that the
freshmen and the sophomores often encounter many problems in learning
specialized English. High school programs usually provides students with living
topics, not majoring in economics like university. Due to the environment changing,
many language students have difficulty in acquiring new knowledge. Therefore, this
study focuses on how to enhance English speaking of the second year English
majors at Thuongmai University.
A total of 50 students participated in the study. They were second-year
students in the 2021 academic year at the English Faculty, Thuongmai University.
The reason why researcher selected the second-year students is that they had
learned Speaking Skill subject in previous year so that they had enough knowledge
and experiences to answer the questionnaire.
1.6 Research methodology

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The main research methods are mainly qualitative, statistical methods, and
semi- constructed interviews. The researcher created a form, consisting of single
questions and questionnaires, and then surveyed 50 random second- year students of
the English department to find out difficulties in speaking that they encountered in
learning process. At the same time, investigating their speaking learning strategies.
The data were collected from multiple choice, rating scale, open-ended, …
questions. In analyzing the data, the researcher conducted four steps: 1) collecting
students’ survey results, 2) Identifying the difficulties and strategies, 3) analyzing
the strategies, and 4) Explaining and evaluating the strategies. The author uses
qualitative methods to analyze the number of problems and statistical methods to
calculate the rate of problems as well as solutions. The researcher then uses a
synthetic method to select the most common problems, remove minor problems,
and sort problems into groups. Then the author constructed the chart according to
the data found to show the correlation between the errors. After giving the research
results, continue to interview each student in depth to find out more clearly the
causes and difficulties that they often encounter to propose solutions.
1.7 Organization of the study
The researcher focuses on four main following chapters, including:
The first chapter is Overview of the study. In this chapter, the researcher will
show the most basic information for choosing this topic to give the reader an
overview of the research, including rationale, previous studies, aims of the study,
research subjects, scope of the study, research methodology, and organization of the
study.
The second chapter is Literature review. The researcher will cover the basic
theory about speaking skills, factors affecting speaking process and the importance
of speaking learning strategies. This chapter is considered as the primary
background for the next chapters of the study.

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The third chapter is Research findings. The researcher divided this chapter
into two main parts. In the first part, the researcher focuses on taking the results of
survey questionnaires which given by second year English majors. In the second
one, the researcher discovers which strategies are mostly use by sophomores.
The last chapter is about Recommendations and Suggestions. From the issues
that the survey has pointed out above, the researcher would like to give effective
strategies for sophomores got better results during their studies as well as propose
some recommendations for teacher to help their students get better.

 

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Theoretical background of speaking skill
2.1.1 Definition of speaking skill

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In language learning, we often talk about the four main language skills
(speaking, listening, reading, and writing) in terms of their direction and modality.
There are many ways to define speaking skills which depend on scholar’s view.
Firstly, we need to answer the question: “What is speaking?”
In terms of physical perspective, speaking is the delivery of language
through the mouth. To speak, we create sounds using many parts of our body,
including the lungs, vocal tract, vocal chords, tongue, teeth and lips. We can say that
speaking means to converse, or expressing one's thoughts and feelings in spoken
language. This vocalized form of language usually requires at least one listener.

When two or more people speak or talk to each other, the conversation is called a
"dialogue". Speech can flow naturally from one person to another in the form of
dialogue. It can also be planned and rehearsed, as in the delivery of a speech or
presentation. Of course, some people talk to themselves.
From the perspective of linguistic theory, speaking is defined as an interactive
process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing
information. Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs,
the participants, and the purposes of speaking (Burns & Joyce, 1997). Speaking
consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning. (Utterances
are simply things people say.) Speaking is “an interactive process of constructing
meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information”
(Florez, 1999). It is “often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving”, but it is not
completely unpredictable.
Therefore, speaking skills are the skills that give us the ability to communicate
effectively. These skills allow the speaker, to convey his message in a passionate,
thoughtful, and convincing manner. Speaking skills also help to assure that one
won't be misunderstood by those who are listening.

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2.1.2 Elements of speaking skill
Each researcher has made different arguments, based on research perspective
and personal opinion. Therefore, each study has its own unique and complement
each other. According to Harris (1974) there are five elements of speaking skill
concerned with comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, fluency.
•

Comprehension
For oral communication, it certainly requires a subject to respond, to speech as

well as to initiate it.

•

Grammar:
It is needed for students to arrange a correct sentence in conversation. It is in
line with explanation suggested by Heaton (1978) that students’ ability to
manipulate structure and to distinguish appropriate grammatical form in
appropriateness. The utility of grammar is also to learn the correct way to gain
expertise in a language in oral and written form.

•

Vocabulary
Vocabulary means the appropriate diction which is used in communication.
Without having a sufficient vocabulary, one cannot communicative effectively or
express their ideas both oral and written form. Having limited vocabulary is also a
barrier that precludes learners from learning a language. Without grammar very
little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. So, based on
this explanation, the researcher 6 concluded that without mastering vocabulary
sufficiently is English learners will not be able to speak English or write English
properly.

•

Pronunciation

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Pronunciation is the way for students‟ to produce clearer language when they
speak. It deals with the phonological process that refers to the component of a
grammar made up of the elements and principles that determine how sounds vary
and pattern in a language. There are two features of pronunciation; phonemes and
supra segmental features. From the statement above, the researcher concluded that
pronunciation is the knowledge of studying about how the words in a particular
language are produced clearly when people speak. In speaking, pronunciation plays
a vital role in order to make the process of communication easy to understand.
•

Fluency
Fluency is the ability to read, speak, or write easily, smoothly and
expressively. In other words, the speaker can read, understand and respond in a
language clearly and concisely while relating meaning and context. Fluency can be
defined as the ability to speak fluently and accurately. Fluency in speaking is the
aim of many language learners. Signs of fluency include a reasonably fast speed of
speaking and only a small number of pauses and “ums” or “ers”. These signs
indicate that the speaker does not have spent a lot of time searching for the language
items needed to express the message. From the ideas above, the researcher
concluded that another important component is fluency. Fluency means the
capability of someone speaks fluently and accurately with little using pauses like
“ums, ers, and” and so on.
2.1.3 The importance of speaking skill
Speaking skills are one of the most important skills we learn, as they allow us
to communicate with others and express our thoughts and feelings. Speaking skills
can be separated into formal and informal speaking skills, and we use both types of
speaking skills in a variety of contexts throughout life. Informal speaking skills are
important for conversations with friends and family, helping us to form emotional
connections. Formal speech, on the other hand, is necessary for workplaces, in
presentations or for conversations with people you don’t know. Formal language is

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important as it helps us to make a good impression on people and communicate
politely.
The significance of speaking is indicated with the integration of the other
language skills. Speaking helps learners develop their vocabulary and grammar
skills and then better their writing skill. Students can express their emotions, ideas;
say stories; request; talk, discuss, and show the various functions of language.
Speaking is of vital importance outside the classroom. Therefore, language speakers
have more opportunities to find jobs in different organizations and companies.
These statements have been supported by Baker and Westrup (2003) who said that
learners who speak English very well can have greater chance for better education,
finding good jobs, and getting promotion.
Previous researches approve that persons cannot learn a language without
many opportunities for meaningful repetition. Oral language interactions and the
opportunity to produce the language in meaningful tasks provide the practice that is
very important to internalizing the language. (L-M Leong,2016)
As an ESL or EAL student, speaking skills are considered the most important
part of learning a language. In fact, many language learners measure their
performance by how well they can speak it. As most effective foreign language
learning takes place through interaction, it's a skill that can be honed to really build
an understanding of the language and culture of English-speaking countries.
2.2 Factors affecting speaking process
If we want to help students overcome their difficulties in learning speaking
skill, we should identify some factors that influence their speaking performance.
Learners’ speaking performance are influenced by factors like performance
conditions, affective factors, listening skill, and feedback during speaking tasks
(Tuan & Mai, 2015).
2.2.1 Subjective factors

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•

Personal feelings
The first factor is related to affective ones. Oxford (1990) said that one of the
important factors in learning a language is the affective side of students. According
to Krashen (1982), a lot of affective variables have been connected to second
language acquisition and motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety were the three
main types that have been investigated by many researchers. Mood directly affects
personal emotions, making students difficult to communicate. Obviously, if your
emotions are unstable, your thinking ability will be disturbed, preventing you from
transferring messages coherently. Confidence is the key to communication.
Everything only really starts when you DARE, dare to stand up, dare to express
personal views, dare to question others. Not just in the field of grammar learning, in
everyday life, if you don't have confidence, you won't be motivated to do anything.

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•

Listening comprehension
Listening ability is the second factor. Doff (1998) says that learners cannot
improve their speaking ability unless they develop listening ability. Learners should
comprehend what is uttered to them in order to have a successful dialogue. Shumin
(1997) represented that when students talk, the other students answer through the
listening process. Speakers have the role of both listeners and speakers. It can be
concluded that students are not able to reply if they cannot comprehend what is told.

That is to say, speaking is very closely related to listening.
Some ESLs actually know grammar rules pretty well and can construct
even complex sentences. Surprisingly, just when you thought they can communicate
well in English, they suddenly come to a halt when asked questions. Some nonnative speakers cannot understand the questions, because the one asking speaks too
fast or because of the speaker’s accent (in case of an Australian or a British speaker
for example). They would often ask the speaker to repeat the question several times
or request the speaker to speak more slowly, before they finally understand the
question. Some, on the other hand, answer the questions impressively (with not
many mistakes in grammar and pronunciation; good explanations and examples;
amazing fluency) just to find out in the end that he or she misunderstood the
question, and therefore gave an inappropriate answer.

•

Topical knowledge
Topical knowledge is the third factor. Bachman and Palmer (1996) defined it
as the knowledge structures in long term memory. That is, topical knowledge is the
speakers’ knowledge of related topical information. It enables students to apply
language with respect to the world in which they live. Bachman and Palmer (1996)
assert that topical knowledge has a great impact on the learners’ speaking
performance. Speaking without understanding the problem clearly will make the
presentation fall out of topic, resulted in listener’s misunderstanding. Nobody is
patient enough to sit down and listen to you say “ums, oh, ers” whole time.
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•

Grammatical accuracy
Some people wonder why there is a need to have grammatical accuracy in

English, when even some native English speakers commit grammatical mistakes
themselves. I used to ask that myself too, but as I listened more carefully to how
both (native English speakers and non-native English speakers) express their
thoughts, the reason dawned on me. Native English speakers can say what they
want without much difficulty due to their familiarity of the language. If they have
difficulty expressing a certain concept/thought in a certain way, they can just use
other ways of saying those things. They may commit some mistakes in grammar,
but the mistakes do not distort or change the meaning of the sentences they want to
convey, thus, it doesn’t give the listener much of a problem understanding them. On
the other hand, the mistakes many non-native speakers of English commit are those
that often change the meaning of sentences they want to express, and thus create a
misunderstanding. That’s exactly the reason why non-native speakers have to study
grammar more than native speakers.

•

Linguistic components
According to Mahripah (2014), EFL learners’ speaking skill is affected by
some linguistic components of language like phonology, syntax, vocabulary, and
semantics and psychological factors such as motivation and personality. Phonology
is a difficult aspect of language learning for EFL learners. As we know, English is
not a phonetic language. That is, pronunciation of English words is not similar to
their spellings. Words with similar spellings are sometimes pronounced differently
because of their surrounding contexts like tenses and phonemes that come after
them. This can cause a lot of problems for non-native speakers of English and they
sometimes get confused in producing the English words.
2.2.2 Objective factors

•

Surroundings

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The first factor is pertinent to performance conditions. Learners carry out a
speaking activity under different conditions. Performance conditions impact
speaking performance and these conditions involve time pressure, planning, the
quality of performance, and the amount of support (Nation & Newton, 2009). The
surroundings greatly influenced the results of the speech. Audience enthusiasm will
strongly affect the speaker's mood. For example, in case you're giving a
presentation, it's frustrating when you ask the class "who can answer this question?"
and no one will reply you. Too noisy environments will also drown out the speaker's
voice, resulting in limited listening comprehension.
•

The length of answers
How long should one's answers be? The length of one’s answers depends on
the situation. If it’s just a conversation between friends, where you are telling
someone a story which is very interesting for him/ her, going into details and a long
answer is okay. However, when one is in a job interview or an English examination,
wherein the interviewer does not have much time to speak with you, you ought to
give answers that are brief and detailed. Make sure you have already answered what
has been asked, before moving on to elaborate on the details of your answer.

•

Appropriateness of answers
This factor is related to the feedback during speaking activities. A lot of
learners expect their teachers to give them the necessary feedback on their speaking

performance. According to Harmer (1991), the decisions that instructors adopt
towards their learners’ performance depend on the stages of the lesson, the tasks,
and the kinds of mistakes they make. Harmer (1991) also continued that if
instructors directly correct their students’ problems, the flow of the dialogue and the
aim of the speaking task will be spoiled. Baker and Westrup (2003) supported the
above statement and said that if learners are always corrected, they will be
demotivated and afraid of talking. It has been suggested that instructors should
always correct their learners’ mistakes positively and give them more support and
persuasion while speaking.
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2.3 Strategies in learning speaking skill
2.3.1 The definition of speaking learning strategies
Speaking strategies are defined by O’Malley and Chamot (1990) as “the tools
for active, self- directed involvement needed for developing second language
communicative ability” (cited in Susie, 2011). Another definition by Larenas
(2011:87) of speaking strategies is “actions and/or procedures that students apply in
order to complete an oral communicative task successfully.” According to Faerch
and Kasper (1983), speaking strategies defined as “potentially conscious plans for
solving what to an individual present itself as a problem in reaching a particular
communicative goal” (cited in Brown 2000).
The primary goal for any language learners is that they are able to use the
target language for their oral communication, and finally become a competent
speaker. Accordingly, Hedge (2000) convinces that a competent speaker is the
person who can use speaking strategies effectively to compensate for speaking
problems and to maintain his stream of verbal messages. Alternatively stating,
knowing and utilizing speaking learning strategies is of utmost importance to
students for their oral language development.
In brief, speaking strategies are essential because they sufficiently provide

foreign language learners with valuable tools to communicate in the target language
in diverse contextual situations and help them to survive a multiplicity of speaking
problems. Put it differently, speaking learning strategies become vital to develop
student’s language ability in order for them to be more self-sufficient and active in
their own learning process.
2.3.2 The taxonomy of speaking skill strategies
In principle, Oxford (1990) differentiates language learning strategies into six
groups, namely: memory strategies, cognitive strategies, compensation strategies,
affective strategies, metacognitive strategies, and social strategies.
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Language Learning
Strategies

Description

Memory strategies

“Creating links mentally, applying sounds and images,
reviewing well”

Cognitive strategies

“Practicing, reviewing and sending messages, analyzing
and reasoning, creating structure for input and output”

Compensation
strategies

“Guessing intelligently, and overcoming limitations in
writing, speaking”

Metacognitive
strategies

“Centering one’s learning, planning and arranging one’s
learning, evaluating one’s learning”

Affective strategies

“Lowering one’s anxiety, encouraging oneself, and taking
one’s emotional temperature”

Social strategies

“Asking questions, cooperating
empathizing with others”

with

others

and

Table 2.1: Oxford’s language learning strategy scheme (1990, pp. 18-21)
Besides, Dornyei and Scott (1995) has divided strategic behaviors into 3 main
categories which are: direct strategies, indirect strategies and interactional
strategies.

Categories

Strategy speaking behaviors

Direct strategies

Message
abandonment;
reduction;
replacement;
circumlocution; restructuring; code switching; self-repair; selfrephrasing

Indirect
strategies

Verbal strategy markers, stimulating understanding, repetition

Interactional
strategies

Requesting clarification; requesting repetition; requesting
confirmation; inference; expressing non-understanding,
understanding check; own-accuracy check, asking for
assistance

Table 2.2: Dornyei and Scott’ (1995) taxonomy of speaking strategies
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The current research is based on the language learning strategy framework of

Oxford (1990) and the specific strategic speaking behaviors proposed by Dornyei
and Scott (1995). However, the Oxford classification is aimed at overall language
learning, but this study focuses only on learning speaking. So far, the taxonomy of
Dornyei and Scott (1995) is considered more problem-oriented and process-based
with specific strategic behaviors. Table 3 below presents the framework of speaking
strategies used in this study.

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