CHALLENGES IN STUDYING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS ENCOUNTERED BY FOURTH YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
------

GRADUATION PAPER
CHALLENGES IN STUDYING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS
ENCOUNTERED BY FOURTH-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT
THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY

Supervisor

: Mrs. Hoang Thu Ba, M.A

Student

: Nguyen Dinh Bach

Class

: K54N4

Student’s code

: 18D170154

0


ABSTRACT
Nowadays, English has become one of the most common languages for nonEnglish as well as native English speakers all over the world. In the integration trend,
English has become an indispensable tool in human communication and business. Not

an exception in the whirlwind of that era, Viet Nam was increasingly developing and
prevailing in the English language as an essential requirement. It is not only used in
English-speaking countries but also internationally used in many countries including
Vietnam. In the era of globalization, English has become an essential tool in
strengthening trade and culture exchange in many countries. It plays an indispensable
role in every aspect of life to help English speakers keep up with the advances in science
and technology and globalization trends.
Speaking English is not only considered one of the most important skills in
communication as well as interaction with people in our lives, but also it has the greatest
impact on learners. However, there are not many people are aware of this importance.
They are many students in universities, colleges,…who are supposed to be aware of how
important speaking English skills is in the future job and their life as well. The reason is
they find it difficult to study and master this particular ability. The purpose of this study
is to discover challenges in studying English skills of students in the class in the
university, particularly fourth-year English major students at Thuong Mai university.
After discovering the reasons behind these challenges, I will mention some methods to
encourage students to overcome challenges in studying English speaking skills in the
class.

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to show my gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs. Hoang
Thu Ba who helped me very much in the process of completing this graduation paper.
Without her assistance and encouragement, I could not have finished this graduation
paper.
Also, I also would like to express my sincere thanks to the teachers at the English
faculty of Thuongmai University who have taught me interesting and priceless lectures
that have helped me build a firm foundation so that I could fulfill this graduation paper.

Last but not least, I would like to thank all the authors of the materials listed below
for helping me to complete this research.
Due to the limited research, obstacles of the covid-19 epidemic as well as limited
skills, the research may contain some mistakes. I look forward to receiving comments
and suggestions in order to perfect my graduation paper.

ii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

iii

LIST OF CHARTS, TABLES, AND FIGURES

v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

vi

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF STUDY

1

1.1. Rationale

1

1.2. Previous studies

2

1.2.1. From domestic researchers

2

1.2.2. From foreign researchers

3

1.3. Aims of the study

4

1.4. Research subjects

4

1.5. Scope of the study

5

1.6. Research methodology

5

1.6.1. Research instrument

5

1.6.2. Collecting data process

5

1.7. Organization of the study

6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

7

2.1. Overview of speaking skills

7

2.2. Errors in speaking process

9

2.3. Challenges in studying speaking skills

10

2.4. Factors affect studying English speaking skills

14

iii


2.5. Summary

18

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Findings from questionnaire

19
19

3.1.1. The reality of using speaking skills of fourth-year English majors at
Thuongmai University

19

3.1.2. Challenges in studying English speaking skills encountered by fourth-year
English majors at Thuongmai University

25

3.1.3. Solutions to improve studying English speaking skills

29

3.2. Discussion

31

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
4.1. Suggestions

33
33

4.1.1. For students

33

4.1.2. For teachers

36

4.2. Limitation of the study

38

4.3. Recommendations for further study

38

CONCLUSION

0

REFERENCES

1

APPENDIX

3

iv


LIST OF CHARTS, TABLES, AND FIGURES
Chart 3.1: Learning English year of students – P.g 19
Chart 3.2: Students’ attitudes towards English skills – P.g 20
Chart 3.3: Students’ opinions towards the importance of speaking skills – P.g 22
Chart 3.4: Places to speak English – P.g 23
Chart 3.5: Students’ self-assessment about their English proficiency – P.g 24
Chart 3.6: Time spent on studying English speaking skills – P.g 25
Chart 3.7: Challenges in studying English speaking skills – P.g 26
Chart 3.8: Challenges in studying English speaking skills – P.g 27
Table 3.9: Challenges in studying English speaking skills – P.g 28
Table 3.10: Students’ methods to study English speaking skills effectively – P.g 30
Table 3.11: Teaching methods lecturers should use – P.g 31

v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
TMU: Thuongmai university
HOU: HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY
ANU: Ajloun National University
IT: Information Technology
TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication
IELTS: International English Language Testing System

vi


CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF STUDY
1.1. Rationale
These days, the English language plays an essential role in our lives and other
aspects of the world such as jobs, foreign relations,…Therefore, English has become one
of the most common languages in many countries including Vietnam. It is the key to
opening a new door to connect with everyone all over the world. Additionally, almost
all knowledge of humankind is written in English, so learning English will help people
have opportunities to approach new cultures and knowledge. It is a powerful tool in
human communication and worldwide data sharing. Therefore, English has become
more and more important for students to study nowadays.
However, English is not considered as a simple language as people think it should
be, especially speaking skills. There still exist many challenges in studying speaking
skills encountered by English learners in Vietnam in general and fourth-year English
majors at Thuongmai university in particular. Many people state that they have spent so
many years studying the English language but cannot speak it appropriately and
understandably. Moreover, many of them can write and read English well, speaking
fluently and properly is almost impossible.

As a result, speaking English skills has so far become one of the problems faced by
many English language learners in general and fourth-year English majors at Thuongmai
university in particular. Moreover, some students do not know how to improve and
overcome these challenges. Therefore, this study focused on discovering the challenges
in studying English speaking skills encountered by fourth-year English majors at
Thuongmai university. After observing them encounter those problems, I would find out
solutions in teaching and studying methodologies to improve the quality of the learning
of speaking skills.

1


1.2. Previous studies
1.2.1. From domestic researchers
The researcher names Nguyen Ngoc Thien studying by interview and questionnaire
survey on “Difficulties in studying and acquiring English speaking skills for the first
year English majored students at Thuongmai university” (2020). The aims of the study
were to evaluate the students’ English proficiency through questionnaire surveys and
interviews, acknowledge what the difficulties are based on the results of the survey and
the reasons why such obstacles exist, and then suggest some solutions to improve their
speaking skills. From the interview, the researcher showed self-evaluation regarding
their English proficiency and the hardship that participants had to overcome. From the
questionnaire, the study pointed out the important aspects of English in general and
speaking in particular; frequency and time spent on English speaking skills; places to
speak English regularly; sources to learn English speaking skills; students’ opinions of
the most difficult parts when speaking in English. The researcher used both an interview
and questionnaire survey to conduct this study, so it covered fairly many aspects of the
study. However, in the interview survey, the author didn’t cover many aspects of
difficulties related to lecturers’ teaching methods.
The study was carried out by a closed-ended questionnaire on “The difficulties in

learning speaking skills encountered by the first-year English major students at Ho Chi
Minh city university” (2016) by Pham Thuy Duong. The aims of the study were to
identify the obstacles the first-year English students at HOU encountered when learning
to speak and suggest ways of overcoming them in order to enhance the quality of learning
and teaching speaking skills. At the end of the study, the researcher showed the
importance of speaking skills; difficulties encountered during the speaking process;
factors in English speaking skills are difficult; and how grammar affected students when
speaking English. However, this study wasn’t carried out by an interview survey. And
the study only included closed-ended questionnaires. Therefore, the researcher couldn’t

2


cover many aspects of the difficulties in learning speaking skills encountered by the
first-year English major students at HOU.
A group of researchers including Nga Thi Tuyet Phan and Thanh Truc Dang
studying by quantitative research – questionnaires on “Challenges in speaking skills of
students at B English center” (2020). The research aimed to answer three questions
“What are the challenges facing students’ English speaking skills at B English center?”,
“What causes these challenges?” and “How do these challenges affect student’s English
speaking skills?”. The researcher found speaking communication challenges such as
pronouncing troubles, listening troubles, grammatical troubles, vocabulary problems,
expressing a complex idea/problem, and Difficulties in giving a question. However, to
carry out this research, there were only 40 participants,17 males and 23 females
completing a survey in my research. Students were at the ages from 13 to 15.
Additionally, the researcher didn’t conduct the interview survey but used only
questionnaires. Therefore, the study didn’t have a diverse answer to discover as many
difficulties as possible.
1.2.2. From foreign researchers
Abdel-Rahman AlEiadeh (2016) used interview methodology to research the topic

“Improving English language speaking skills of Ajloun National University students”.
The author aimed to enhance the oral communication skills (conversations) of ANU
students. The sample of the study consisted of 20 students (12 female students and 8
male students) all of them studying the English language, the majority of the sample
were seniors and juniors students, while freshmen were minority students. The
researchers used a random sample method. To achieve the objectives of the present
study, the researchers used the semi-structured interview as an instrument for data
collection. The results of this study revealed that the students of ANU face many
problems related to speaking skills, such as confusion and embarrassment. Students did
not learn speaking lessons correctly at school and faced difficulty in pronouncing some
words. The results also showed that the most frequent problems were the limited amount

3


of vocabulary among students, while the least frequent problems were the difficulty in
understanding questions. This study also presented some appropriate solutions to
overcome the weakness in speaking skills, such as practicing speaking English inside
and outside the classroom effectively, using modern social media to communicate in
English, and expressing the student's feelings and needs.
1.3. Aims of the study
This study aims to identify the challenges in studying English speaking skills
encountered by fourth-year English majors at Thuongmai University. After using
quantitative methods through questionnaires to find out those challenges, the author
would mention some methods to encourage students to overcome challenges in studying
English speaking skills in class.
Specifically, the research would have the following main purposes: first of all, it
would be the reality of using speaking skills of fourth-year English majors at Thuongmai
University. And then, the author would aim at finding challenges in studying English
speaking skills encountered by fourth-year English majors at Thuongmai University.

Finally, the auhor would suggest some solutions to improve studying English speaking
skills of students and teaching methods which lecturers should use.
1.4. Research subjects
In four basic skills of the English language, speaking skill is considered one of the
most important and difficult skills. It claimed that speaking is a real language, which
means that the capability to communicate in a language can be shown through the skill
of speaking, according to Woodrow (2006). However, many people can not use English
to communicate with others properly at work or school. Therefore, the research subject
which the author would like to study would be English speaking skills. This research
would focus on the challenges in studying speaking English skills encountered by fourthyear English majors at Thuongmai university.

4


1.5. Scope of the study
In this research, the author only focuses on the fourth-year students at the English
Faculty at Thuongmai university. The specific group of the study would be random 150
fourth-year English majors at Thuongmai University participating in the questionnaire.
After that, the author would find out their challenges in studying English speaking skills
and suggest several solutions which help them overcome those challenges.
1.6. Research methodology
1.6.1. Research instrument
There are two main research methodologies as quantitative and qualitative. In this
study, the author would only use the quantitative method to collect data and information.
Due to the complicated Covid 19 situation, the interview wouldn’t be carried out.
Specifically, questionnaires would be conducted on this study to discover the
challenges in English speaking skills encountered by fourth-year English majors. As a
common and by far the most effective method, a questionnaire survey has been
recognized and implemented many times by others in order to collect data with ease in
terms of opinions, attitudes, and perceptions. In the author’s case, it is efficient to use as

it is straightforward to investigate and gain information from the target students.
The questionnaire survey would have a total amount of 10 questions and is divided
into 4 main parts: Part 1 is to obtain general information about the students; Part 2 is
about the reality of using speaking skills of fourth-year English majors at Thuongmai
University; Part 3 mainly aims at challenges in studying English speaking skills
encountered by fourth-year English majors at TMU; Part 4 is some solutions to improve
studying English speaking skills of students and teaching methods lecturers should use.
1.6.2. Collecting data process
In this research, there is involving random 150 fourth-year English majors at TMU.
To create the questionnaire, the author at first came up with a set of questions that he
believed they would tremendously assist him in solving the existing problems that are

5


hindering the students. After that, the author of this study had the questions included in
the questionnaire, which was created by Google forms and then he started to send into
certain Facebook groups of K54N students and Messenger to ask them to fill in the
prepared information. When the data of 150 students was collected successfully, it’s time
for the author to analyze and discuss it.
1.7. Organization of the study
This study consists of four chapters:
Chapter 1: Overview of the study. In this chapter, the author would present the
rationale, previous studies, aims and the scope of the study, research subjects, research
methodology, and organization of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature review. This chapter would provide the theories relating to
speaking skills, the errors in the speaking process, challenges in studying speaking skills,
and factors that affect studying English speaking skills
Chapter 3: Findings and discussion. This part would show the data on tables and
charts. Collecting and analyzing the data through the questionnaire and discuss

challenges in studying English speaking skills encountered by 150 fourth-year English
majors at TMU.
Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggestions. In the last chapter, the author
would mention some ways to help fourth-year English majors improve studying English
speaking skills. Furthermore, some teaching methods would be mentioned to help
lecturers teach more effectively.

6


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Overview of speaking skills
2.1.1. Definition of speaking skills
First of all, we need to understand the question “what is speaking?”. According to
Brown (1994), Burn & Joyce (1997), speaking is an interactive process of constructing
meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information. Speaking is
a means of communication in expressing ideas, information, and feelings to others. It is
the most essential way in which the speaker can express themselves through a language.
Speaking is literally defined as to say things, express thought aloud, and use the voice.
Kayriye Kayi stated that speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning
through the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols, in a variety of contexts. From this
definition we can share our ideas with others through oral communication. Speaking is
usually symbolized as expressing feelings to others. Through speaking, humans are able
to connect their minds in every aspect of life. That makes the students more fluent in
their communication.
In short, English speaking skill is one of four basic skills of English to express
opinion, idea, thought, or feeling,…to other people through using English in
communication. With English speaking skills, people can communicate with each other.
Students should master this skill because this is an oral skill that is very important for
second language learners or foreign language learners to communicate in their lives.

Without speaking, we can not express what we want to express and it makes people
difficult to communicate with others and will cause bad relations.
2.1.2. The importance of speaking skills
According to Parupalli Srinivals Rao (2019) in his research “The importance of
speaking skills in English”, the English language is spoken all over the world and it has
attained the status of the global language. English is the language widely used in the field
of scientific research, education, business, the internet, travel and tourism, media and

7


newspapers, software, medicine, information and technology, entertainment, banking,
and so on. English is the language that is used mostly for business correspondence and
internet purposes. It is the only major language used in writing scientific research articles
as more than 85% of the research publications are in English. It is the international
language used for trade and commerce. Even in the IT field also, most of the programs
are written in English and they even communicate with their colleagues or other software
professionals who work around the world in English. Furthermore, most of the books
related to higher education are published in English. Due to several advantages of
English, many people are learning the English language to attain fruitful results in their
respective fields.
Speaking skill is the most important skill to acquire foreign or second language
learning. Among the four key language skills, speaking is deemed to be the most
important skill in learning a foreign or second language. Brown and Yuke (1983) say,
“Speaking is the skill that the students will be judged upon most in real-life situations”.
Speaking skills are the most essential skills for all the learners who wish to learn
English to enhance their careers, improve business, build confidence levels, get better
job opportunities, make public speeches, attend interviews, participate in debates and
group discussions, and give presentations and so on.
Moreover, Parupalli Srinivals Rao (2019) stated that in the modern world, the

speaking skill has become quite common to prove the candidates’ talents at the time of
their job interviews in English. An effective speaker can inspire the audience a lot and
gain the complete attention of the audience and maintain the same tempo until the end
of his/her speech. So the audience involves completely in the speaker’s speech and they
sometimes forget the real world and put their complete concentration on the speech. So,
speaking skills play a vital role as everything depends on the way how people
communicate their messages with others.
Baker and Westrup (2003) said that learners who speak English very well can have
greater chance for better education, finding good jobs, and getting promotion. The

8


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
2.2. Errors in speaking process
2.2.1. Pronunciation errors
Pronunciation is one of the most challenging English speaking skills encountered
by students who learn English as a foreign language. For example, Htwe (2017, p.15)
suggested that numerous pieces of evidence point out that pronunciation is a major
problem in the communication process. She found out that the different dialects of
Chinese command use of tones differentiate diverse words with first tones whereas the
English language does not use tones to differentiate words from one another. Besides,
pronunciation is a major problem, especially among Chinese students taking their studies
in the U.S. The researcher claimed that many languages do not use word stress, while
word stress is key to understanding spoken English to communicate rapidly and

accurately, even in difficult conditions. According to Robby (2010), the common
pronunciation problems among Chinese students are often brought about by the
dissimilar structure between the two languages.
2.2.2. Grammatical errors
Dulay, Burt, and Krashen’s Surface Structure Taxonomy (1982), Ellis &
Barkhuizen (2005), four categories were proposed to explain how sentences derive from
the correct forms because the learners change the surface structure. Those categories are:
Addition is indicated by the presence of an ‘unwanted’ item in sentences. The
unwanted items do not appear in a well-formed utterance. This happens when the

9


learners overuse certain grammatical rules of the target language. Example: “He don’t
want go” (Correction: He doesn’t want to go).
The omission is indicated by the absence of certain items that must appear in
sentences. This usually happens in the early stages of second language acquisition.
Example: *My wife very beautiful. (Correction: My wife is very beautiful)
Misformation is indicated by the use of wrong forms of certain morphemes or
structures. Example: *Me don’t love it. (Correction: I don’t love it)
Misordering is indicated by the incorrect placement of certain morphemes.
Example: *She fights all the time her brother. (Correction: She fights her brother all the
time). James (1998) suggested one category is added: Blends occur when two or more
morphemes that have the same function appear in a sentence. Example: *The only one
thing he wants me to do. (Correction: The only thing he wants me to do)
2.2.3. Vocabulary errors
This kind of error usually happens to new English learners when they have a
limitation in the source of vocabulary. According to Nguyen Thi Thuy (2020, p.16)
Vocabulary means the appropriate diction which is used in communication. Without
having a sufficient vocabulary, no one can communicate effectively or express their

ideas properly in 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 author concluded that without sufficient vocabulary, English learners won’t be able
to speak English or write English properly. In some conversations, English speakers use
the wrong vocabulary and this will lead to misunderstanding.
2.3. Challenges in studying speaking skills
2.3.1. Inappropriate teaching methods

10


According to Nunan (1991) “Success is measured in terms of the ability to carry
out a conversation in the (target) language”. Therefore, if students do not learn how to
speak or do not get any opportunity to speak; particularly, if they are not guided and
supported by teachers, how could they perform effectively? In the classroom, the teacher
plays an indispensable role in imparting knowledge, skills as well as techniques
In reality, there are a large number of people being mistakenly guided in the ways
being introduced to learn how to speak properly and fluently, as a result, it will negatively
impact people’s progress in the long-term.
2.3.2. Having little time to study
In the author’s point of view, there are many students having part-time jobs while
studying at university such as waiters, teaching assistants, small businesses,…However,
there are not many part-time jobs that require the use of English in the workplace, so
those students don’t have much time to study English, especially speaking skills.
Besides, participating in many outdoor activities that are not related to English will also
kill their time for nothing. Therefore, if they really want to study English and improve
their speaking skill, they can find out good environments such as English centers,
tourism companies,… to practice.
2.3.3. Unconfident or fear when speaking

Learners’ difficulties include fear of making mistakes, shyness, loss of selfconfidence, and anxiety. According to Juhana (2012, p. 101), psychological or affective
factors often discourage students from speaking English such as being afraid of mistakes,
shyness, lowering anxiety, lack of confidence, and lack of enthusiasm. Nguyen and Tran
(2015) list many factors related to affective issues, which result in speaking difficulties.
Firstly, inhibition is the concept related to or incorporated under the conception of selfesteem. Secondly, anxiety plays a main role in the verbal communication of Englishmajored students. Anxiety is defined as a “feeling of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt,
apprehension or worry” (Brown, 1994, p. 141). It is associated with unlike kinds of

11


nervousness such as anxiety of looking ludicrous, the anxiety of the anticipation coming
from an auditor’s empty look viewing that they are unsuccessful to converse.
According to Shumin (1997), it deduces that speaking a foreign language in a
community, exceptionally in the presence of natural speakers, is often anxietyprovoking. Intense anxiety sometimes arises when students become tongue-tied for
words in an unanticipated state which frequently leads to disappointment and an overall
intelligence failure. She also adds that students are afraid of the fact that other people
would like to know how expert they are when they speak English. They are very careful
about not making mistakes in what they say, for making mistakes would be a community
presentation of unawareness, which would make them “lose face” in some cultures.
According to a domestic research names Pham Thuy Duong (2016) stated that
many students confessed that being afraid of losing face is one reason why they did not
speak willingly in speaking lessons. Resulting from their low level of proficiency and
their lack of ideas, they did not feel confident enough to speak in front of their teachers
and their friends. They were afraid that if they made mistakes, they would be laughed at
and their status would be lowered. Students should be aware that confidence was
especially important in learning speaking. If they were afraid of making mistakes, afraid
of losing face, they couldn’t make use of the chances to express their ideas and showed
their language use. Their teachers and friends would not laugh at them but help them
correct their mistakes which later results in their progress.
2.3.4. Lacking ideas

Lacking ideas is one of the biggest challenges of English speaking skills. According
to Nga Thi Tuyet & Thanh Truc Dang (2020), it is because speaking is one way to
communicate ideas and through a message orally. Nevertheless, students struggle to
think and express their ideas. It is very difficult for learners to respond when their
teachers ask them to say things in a foreign language because they have little opinions
about what to say, which vocabulary to apply, or how to use grammar accurately.
Students find it difficult to have a conversation on a topic that they know little about.

12


Moreover, lacking ideas will make a conversation become short and less interesting. The
main reasons for lacking ideas in speaking English can be limited vocabulary and
knowledge.
2.3.5. The lack of background knowledge and culture
Alderson and Urquhart (1998) believes that: “Along with lexical knowledge,
background knowledge is very important in the ability of speaking. The more speakers
know about the particular topic, the more fluently and accurately they can speak it.
Background knowledge plays a key role in speaking skills”.
In Pham Thuy Duong’s research (2016), background knowledge is what one person
knows about the various fields of life, such as a political event, entertainment, news,
culture by learning, reading, watching or communicating. One main purpose of speaking
is to exchange ideas and information, if one students does not have a normal
understanding about the topic, he or she cannot speak anything, and the purpose of
communicating is broken away. One another shortage of knowledge that also affects a
lot the students’ ability of speaking is the shortage in understanding cultures. Culture of
a country is profoundly reflected in its language. Thus, when learning a foreign, learners
should try to understand its culture to communicate better with people from different
cultures and to avoid misunderstanding, confusions, and dissatisfaction. However, the
first year English major students seem not to pay much attention to this. They tend to

apply Vietnamese culture when talking to foreigners with the question of age or the
marital status that the foreigners are not very pleased to answer. Moreover, in some
topics relating to oversea culture, the first year students usually sit quietly and absorb the
cultural knowledge, not provide the information. These drawbacks must be improved as
soon as possible. Otherwise, they will face a lot of problem in communicating.
2.3.6. Mispronunciation and grammar mistakes.
According to Pham Thuy Duong (2016), one of the biggest difficulties that students
need to conquer is to approach a good pronunciation. In their high school, pronunciation

13


is not paid much attention, as the students have to learn grammar and vocabulary well
for their entrance examination. As a result, their pronunciation, stress, and intonation are
not very good. Moreover, many students have grammatical mistakes when speaking
since they do not often have opportunities to practice speaking English, then they cannot
flexibly apply the grammar to talking and are confused as forgetting the grammatical
rules while communicating. It is very easy to amend these shortcomings as students make
their effort to practice speaking English regularly.
2.4. Factors affect studying English speaking skills
2.4.1. Psychological factors
Psychological factors include feelings of motivation, self-confidence, and
anxiety,…They directly affect personal emotions, making people difficult to
communicate. If students’ emotions are unstable, their thinking ability will be disturbed,
preventing them from transferring messages coherently. According to Nguyen Thi Thuy
(2020, p.19), 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.
It was also stated that the fear of speaking English is pertinent to some personality

constructs like anxiety, inhibition, and risk-taking. They emphasized that speaking a
language sometimes results in anxiety, according to Ur (1996, p.36). Sometimes,
extreme anxiety may lead to despondence and a sense of failure in learners. According
to Varasarin (2007, p.37), the primary reason for fear of mistakes is that students are
afraid of looking foolish in front of other people and they are concerned about how others
will see them. Especially, speaking in front of people is one of the more common fears
that students encounter, and the feeling of shyness makes their minds go blank or they
will forget what to say (Woodrow, 2006).
2.4.2. Vocabulary

14


According to Nguyen Ngoc Thien (2020, p.12), it is necessary in any language in
order to not only communicate properly but also be used in other aspects of a language,
such as writing or reading. In order to speak properly, users must have a decent amount
of vocabulary to respond correctly and appropriately in certain situations. One example
to demonstrate is when talking to a friend, the words chosen should be simple, informal,
and comprehensible, whereas when doing presentations, it’s better to use terminologies
to illustrate the complexity of the subject rather than common words.
2.4.3. Grammar
In the study “strategies of learning speaking skill by second year English majors
at Thuongmai university” of Nguyen Thi Thuy (2020, p.21). When even some native
English speakers commit grammatical mistakes themselves, some people wonder why
there is a need to have grammatical accuracy in English. Native English speakers can
say what they want without much difficulty due to their familiarity with 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.
2.4.4. Pronunciation
Nguyen Ngoc Thien (2020, p.13) said it is considered one of the most pivotal
factors for not only people who have been experiencing and learning English for a long
time but also for new ones who are not very familiar with it, as it causes the meaning to
differ depending on the words, for example: “record” is correctly pronounced as /ˈrekɔːd/
(noun) and /ˈrekərd/ (verb). If we pronounce the words that we want to say in the wrong
way, the listeners will not be able to completely understand what we aim to imply.

15


Consequently, confusion will surely arise, and no one wants such a thing happening at
special and important events such as conferences or meetings.
According to Nguyen Thi Thuy (2020, p.17), 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.
2.4.5. Listening skills
According to Gan (2012), speaking skills cannot be developed unless we develop
listening skills. Because students have to understand what speakers say or discuss. In
fact, every speaker plays the role of both a listener and a speaker. Therefore, one is

certainly unable to respond if he/she cannot understand what is said, which means
speaking is closely related to listening.
However, according to Higgins (1995), another problem in listening is the elision
of a sound or exactly a syllable in a word. Thus, students cannot recognize the words
that they hear. Once they try to comprehend every single word, there is little chance for
them to discover the keywords which give them clues to understand the listening text.
It is said that learners cannot improve their speaking ability unless they develop
their listening ability, according to Doff (1998). 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

16


to reply if they cannot comprehend what is told. That is to say, speaking is very closely
related to listening.
2.4.6. Environment
English learners carry out speaking activities in different environments.
Performance environments impact speaking performance and these ones 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, a student is making a
presentation, it's frustrating when that student asks the classmates "who can answer this
question?" but no one replies. Too noisy environments will also drown out the speaker's
voice, resulting in limited listening comprehension.
Additionally, in a class with a large number of students, each student will have little
time for practicing speaking skills. In some speaking classes, some learners speak
English all the time while others talk very little or even never speak. Besides, although
there is a lack of time for speaking English in class, students still are lazy to seek a new

environment to improve their English speaking.
2.4.7. Teaching method
The teaching method of teachers greatly affects the effectiveness of students'
English learning, especially English speaking skills. Teachers should be equipped with
different teaching methods and should know the different techniques in teaching so that
students will not find the subject uninteresting and also they will pay attention during
the speaking class. Since English speaking skill is an important subject, the teacher needs
to discover ways to stimulate the students’ interest. Discovering new trends in teaching
English speaking skills will keep abreast of an effective teaching-learning process.
Moreover, teachers should practice and apply methods to catch the student’s interest,
help students use or discover their English speaking ability and develop their confidence.

17


2.5. Summary
In this chapter, the author has briefly given reviews related to English speaking
skills. They are definitions, importance, and strategies of speaking skills in the overview
part. After that, pronunciation, grammatical, and vocabulary errors are given as errors in
the speaking process part. Finally, difficulties and factors that affect studying English
speaking skills are also found. Chapter 2: Literature review has covered all theories
related to English speaking skills. In the following Chapter 3, the author would conduct
questionnaire on random 150 fourth-year English majors at Thuongmai University to
understand better challenges in studying English speaking skills encountered by them.

18