Difficulties in improving English speaking skills of the first year students at Thuongmai University

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY
ENGLISH FACULTY
------

GRADUATION PAPER
TOPIC:
A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES IN IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS
OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY

HANOI - 2021


ABSTRACT

Nowadays, in integration trend, English has become the most widely used
language in the world of trade and commerce. With the development of the
international relationships, English is playing a more and more important role in
every part of the world. As a result, learning and improving English speaking skills
for international communication has become more and more vital to Vietnamese
students.
In fact, students are taught English in the curriculum from primary school.
However, they mainly learn grammar and vocabulary as well as practice reading
texts in books so that they have less chance to practice speaking. Because of the
lack of thorough training in speaking skills, English speaking is an important course
in English language curriculum at university. However, it is very difficult for
students in this context to enhance their fluency and proficiency in English speaking
immediately. This study aims to summarize the difficulties that the first year
students at Thuongmai University meet in improving English speaking skills. To
achieve the aim of the study, I applied one tool: the questionnaire with 140 students.
According to the questionnaire, the following result were reached: The first

year students in Thuongmai University face both internal and external challenges
and some recommendations are given to help students speak English more
effectively.


ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS

This Graduation Paper would not have been accomplished without the
guidance and help of some people, who in one way or another, contributed and
extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study. In
the process of completing this graduation paper, I have faced up with many different
problems. However, with the great help and encouragement from teachers, family
and friends; I have overcome these difficulties and completed this graduation paper
successfully.
Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms. Ha
Thi Vu Ha, who guided me during the graduation paper. Thanks to her careful
suggestions and comments as well as valuable materials, I can complete this thesis.
Through Ms. Ha sharing and feedback, I was motivated to overcome all the
difficulties during the process.
Secondly, I would like to thank all teachers of English Faculty at Thuongmai
University for their precious and useful lessons which have been then the
foundation of this study. In addition, I would like to thank the freshmen at
Thuongmai University for helping me in survey to find the difficulties in improving
English speaking skill.
Thirdly, my sincere thanks are delivered to my parents and friends for their
encouragement and assistance in this time. Without their help I could not to have
finished this Graduation Paper.
Because of limited time, knowledge and practical experience, this Graduation
Paper certainly contains numerous mistake. Therefore, I honestly look forward to
receiving comments and suggestions that will make my Graduation Paper be more

perfect.
Ha Noi, 1st April, 2021
Tran Thi Tham


TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS....................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.......................................................................................iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................vi
LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES....................................................................vii
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY.....................................................1
1.1. RATIONALE.....................................................................................................1
1.2. PREVIOUS STUDIES......................................................................................2
1.2.1. STUDIES ABROAD......................................................................................2
1.2.2. STUDIES IN VIETNAM..............................................................................3
1.3. AIMS OF THE STUDY....................................................................................3
1.4. RESEARCH SUBJECTS.................................................................................4
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.................................................................4
1.6. SCOPE OF THE STUDY.................................................................................5
1.7. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY...............................................................5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................6
2.1. DEFINITION OF SPEAKING AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
SPEAKING AND OTHER LANGUAGE SKILLS..............................................6
2.1.1. DEFINITION OF SPEAKING.....................................................................6
2.1.2. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPEAKING AND OTHER
LANGUAGE SKILLS.............................................................................................7
2.1.3. THE IMPORTANCE ROLE OF ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS..........7
2.2. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN
THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY...............................................................................8

2.3. THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS OF
FRESHMEN AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY IN PARTICULAR AND
STUDENTS IN GENERAL..................................................................................10
2.3.1. SUBJECT FACTORS..................................................................................10
2.3.2. OBJECTIVE FACTORS.............................................................................11
2.4. COMMON DIFFICULTIES OF IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING
SKILLS

OF

FRESHMEN

AT

THUONGMAI

UNIVERSITY

IN

PARTICULAR AND STUDENTS IN GENERAL..............................................12
2.4.1. LINGUISTIC FACTORS............................................................................12
2.4.2. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS................................................................14
2.4.3. PHYSICAL SETTINGS..............................................................................16
2.5. STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILLS OF FRESHMEN
AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY IN PARTICULAR AND STUDENTS IN
GENERAL.............................................................................................................19
2.5.1. IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILL BY ENHANCING LINGUISTIC

ACCURACY..........................................................................................................19
2.5.2. IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING BODY LANGUAGE. .20
2.5.3. IMPROVING SPEAKING SKILLS BY USING EDUCATIONAL/
MEDIA INSTRUMENTS.....................................................................................21
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS.....................23
3.1. METHODOLOGY.........................................................................................23
3.1.1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..............................................................23
3.1.2. RESEARCH QUESTION...........................................................................23
3.1.3. PARTICIPANTS..........................................................................................23
3.1.4. DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT.....................................................23
3.1.5. DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES.....................................................24
3.2. DATA ANALYSIS...........................................................................................25
3.2.1. GENERAL INFORMATION.....................................................................25
3.2.2. ENGLISH USAGE AND ENGLISH SPEAKING ABILITY...................26


3.2.3. ENGLISH SPEAKING PROBLEMS........................................................30
3.2.4. PROPOSALS FOR SOLVING DIFFICULTIES IN SPEAKING SKILLS..36
3.3. CONCLUSION...............................................................................................41
CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING ENGLISH
SPEAKING SKILLS.............................................................................................42
4.1. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STUDENTS.................................................42
4.1.1. SURROUNDING THEMSELVES WITH THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. .42
4.1.2. EXPANDING VOCABULARY..................................................................43
4.1.3. PARTICIPATING IN USING ENGLISH ACTIVITIES..........................43
4.2. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHERS AND UNIVERSITY.............44
4.2.1. RAISING STUDENTS’ AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF
SPEAKING SKILLS IN LEARNING ENGLISH..............................................44
4.2.2. GIVING MORE GROUP WORK OR PAIR WORK...............................44
4.2.2 GIVING MORE ADVICES AND INSTRUCTIONS.................................45

4.2.4. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNIVERSITY..........................................45
4.3. CONCLUSION...............................................................................................46
CONCLUSION......................................................................................................47
REFERENCES........................................................................................................I
APPENDIX.............................................................................................................V


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations
EFL
TMU
Q&A

English meaning
English as a foreign language
Thuongmai University
Question and answer


LIST OF CHARTS AND FIGURES

Chart 3.1: The faculties of the first year students who did the questionnaires.........25
Chart 3.2: The English levels of the first year students at TMU..............................26
Chart 3.3: Students’ evaluation about the importance of English speaking skills....27
Chart 3.4: The time of learning English speaking students spend each day.............28
Chart 3.5: Students’ English speaking ability..........................................................29
Chart 3.6: Students’ equivalence about the factors affecting English speaking skills
30
Chart 3.7: Subjective factors affecting English speaking skills...............................31

Chart 3.8: Objective factors affecting the English speaking skills...........................32
Chart 3.9: The linguistic difficulties in improving English speaking skills..............33
Chart 3.10: The psychological difficulties in improving English speaking skills....34
Chart 3.11: The difficulties of insufficient physical settings in improving English
speaking skills.........................................................................................................35
Chart 3.12: Strategies to improve English speaking skills.......................................36
Chart 3.13: Enhancing linguistic accuracy strategy.................................................37
Chart 3.14: Using body language strategy...............................................................38
Chart 3.15: Using educational/ media instruments strategy.....................................39
Chart 3.16: Using self – upgrading strategy.............................................................40


CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1. RATIONALE
In the current context, integration and globalization take place stronger than
ever. Accordingly, the need to have a mutual language as a tool for global
communication is really important. Consequently, most of countries in the world
choose English as main language tool to communicate and exchange information
across every industries and sectors, including Vietnam.
Vietnam is a developing country that has a socialist – oriented market
economy. It develops rapidly and always expends with the globalization trend.
Therefore, in the labor market, a candidate with a strong qualification and fluent
English skills always makes a good impression on the employer. Good English
skills help candidates gain an edge over those with the same expertise. Therefore,
learning English becomes much more necessary than ever to contribute to renovate
and develop the country also to improve the image of the country worldwide.
Among the English communication skills, speaking skill is the most important
one when learning English because the ultimate goal when learning any language is
to be able to communicate naturally and fluently with others. Therefore, learning to
reinforce listening, reading and writing must always accompany English speaking

practice.
However, in fact, the students’ English communication skills after graduation
are still very poor and do not meet the requirements of employers. This situation has
also been mentioned a lot in the mass media recently. In particular, students do not
acquire the required language skills even though they have been learning English
very early. The state of teaching and learning English speaking skill has long been
ignored and given little consideration time.
Vietnamese students in general, and the first year students at Thuongmai
University in particular still run up against many difficulties in the process of
teaching and learning English, especially speaking English flexibly and smoothly.
This study will indicate the barriers, difficulties in improving English speaking
skills for first year students who are directly learning and using English in a real


working environment later. Students at Thuongmai University will be the next high
quality employee generation and the face of the country. Hence, having excellent
English speaking skills is an essential qualification in the future life, especially in
the working place. Moreover, it is a key point helps them to catch the eyes of
employers.
1.2. PREVIOUS STUDIES
Improving English speaking skills is often chosen by many researchers in the
world and in Vietnam in particular. Before getting up to the investigation of the
difficulties in improving English speaking skills encountered by students at
Thuongmai university, I will show you some reviews about the studies related to
“Difficulties in improving English speaking skills of the first year students at
Thuongmai University”.
1.2.1. STUDIES ABROAD
The thesis with the topic “Improving Speaking Skills” by Betsabé Navarro
Romero (2010) should be mentioned the difficulties in developing speaking skills of
both infant and adult learners so as to focus on the real possibilities to develop a

high level of speaking proficiency. Besides, this article showed the role of teacher to
students’ speaking skills, the English oral communication that need to improved and
the strategies that can be used to overcome the difficulties.
The second study related to problems in oral communication skill which I
refer is that “ Improving English Language Speaking Skills of Ajloun National
University Students” by four researchers namely Abdel-Rahman Al- Eiadeh, Dr.
Mahmoud A. Al.Sobh, Dr. Samer M. Al-Zoubi and Dr. Fadi Al-Khasawneh for the
International Journal of English and Education (2016). This study revealed that the
students of Ajloun National University face many difficulties related to speaking
skill, such as confusion and diffidence, lack of vocabulary and pronoucing words
correctly. Besides, some appropriate solutions were given to help students overcome
the weakness in speaking skill and help teachers build up the teaching techniques in
order to meet the students’ need.


The third research that I have examined is “Technology in teaching speaking
skill” by Maryam Bahadorfar and Reza Omidvar (2014). Unlike these above
studies, this paper aimed to discuss some modern technologies available for
teachers today to enhance speaking skill of second or foreign language learners such
as Internet, podcasts, video conferencing, videos and speech recognition software.
1.2.2. STUDIES IN VIETNAM
To have a thorough gasp and more knowledge of the study I have examined, I
would refer to the research “Using project-based learning to improve English
speaking skills of non – English major students of level” by Bui Thi Ngoc Oanh for
Journal of Science and Technology (2017). This article investigated the
effectiveness of project-based teaching methods to improve the speaking skill for
first year students at Nha Trang University. The research paper also outlined the
benefits and challenges of teaching through projects as well as the solutions to
improve the effectiveness of this teaching method.
The study “How to improve students’ English speaking skill?” by Ho Minh

Thu mentioned the reality of teaching and learning English speaking of students at
Danang University and then suggested some main techniques which include the
methods of strengthening the English teaching methods in order to help students
enhance their English speaking skill. Only in this way, students who are learning
English speaking can learn it well so that they can communicate in English fluently
and improve their English speaking skill.
Overall, we can easily find out studies related to improving speaking skill.
These studies have mentioned quite clearly and clearly many problems and
difficulties when communicating in English of students in different fields but there
have been no studies on English speaking skill problem in the first year students
who are the lack of thorough training. For this reason, I have decided to carry out a
research on the shortcomings and difficulties of first year students at Thuongmai
University about speaking skill and propose suitable solutions to improve it.
1.3. AIMS OF THE STUDY
The study is done with the following aims:


First and foremost, this study will figure out the difficulties in the process of
improving English speaking skills of the first year students at Thuongmai
University.
Then, the study would like to suggest some solutions to deal with these
problems and create the best effect in English learning for first year students at
Thuongmai University.
Finally, this study could be very valuable for first students at Thuongmai
University in particular and students in general to perfect English speaking skills.
1.4. RESEARCH SUBJECTS
Based on the rationale and the aims of the problems, the subject of this
research is “Difficulties in improving English speaking skills of the first year
students at Thuongmai University”. It is obviously that there is one main subject
here: English speaking skill. Therefore, there are two small subjects of this study:



To investigate the difficulties that first year students at Thuongmai

University face in improving English speaking skills.


To suggest some solutions in order to improve English speaking skills of

the first year students at Thuongmai University.
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study mainly aims at pointing out the causes of difficulties in improving
English speaking skills of the first year students at Thuongmai University.
Additionally, the researcher also investigates the learning strategies applied by
the first year students in practicing English progress. As a result, once having been
completed, the study is expected to bring considerable benefits to both teachers and
students.
Moreover, the findings and suggestions of this study are believed to enhance
the teaching and learning process of English speaking skills for the first year
students at Thuongmai University in particular and students in general. The results
of this study may be a valued document for the students themselves and other
people who are interested in learning English speaking skills.


Furthermore, the findings of this study also provide recommendations for
completing English speaking skills as well.
Finally, the research findings would raise the teachers’ awareness of the
students' difficulties, thereby guiding them in reconstructing their program of
teaching to suit their students’ needs. From this issues, the efficiency of teaching
and learning English speaking skills in Thuongmai University will increase.

1.6. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
There are so many different material resources that require a lot of time and
efforts to examine myself but my personal experience is limited. Therefore, this
study can only focus on studying the English speaking skills of students, then
determine difficulties they encounter in oral communication to propose some
solutions to improve English speaking skills.
This study is conducted through questionnaire over the internet with the
participation of the first year students at Thuongmai University. The participants of
the research are 140 first year students who are studying at Thuongmai University.
The questionnaire was distributed to the participants in different faculties to sort out
different English speaking problems.
I hope that this study is a useful document for the first year students at
Thuongmai University in particular and all the students in Vietnam in general and
help them get higher English speaking level.
1.7. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
The construction of this study includes four parts as follows:
Chapter 1: The introduction gives the rationale, the aim of study, the research
subjects, scope of the study, methodology and the structure of study.
Chapter 2: The literature review shows the background literature directly
relevant to the study being discussed.
Chapter 3: Research findings include the evaluation and analysis from the
survey questionnaire.
Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggested techniques for improving English
speaking skills of the first students at Thuongmai University.



CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. DEFINITION OF SPEAKING AND THE RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN SPEAKING AND OTHER LANGUAGE SKILLS
2.1.1. DEFINITION OF SPEAKING
Speaking is a common tool to communicate within the community. There are
no communities wherever they live that have no language.
According to Ladouse (in Nunan, 1991: 23), speaking is known as the activity
to express oneself in the situation, or the activity to report acts, or situation in
precise words or the ability to convey a series of ideas fluently. There are nine basic
concepts of speaking as the means of communicating (Logan et al., 1972, p. 104 –
105). They are:
(1) Speaking and listening are two reciprocal activities.
(2) Speaking is an individual process in communicating,
(3) Speaking is a creative expression,
(4) Speaking is behavior,
(5) Speaking is learned behavior,
(6) The wealth of experience influences speaking,
(7) Speaking is a way in smoothing the horizon,
(8) Linguistic ability and the environment are closely combined,
(9) Speaking is personal emission,
Slamet and Saddhono (2012) revealed that speaking is an activity that
contributes to oral communication such as talks, discussions, interview, etc. In the
communication, people exchange their ideas, express thoughts, feelings, and also
agree with the establishment or beliefs.
There are many different definition of communication that given by many
famous researchers. However, to be easy to understand, it has been mentioned in the
school – based curriculum that the nature of learning to speak is basically using oral
discourse to express thoughts, feelings, information, experiences of opinions and
comments in interviews, presentations, discussions and speeches.


2.1.2. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPEAKING AND OTHER

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Speaking is the productive skill and it cannot be separated from listening. In
the nature of communication, for example in a conversation, we can find four
components: the speaker, the listener, the message and the feedback. Furthermore,
speaking materials are often come from listening and reading activities. Based on
the above statement, Saddhono and Slamet revealed these following statements’
namely:
a. Speaking and listening are direct language skills;
b. Speaking skill is learned through listening comprehension;
c. The enhancement of listening comprehension will improve speaking skills;
d. Sound and voice are the important factors in speaking skill and listening
comprehension;
e. Speaking skill is retrieved before the acquisition of reading comprehension;
f. Learning reading comprehension in advanced will help speaking skills;
g. Speaking skill is acquired before learning speaking skills;
h. Speaking tends to be less structured than writing;
i. Making notes, charts, etc., can help speaking skills
j. Speaking and writing performance are different although they are an equally
productive skill (Saddhono and Slamet, 2012, p. 55)
2.1.3. THE IMPORTANCE ROLE OF ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS
Nowadays, English is one of the most important language in the world, it is
the official language of 53 countries and spoken by around 400 million people
across the globe. For Vietnam, a country is in the process of integrating with the
world, English becomes more and more important, not only for graduates looking
for work but also for students who are still sitting in their school. English is playing
an important role in many sectors including medicine, education, business,
technology, banking, computing, tourism etc. As a result, English is being taught
and learned in Vietnam as a second language today.

Language is a tool for communication. Communication takes place, where
there is speech. Without speech we cannot communicate with one another. As a
result, the importance of speaking skills is significant for the learners of any
language.

In order to become an excellent communicator, one needs to be

proficient in each of the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and
writing, but only having ability to speak skillfully can bring several advantages to
the speaker. Ingram & Sasaki (2003) claimed that mastering English speaking can
help people be able to communicate with other people from different countries.
Therefore, English speaking becomes an important skill that needs to be learned and
improved.
For students, speaking is one of skills which have to be mastered in learning
English (Mustafa, 2015). Speaking is also a tool for them to find a good part – time
job to earn extra incomes and help their parents. However, they only find manual
jobs such as server in restaurants and selling goods in shops. The reason is that they
are lack of experience and do not have any foreign language. In contrast, if they are
confident in English and good communication skills, they can apply for the
necessary positions such as English teaching assistants, interpreters, freelance
guider or salesman at tourist shops. It is not only a wonderful opportunity for
students to earn money but also let them keep practicing and developing their
English skills.
In the workplace, an English – speaking employee can easily gain promotion
in work more than the others because he/she can be able to communicate and learn
advanced techniques effectively through communication with foreigners. They are
foreign language skills that help him/her ensure a better job opportunity than
someone who only possesses original technical skills.
In short, good speaking skills are not only important for career success, but
also for one’s personal life.

2.2. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN
THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY
In Vietnam, students start to learn English very early. However, most students
do not acquire the necessary language skills, especially speaking skills although


English is considered as the second language after the mother language. This is a
common problem of many universities in Vietnam today.
At Thuongmai University, non – English majored students also have problems
with English communication skills. They have limited English proficiency in spite
of previous schooling. They do not pay attention to learning English until studying
in university (Universities often require that all students must have an English
certificate before graduation). They are normally lack of confidence in speaking in
public, lack of motivation in improving speaking skills and lack of grammar and
vocabulary for use. Moreover, the freshmen also find it difficult to get used to the
new learning environment and feel shy about communicating with each other. This
makes speaking English more limited. For students of the English faculty, because
English scores are doubled when calculating the entry score, the language
proficiency of English majored students is higher than that of the non – English
majored ones. However, English speaking skills are still poor, mainly due to lack of
confidence and shyness when making mistakes.
On the other hand, although the first year students in Thuongmai
University are freshmen but they are the elders in the curriculum of learning
English. There is a fact that younger learners differ from older ones in the way they
learn new languages. First, young learners enjoy to study through plays while adults
are comfortable and analytical with abstract learning. Second, young learners get
bored more easily than older ones and they are also more egocentric. However,
contrary to the popular belief, young learners may not better than older ones in
language learning. They can be excellent in imitating the exact pronunciation of
their teachers, but they are generally less successful in learning abstract concepts as

the older learners. According to Lightbown and Spada (2006), older learners are not
less effective in language learning as we suppose. They may find it difficult to
approximate native speakers’ pronunciation, but they can be better at reaching high
levels of proficiency in foreign language learning. As a result, as long as the
freshmen of Thuongmai University make their own opportunities for practice in
using the language inside and outside the classroom, they can completely become
the successful English speaking learners.


2.3. THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS
OF FRESHMEN AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY IN PARTICULAR AND
STUDENTS IN GENERAL
2.3.1. SUBJECT FACTORS
2.3.1.1. LINGUISTIC FACTORS
Learners who have oral proficiency must use appropriate language forms.
Some components of linguistic factors include pronunciation, grammar, and
vocabulary are very important considered by students for speaking skills. They also
have to focus on the situation of conversation time. As support by Harmer (2002),
speaking not only need the knowledge to produce the form language but also on
when, why and what way to result in the words.
In a conversation, speakers need to use correct grammar and their
vocabulary also needs to be rich enough to convey thoughts into words. In
particular, speakers have to pronounce accurately for listeners to understand and
respond to. Speakers and listeners need to have all of these qualities to fully
complete the conversation.
2.3.1.2. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
It is clear that psychological factors become important and influential elements
which bring a great impact on how the students learn English particularly in
speaking area. The students with a good cognitive ability still find it difficult to
speak and the main psychological factors as motivation, self – esteem, and anxiety

are potential aspects in influencing the students’ oral performance (Aouatef, 2015).
Particularly, when the students have to speak in front of the class, there are the
feeling of being afraid in making mistakes, lack of confidence and motivation,
shyness, and also anxiety (Juhana, 2012). Moreover, one psychological factor can
be related to others. For example, the act of being anxious, shy, and lack of
confidence can be the result from the feeling of fear of making mistakes, and the
lack of self – esteem also can be caused by shyness. These psychological factors not
only arise from a student who is presenting his speaking competence in front of the


class, but also from other students who act as audience in an individual’s speaking
activity.
2.3.2. OBJECTIVE FACTORS
2.3.2.1. LEARNNING ENVIRONMENT
The communication environment plays an important role in the practice of
English speaking skills that contributes to the success in improving the quality of
training. Perfecting English skills in which the ultimate goal is to build and develop
a favorable and healthy communication environment for students to learn and
enhancing English speaking skills.
Howard Gardner, Ph.D. has considered in the theory of intelligence: The ideal
learning environment is the place where students communicate, interact with
friends, teachers, play, exercise, sing, dance, tell stories, or do it manually. Learning
in such environments helps learners remember more than 80% of what they learned
in a year later. Because in an English environment, we do not learn passively but
actively. The pressure in the English listening and speaking environment forces us
to focus on listening comprehension and converting from the source language
(Vietnamese) into the target language (English). Developing the communication
environment is to increase the favorable factors to help the communication process
achieve higher quality and efficiency.
2.3.2.2. EDUCATION SYSTEM

The education system cannot be ignored. Students learn English at school and
they are affected by the decisions and changes of education system. According to a
study of Van Van Hoang (2010), the history of English language teaching in
Vietnam can be roughly divided into two periods: before 1986 and from 1986 up to
present. The reason for this division is that 1986 was the year the Vietnamese
Communist Party exercised the open – door policy and thus made the emergence of
English as the number one foreign language in Vietnam. He also stated that from
1982 to 2002, English was introduced as an elective subject at lower secondary
level and a compulsory subject at upper secondary level nationwide. After that
period, English is a compulsory subject at both lower and upper secondary levels


and an elective subject at primary level. In 2018, the Ministry of Education and
Training introduced the new English language general education curriculum
framework. Accordingly, English is a compulsory subject in the general education
program from grades 3 to 12 and the English Immersion Program for grades 1 and 2
is designed to meet the needs to become familiar with English. Besides,
Universities' English output standards depend on each school's regulations. These
changes in curriculum will affect students’ perceptions of English learning and
teachers' teaching methods in different classes.
Although students start to learn English very early under the educational
program, it is difficult to catch a person who can speaking English fluently
excepting some English majored students. It is the unreasonable educational system
of Vietnam that indirectly affects students’ ability English as well as English
speaking skill. Lack of alignment between programs at all levels, lack of flexibility
in teaching and textbook programs have made students’ English speaking very poor.
Changing and improving the weaknesses are the essential things that the
educational system of Vietnam needs to do now to help students learn English better
and improving their English speaking skills.
2.4.

COMMON

DIFFICULTIES

OF

IMPROVING

ENGLISH

SPEAKING SKILLS OF FRESHMEN AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY IN
PARTICULAR AND STUDENTS IN GENERAL
2.4.1. LINGUISTIC FACTORS
2.4.1.1. INSUFFICIENT VOCABULARY
Wilkins in Thornbury (2004) stated that without grammar very little can be
conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed. It means that if someone
has good grammar but they do not know many vocabularies, they can’t not
communicate effectively. In addition, it is supported by Ur (1996) that vocabulary is
one of important things to be taught in learning foreign language because it will be
impossible to speak up without variety of words.
Kinds of difficulties faced by students in vocabulary learning are extremely
various. How to write and spell pronouncing the words, pronouncing the words and


the different grammatical form of a word known as inflections are mainly causes of
students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary. In addition, the students find difficult to
choose the appropriate meaning of the words and also still confuse in using the
word based on the context. The last, they hardly remember and use words or
expression that were idiomatic. Due to these reasons, the speaking ability of a

person can be greatly restricted.
2.4.1.2. INSUFFICIENT GRAMMAR
Grammar is a system of rules that governs the order of sentences, phrases, and
words to show some certain meanings. Grammar and ability to speak fluently are so
closely related. Grammatical competence can help speakers apply and perceive the
structure of English language correctly that leads to their fluency (Latha, 2012).
Learners feel that grammar is really difficult because they do not learn
structures one in a time. If learners do not know the rules of grammar, they won’t be
able to produce a sentence correctly then communicate using English effectively.
The nervous of new grammar, unknown words and the catching message form
speech fails are the barriers for students when communicating. Moreover, there are
a lot of grammatical rules in the English language, so it is hard for the students to
correctly understand and use grammar. Having not mastered English grammar will
lead to appear the errors such as “they is my friends” when students speak.
2.4.1.3. INACCURATE PRONUNCIATION
Thornbury (2005) stated that pronunciation is the lowest level of knowledge
that learners commonly pay attention to. The reason for this underestimation is that
students tend to think mistakenly that pronunciation is less important compared to
other aspects of the English language such as grammar, lexicology and vocabulary.
In fact, if a word is pronounced incorrectly, the recipient will inevitably
misunderstand the message.
As we know, English is not a phonetic language because pronunciation of
English words is not similar to their spellings. Words with similar spellings are
sometimes pronounced differently due to their surrounding contexts like tenses and
phonemes. This can cause a lot of problems for non – native speakers of English


and most freshmen at Thuongmai University also find it difficult to pronounce a
word correctly. They always get confused in producing the English words.
2.4.1.4. INSUFFICIENT SENTENCES ORGANIZATION

The arrangement of words in a speaker's sentences also greatly affects
communication skills. According to most models of sentence production (e.g.,
Levelt, 1989), the first stage of this process involves formulating a message, a non –
verbal representation of the information that speakers want to express. This message
then undergoes the linguistic encoding: Speakers must choose and retrieve suitable
words to express the individual concepts of the message and must integrate them
into a syntactic structure.
Sentence organization is equally critical to the listener's understanding.
Listener needs to know the principal parts of a sentence before they can reply to
speaker. Suppose that the speaker has a rich vocabulary, correct pronunciation, but
the words in the sentence are not arranged properly, the listener will be doubtful
about the speaker’s thought.
2.4.1.5. INSUFFICIENT LISTENING ABILITY
According to Doff (1998), speaking skills cannot be developed unless we
develop listening skills. Listeners must understand what is being told to them in
order to have a successful conversation. Shumin (1997) shared the ideas of Doff
(1998) by stating that when one person speaks, the other responds through
participation through the listening process. In fact, in a conversation, each one plays
the role of both a listener and a speaker. Therefore, one certainly cannot respond if
he/ she cannot understand what is being said. It means speaking and listening is
closely related.
2.4.2. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
2.4.2.1. FEAR OF MAKING MISTAKES
One of the main factors of students’ reluctance to speak in English in the
classroom is the fear of mistake. With respect to this issue, Aftat (2008) stated that
fear of making mistake is linked to the issue of correction and negative evaluation.
Moreover, as argued by Middleton (2009), most EFL students are afraid to try and


to speak in a foreign language they learn. In this context, as he added, students

worry about being foolish in front of the class or being criticized by the teacher. In
some other cases, they are also scared of sounding silly and so on. As a result,
students commonly hesitate to participate in the speaking activity.
2.4.2.2. LACK OF CONFIDENCE
It is commonly supposed that students’ lack of confidence usually occurs when
students realize that their interlocutors do not understand them or when they do not
understand other speakers. In this case, they tend to keep silent while others do
talking. This is due to the fact that the students are lack of confidence to
communicate. In response to this, Tsui cited Nunan (1999) said that learners who
lack of confidence about themselves and their English necessarily suffer from
communication apprehension.
Chen (2010) declared that the main cause of students’ confidence is their low
ability in speaking English. He added to this statement that many students think
their English speaking skill is bad and feel that they cannot speak English well. The
other cause of students’ lack of confidence is also related to the lack of
encouragement from the teacher. As a result, as Brown (2001) added, students find
the learning of speaking demotivating rather than motivating.
2.4.2.3. ANXIETY
Spielberg (1983) defined anxiety as the subjective feeling of tension,
apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the nervous
system. Among other psychological factors, anxiety stands out as one of the main
deterrents for effective language learning.
Regarding the causes of anxiety, Horwitz and Cope (1986, in Zhao Na, 2007)
based on their research results, stated three main causes of students’ anxiety which
are communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. The
communication apprehension relates to the learners’ ability to communicate in the
target language. Due to the low ability in this aspect, many students feel anxious
when speaking. The second cause, which is test anxiety, deals with students’ fear of

being tested. In addition, fear of being judged by their teachers is also another factor
affecting the anxiety of students.
2.4.2.4. STUTTERING
Stuttering can cause serious psychosocial impact. People who stutter often
have problem in production of sound or difficulty in moving from one sound to
another or sometimes making a sound after stopping. According to Jones MR
(1976), stuttering can be defined as the blockages, disco ordination, or
fragmentations of the forward flow of speech (fluency).
Stuttering is related to multiple factors and having possibly multiple
causes. However, the two main causes of stuttering are genetic predisposition and
confusion when speaking. If the speaker is stuttering due to fear, their speaking
skills can be completely improved.
2.4.2.5. LACK OF MOTIVATION
Nunan (1999) emphasized that motivation is important because it can affect
students’ reluctance to speak in English. In this sense, motivation is a key factor in
determining the preparation of learners to communicate. Zua (2008) further added
that motivation is an inner energy and no matter what kinds of motivation the
learners possess it will enhance their study interest.
Without motivation, students will almost fail to make the necessary effort to
develop their speaking skills in the target language. In discussion of motivation, an
accepted distinction which is made between external and internal motivations is the
motivation that comes from outside and from inside.
2.4.3. PHYSICAL SETTINGS
2.4.3.1. INFREQUENT ENGLISH CONVERSATION
Conversation is a key to language development. This practice enables learners
to assimilate their acquired knowledge, integrate a variety of cognitive skills at once
to produce oral communication. In effect, this is learning by doing. According to a
study by Elise W. M. Hopman and Maryellen C. MacDonald of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, speaking skills of the learners who attending on conversations