Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of the first year non english major students at haiduong medical technical university and some possible solutions

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
--------------------o0o---------------------

NGUYỄN THANH THUỶ

FACTORS AFFECTING THE PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING
ACTIVITIES OF THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR
STUDENTS AT HAIDUONG MEDICAL TECHNICAL
UNIVERSITY AND SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
( NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG NHÂN TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG TỚI VIỆC THAM GIA
VÀO HOẠT ĐỘNG NÓI CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG
ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KỸ THUẬT Y TẾ HẢI
DƯƠNG VÀ MỘT SỐ GIẢI PHÁP KHẢ THI)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 0111

Hanoi, 2015

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
--------------------o0o---------------------

NGUYỄN THANH THUỶ

FACTORS AFFECTING THE PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING
ACTIVITIES OF THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR
STUDENTS AT HAIDUONG MEDICAL TECHNICAL
UNIVERSITY AND SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
( NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG NHÂN TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG TỚI VIỆC THAM GIA
VÀO HOẠT ĐỘNG NÓI CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NGÀNH TIẾNG
ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KỸ THUẬT Y TẾ HẢI
DƯƠNG VÀ MỘT SỐ GIẢI PHÁP KHẢ THI)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 0111
SUPERVISOR: Dr. TRẦN THỊ THU HIỀN

Hanoi, 2015

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DECLARATION
I certify that this thesis is entirely my own work. I have provided fully documented
references to the work of others. The material in this thesis has not been submitted for
assessment in any other formal course of study.

Hanoi, August 20th 2014

Signature

Nguyen Thanh Thuy

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In completion of this thesis, first of all I would like to express my sincere and deep
gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Tran Thi Thu Hien for her experienced guidance,
invaluable advice, and encouragement since the very beginning until the completion of
the thesis.
I am indebted to all the lectures of Vietnam National University, Hanoi – Faculty of
post-graduate studies for their valuable lectures which help me to orient the topic.
I also wish to acknowledge the great support and precious help with the data collection
and analysis of my colleagues and students at Haiduong Medical Technical University.
Without them, I could not have completed my thesis.
Finally, I would like to thank my family, my dear friends from the master course who
gave me support and encouragement during the time the study was carried out.

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ABSTRACT
The study was carried out in the hope of investigating some factors affecting
the first year non-English major students’ participation in speaking activities at
Haiduong Medical Technical University. The respondents were 12 English teachers
and 165 first year non-English major students. In this paper, the researcher used two

data collection instruments: questionnaires and interviews for both teachers and
students. The findings showed that factors affecting students’ involvement originated
from students, teachers, classroom and materials’ sides. On the basis of the findings,
the study also provides some possible solutions for the teaching and learning process
of English concerning the effective factors to maximize the students’ involvement in
speaking activities.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .....................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................................................... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS .......................................................................................vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1
1. Rationale of the study ............................................................................................................ 1
2. Aims of the study ................................................................................................................... 1
3. Research questions................................................................................................................. 2
4. Scope of the study .................................................................................................................. 2
5. Methods of the study ............................................................................................................. 2
6. Significance of the study ....................................................................................................... 2
7. Structure of the study ............................................................................................................. 2
PART B: DEVELOPMENT..................................................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 3
1.1.Speaking in second language learning and teaching .......................................................... 3

1.1.1 Definitions of speaking..................................................................................................... 3
1.1.2. Characteristics of speaking .............................................................................................. 3
1.1.3. The roles of speaking in language teaching and learning............................................... 4
1.2. Approaches to the teaching of speaking ............................................................................ 5
1.3. CLT and teaching speaking ................................................................................................ 6
1.3.1. Concept of CLT ............................................................................................................... 6
1.3.2. Characteristics of CLT..................................................................................................... 6
1.3.3. Conditions of Applying CLT .......................................................................................... 7
1.3.3.1. Authentic materials ....................................................................................................... 7
1.3.3.2. Teachers ........................................................................................................................ 8
1.3. Student’s participation in oral activities ............................................................................. 8
1.3.1. Concept of students’ participation................................................................................... 8
1.3.2. Factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities ...................................... 8
1.3.2.1. Students’ factors ........................................................................................................... 8
1.3.2.2 Teacher’s factors .......................................................................................................... 13
1.3.2.3 Classroom factors ........................................................................................................ 15
1.4. Summary ........................................................................................................................... 17
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................... 18
2.1. Context of the study .......................................................................................................... 18
2.2 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 19
2.2.1. Participants ..................................................................................................................... 19
2.2.2. Data collection instruments ........................................................................................... 19

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2.2.2.1. Survey questionnaires................................................................................................. 19
2.2.2.2. Interviews .................................................................................................................... 20

2.2.4 Data collection procedures ............................................................................................. 20
2.3. Summary ........................................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS ............................ 21
3.1. Data analysis ..................................................................................................................... 21
3.1.1. Results from students’ survey questionnaire and interview questions ....................... 21
3.1.1.1. Students’ assessment of their speaking ability .......................................................... 21
3.1.1.2. Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill ................................................................. 21
3.1.1.3. Students’ level of participation in speaking activities ............................................... 22
3.1.1.4. Students’ assessment of speaking activities in the class............................................ 23
3.1.1.5. Students’ evaluation on learning speaking English ................................................... 23
3.1.1.6. Students’ assessment of the topics in the textbook.................................................... 26
3.1.1.7. Students’ evaluation on the teachers. ......................................................................... 26
3.1.1.8. Factors affecting students’ participation .................................................................... 28
3.1.1.9. Students’ suggested solutions to increase their participation .................................... 28
3.1.2. Results from teachers’ questionnaire and interview ..................................................... 29
3.1.2.1. Teachers’ attitude towards speaking skill .................................................................. 29
3.1.2.2. Teachers’ assessment about students’ speaking ability. ........................................... 29
3.1.2.3. Teachers’ method and activities ................................................................................. 30
3.1.2.4. Factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities ................................. 31
3.1.2.4. Teachers’ suggestions to increase students’ participation in oral activities. ............ 32
3.2. Findings and discussion .................................................................................................... 33
3.2.1. Students’ level of participation in class speaking activities ......................................... 33
3.2.2. Students’ factors ............................................................................................................ 33
3.2.3. Teachers’ factors ............................................................................................................ 34
3.2.4. Classroom factors .......................................................................................................... 34
3.2.5. Material factors .............................................................................................................. 35
3.3. Suggestions ....................................................................................................................... 35
3.3.1. The students ................................................................................................................... 35
3.3.2. The teachers ................................................................................................................... 36
3.3.3. The materials.................................................................................................................. 37

3.3.4. The classroom ................................................................................................................ 38
PART C: CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 39
1. Summary of the study .......................................................................................................... 39
2. Limitations of the study ....................................................................................................... 40
3. Suggestions for further research .......................................................................................... 40
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 41
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................I

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
HMTU: Haiduong Medical Technical University
M.A.: Master of Arts

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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Chart 1: Students’ assessment of their speaking ability ......................................................... 21
Chart 2: Students’ attitudes towards speaking skill ................................................................ 21
Chart 3: Students’ level of participation in speaking activities .............................................. 22
Chart 4: Students’ assessment of speaking activities in the class.................................23

Chart 5: Students’ assessment of the topics in the textbook New Headway pre-intermediatethe third edition ........................................................................................................................ 26
Table 1: Students’ learning styles............................................................................................ 23
Table 2: Students’ motivation ................................................................................................. 24
Table 3: Students’ anxiety ....................................................................................................... 25
Table 4: Students’ opinion about teachers’ method and characteristic .................................. 26
Table 5: Teachers’ techniques to encourage students............................................................. 27
Table 6: Factors affecting students’ participation ................................................................... 28
Table 7: Students’ suggested solutions to increase their participation ................................... 28
Table 8: Teachers’ attitude towards speaking skill ................................................................. 29
Table 9: Teachers’ assessment of students’ speaking ability. ................................................ 29
Table 10: Teachers’ method and activities ............................................................................. 30
Table 11: Factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities ............................. 31
Table 12: Teachers’ suggestions to increase students’ participation in speaking activities. . 32

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
These days, English is very popular in Vietnam. English has become a crucial means
of communication and it is widely used in different fields of the society such as
international commerce, science & technology, education, medicine and so on. That is
why, English teaching and learning have become a great necessity for Vietnamese
people. Especially, learning speaking gains a great stature as the need of
communication is paid much more attention.
However, in some places in Vietnam, English teaching has been strongly influenced
by traditional methods. Teachers as well as students pay too much attention to the
grammar items. Teachers mainly focus on explaining the grammatical rules and

structures to students who are considered as passive recipients. As a result, those
students are often reluctant in speaking activities.
In recent years, English teachers have changed their teaching methods and focused on
teaching speaking to the students. One top concern of most teachers is students’
ineffective participation in speaking lessons. The reasons for that are various. Tsui
(1996), after carrying a research in Hong Kong, lists five principle factors affecting the
reluctance of students’ participation in classroom speaking lessons: students’
perceived low proficiency in English, student’s fear of making mistakes and derision,
teachers’ intolerance of silence, uneven allocation of turns, and incomprehensible
input (as cited in Nunan, 1999:234).
Having been teaching English at Haiduong Medical Technical University (HMTU) for
seven years, the author of this paper has realized that most of the students do not often
enjoy speaking periods, and they do not actively contribute the speaking lessons. They
always keep quiet, passively take note, some listen to better students speaking but do
nothing while some other students even discuss in Vietnamese. That is the reason why
the topic “Factors affecting the participation in speaking activities for the first year
non-English major students at Haiduong Medical Technical University and some
possible solutions.” was chosen as an attempt to find out the reasons for the above
problems, and propose some suggestions to increase students’ participation in
speaking activities.
2. Aims of the study
The study investigates current teaching and learning of speaking skill for and of the
first year non-English major students at HMTU to identify factors affecting the first
year non-English major students’ participation in speaking activities and from that
gives some possible solutions to increase students’ participation in speaking activities.

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3. Research questions
To achieve the aims which are mentioned above, the following research questions
were raised for exploration:
1. What are the factors affecting the students’ participation in speaking activities?
2. What are the possible solutions to increasing these students’ participation in
speaking activities?
4. Scope of the study
The current research concentrates on investigating factors affecting the first year non-English
major students’ participation in oral activities and from that gives some possible suggestions
to increase students’ participation in oral activities at HMTU. All of the attempts working
with other types of students, other skills at other institutions are out of the scope of the study
5. Methods of the study
To conduct the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. The data
were collected by means of questionnaires and interviews. Survey questionnaires, one
for students and the other for teachers were used to gather information and evidence
for the study. To make the data more reliable, interviews for teachers and students
were conducted. All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion
provided in the thesis were based on the analysis of the data collected.
6. Significance of the study
The information of the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities is
helpful for students and teachers of English in general and teachers at Haiduong
Medical Technical University in particular. Suggestions to increase students’
participation may help the teachers overcome the challenges and find ways to have
successful lessons.
7. Structure of the study
The study is divided into three parts:
Part A (Introduction) presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope, methods,
significance and structure of the study.
Part B (Development) includes three chapters:

Chapter 1 (Literature review) gives some theoretical background about speaking
skill and factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities.
Chapter 2 (Methodology) presents the context of the study, participants, data
collection instrument, data collection procedures
Chapter 3 (Data analysis, findings, and suggestions) includes data analysis, finding,
the author’s discussion, and suggestions
Part C (Conclusion) presents major findings of the study, its limitations and some
suggestions for further research.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Speaking in second language learning and teaching
1.1.1 Definitions of speaking
Of the four language skills ( listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking is
considered a productive skill. It is also a difficult skill for non-major English students
in Vietnam in general and for the first year non-major English students at HMTU in
particular. According to Chaney (1998:13), speaking is “the process of building and
sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non verbal symbols, in a variety
contexts”.
In addition, Brown (1994) defines speaking as a process of constructing meaning that
involves producing, receiving and processing information. In Brown and Yule’s
opinions (1983), spoken language consists of short, fragmentary utterances in a range
of pronunciation. Usually, there is a great deal of repetition and overlap between one
speaker and another. Speaker usually uses non-specific references. They also add that
spoken language is made by using the loosely organized syntax, and non-specific

words, phrases and filters such as oh, well, uhuh, and so on.
From the above definitions, speaking is making use words, knowing and being able to
use language; expressing in words and making speech. Therefore, we can infer that
speaking is the ability to make use of words or a language to express oneself in actual
communication.
1.1.2. Characteristics of speaking
As for Bygate (1987:12), in most speaking the person to whom we are speaking is in
front of us and able to put right if we make mistakes. He/She can also generally show
agreement and understanding – or incomprehension and disagreement. Unlike readers
or writers, speakers may need patience and imagination, too. While talking, speakers
need to take notice of the other and allows listeners chance to speak it. It means that
we take turns to speak. Brown (1983) and her colleagues point out that a listener gives
a learner models to utilize when acting as a speaker. In addition, being a hearer first
helps the learner appreciate the difficulties inherent in the task. It is clear that giving
speakers experience in hearer’s role is more helpful than simple practice in task in

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which a speaker is having real difficulties in appreciating what a particular task
required.
Speaking has the following characteristics:
Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including
the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical environment, and
the purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, open-ended, and evolving.
However, speech is not always unpredictable. Language functions ( or patterns) that
tend to recur in certain discourse situations can be identified and charted.
Speaking requires that learners not only know how to produce specific points of

language such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary ( “linguistic competence”),
but also that they understand when, why, and in what ways to produce language
(“sociolinguistic competence”).
Speech has its own skills, structures, and conventions different from written
language. A good speaker synthesizes this array of skills and knowledge to succeed in
a given speech act.
Bygate (1987) considers speaking as an undervalued skill in many ways. The reason is
that almost all people can speak, and so take speaking skill too much for granted. He
also asserts that speaking skill deserves attention every bit as much as literacy skilled.
Learners often need to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of
their most basic transactions. Bygate also highly appreciates speaking by stating that
speaking is the medium through which much language is learnt.
To sum up, it is undeniable that speaking is key to communication. By considering
what good speakers do, what speaking tasks can be used in class, and what specific
needs learners report, teachers can help learners improve their speaking and overall
oral competency.
1.1.3. The roles of speaking in language teaching and learning
It can not be denied that in our daily lives, people spend more time speaking rather
than writing or reading. According to Larseen-Freeman (1986) “The goal of language
teaching is to develop communicative competence”. That means people learn a
language to communicate well in that language. Bygate (1987) considers speaking as
an undervalued skill in many ways. The reason is that almost all people can speak, and
so take speaking skill too much for granted. He also asserts that speaking skill

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deserves attention every bit as much as literacy skilled. Learners often need to be able

to speak with confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions. In
the study of Ur (1996:120), speaking seems intuitively the most important of all four
skills. Speaking is regarded as the first step to confirm who knows or does not know a
language. Pattison (1992) shared the same opinion that when people mention knowing
or learning a language, they actually mean that they are able to speak the language.
From the above reasons, teaching and learning speaking skill is vital and should be
paid much attention to.
1.2. Approaches to the teaching of speaking
- The Grammar – Translation Method
For many decades the predominant method of language instruction was the grammartranslation method. This method is rooted in the teaching of the nineteenth century and
was widely used for the first half of the last century to teach modern foreign languages
(Richards and Rodgers (2001). In the Grammar – translation Method, students are
taught to analyze grammar and to translate (usually in writing) from one language to
another. The main goal of this method has been for students to read the literature of a
particular culture. This method does not really prepare students to speak English,
therefore, it is not entirely appropriate for students to improve their speaking skills. In
conclusion, the Grammar – translation Method is not consistent with the goals of
increasing English learners’ fluency, oral production or communicative competence.
- The Direct Method and Audio – Lingualism
The Direct Method focused on “everyday vocabulary and sentences” (Richards and
Rodgers (2001:9) and lessons were conducted entirely in the target language. More
importantly, the lesson presented new teaching points in speaking rather than in
writing and it was practiced “ in a carefully graded progression organized around
question and answer exchanges between teachers and students.”
In Audio-Lingualism, speaking is taught by having students repeat sentences and recite
memorized dialogues from the textbook. Bygate (1987:15) states that “teaching oral
language was thought to require no more than engineering the repeated oral
production of structures”. In this method, the lesson emphasized repetition drills in
order to familiarize students with the sounds and structural patterns of the language. In

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short, memorizing patterns did not lead to fluent and effective communication in real –
life situations.
- Communicative Language Teaching
At the end of the 1960s, the Audio – Lingual Method met a drastic attack from both
American sociolinguistics and British functional linguistics based on the study of
language from a wider prospective. Hymes (1972) put forward the term
“communicative competence” to refer to appropriate language performance in contrast
to “ linguistic competence”. At the same time, Brumfit and Johnson (1979)
emphasized “the functional and communicative potential of language. They saw the
need to focus on communicative proficiency rather than on mere mastery of
structures”. CLT features more interaction- based activities such as role plays,
information gaps, pair work and group work. In summary, among some approaches of
the language teaching methods, CLT is the most appropriate way for communication.
1.3. CLT and teaching speaking
1.3.1. Concept of CLT
According to Nunan (1989:194), “CLT views language as a system for the expression
of meaning. Activities involve oral communication, carrying out meaning tasks and
using language, which is meaningful to the learners. Objectives reflect the needs of the
learners including functional skills as well as linguistics objectives. The learner’s role
is a negotiator and integrator. The teacher’s role is a facilitator of the communication
progress. Materials promote communicative language use; they are task-based and
authentic.”
Nunan also asserts that in communication process, learners are negotiators and
integrators whereas teachers are facilitators.
1.3.2. Characteristics of CLT

Language is not simply a system of rules. It is now generally seen “as a dynamic
resource for the creation of meaning” (Nunan, 1989). This point of view really
supports CLT.
CLT’s goals are (a) making communicative competence the goal of language teaching and
(b) developing procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the
interdependence of language and communication. ( Le Van Canh, 2004).

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Richards and Rogers (2001:161) confirms that CLT has a rich theoretical base and
some of the characteristics of the communicative view of language are:
-

Language is a system for the expression of meaning;

-

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

-

The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative use; and

-

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

exemplified in discourse.

In Brumfits’s view (1984:91-93), CLT’s characteristics can be summarized as follows:
-

Teaching is leaner – centered and responsive to learners’ needs and interests;

-

The target language is acquired through interactive communicative use that
encourages the negotiation of meaning;

-

Genuinely

meaningful

language

use

is

emphasized

,

along

with

unpredictability, risk-taking and choice-making;
-

There is exposure to examples of authentic language from the target language
community; and

-

There is a whole language approach in which the four traditional language skills
(speaking, listening, reading and writing) are integrated.
In brief, CLT has served as the dominant approach to language teaching since

the demise of the Audio-Lingual Method.
1.3.3. Conditions of Applying CLT
1.3.3.1. Authentic materials
To overcome the typical problem that students can’t transfer what they learn in the
classroom to the outside world and to expose students to natural language in a variety
of situations, adherents of the Communicative Approach advise the use of authentic
language materials. Materials like newspaper articles, books in target language, live
radio or television broadcast programs are only suitable for students of high
intermediate level of proficiency. For those with lower proficiency in the target
language, simpler authentic materials are realistic and most desirable. Besides, the
lower level class can use authentic materials without containing a lot of complicated
language items, but a lot of discussion could be generated.

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1.3.3.2. Teachers
Teacher’s role is also one of the most important components in applying CLT. In CLT
class, teachers are not only facilitators of students’ learning but also advisors of the
students’ wonderings. Sometimes, they can act as a co-communicator to engage in the
communicative activities along with students. Teachers are the initiators of classroom
activities but they do not always interact with the students. They give the students
chances to express their individuality by having them share their ideas and opinions.
As for Littlewood (1981) this helps learners integrate the target language with their
won personality and feel more emotionally secure with it.
For the ones who never or rarely attend any language courses on CLT, training or
retraining in CLT is always necessary because teachers’ competence decides the
success or failure of applying CLT.
1.3. Student’s participation in oral activities
1.3.1. Concept of students’ participation
In Howard, Short and Clark’s opinion (1996: 8-24), participation is the student’s active
engagement in the classroom to promote effective learning. The student’s activities
may include reciting in class, having conversations with the instructor or their
classmates, doing written outputs, and sharing ideas with others. It means a
participative learner is one that is not passive. Moreover, Sylvelyn, Judith and Paulin
(2009) define participation as students who actively engage in classroom discussions,
rather than be passive learners who simply take in knowledge.
In order to have a successful lesson, students’ participation must be active and even.
The author, with nearly ten years of teaching experience, acknowledges that students’
participation in classroom oral activities can be affected by a variety of factors such as
from students, teachers, classroom and materials.
1.3.2. Factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities
1.3.2.1. Students’ factors
a. Students’ language proficiency level.

In Vietnam, a common problem of language learners is a shortage of vocabulary,
structures and expressions. As a result, they are unwilling to speak. In the class, many
students just sit in silence and do not participate in the classroom activities.

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Nunan (1999:234) points out factors affecting the reluctance of students’ participation
in class speaking lesson as follow:
-

students’ perceived low proficiency in English

-

students’ fear of mistakes and derision

-

teacher’s intolerance of silence

-

uneven allocation of turns

-

incomprehensible input

Rod (1985) reports that proficiency consists of the learners’ knowledge of target
language; it can be synonymous with “competence”. Proficiency can be viewed as
linguistic competence or communicative competence. Second language proficiency is
usually measured in relation to native speaker proficiency.
In Burns and Joyce’s view (1997), students have difficulties in pronunciation such as
sounds, rhythms and stress patterns of English, lack of social and cultural knowledge,
low proficiency of grammar patterns and problems in transferring from the native
language into the target language. All of these linguistics factors result in break –
down in processing language and communication.
In fact, if students’ language proficiency is rather low, they will not be confident to
participate in speaking lesson. Moreover, if students are of different language
proficiency levels, teachers may cope difficulties choosing a suitable teaching method,
and activities used in class.
b. Students’ learning styles
It is undeniable that learning style has a great influence on students’ participation in
speaking lesson. Individual‘s learning style in an educational context indicates a
different way he/she approaches new information. Brown (2007: 120) defines learning
style as “cognitive, affective and physiological traits that are relatively stable
indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to the learning
environment”.
As can be seen from Willing’s classification, if the majority of students in one class
belong to concrete and authority – oriented groups, the degree of participation in oral
activities of this class will be low.
According to Brown (1994) the contrast between reflectivity and impulsivity
dimension is one factor affecting students’ participation in speaking lesson. Reflective

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learners are slower, more careful and often weigh all the considerations before
speaking out in the class, on the other hand, impulsive learners are quicker at making
decision and make gambles before a solution is achieved. So in speaking lesson,
impulsive learners are faster but less accurate speaker than reflective ones.
As claimed by Ellis (1985:120), extroverted learners are more willing to interact with
others than the introverted, and therefore they are more successful in oral
communication.
Sharing the same view with Ellis, Lightbown and Spada list a number of personality
characteristics that have a great influence on the success of second language learners:
extroversion, inhibition, self – esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness and
responsiveness (1999:54-55).
A study conducted by Galvan and Fukada (1998: 29-49) finds that students who are
outgoing participated more than introverts. The study also determines that participants
who self-reported as having passive personalities are least likely to initiate a question
or volunteer an answer to teacher’s question.
We can conclude with certainty that if the teacher neglects these differences among
students, only some of them can benefit from the classroom activities.
c. Students’ attitudes and motivation
It is clear that students’ attitudes and motivation plays an important part in the success
of language learning. Harmer (1999:51) defines motivation as “some kind of internal
drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something”. Lightbown
and Spada (1999) propose that “motivation in second language learning is a complex
phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learners’ communicative
needs and their attitudes towards the second language community”. It can be
understood that if learners have favorable attitudes and desire to speak the second
language for communication, they will be motivated to acquire the language
proficiency.
Harmer (1999:51) divides motivation into two types intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation is possessed by people having personal interest in doing
something. On the contrary, extrinsic motivation is caused by such outside factors, not
for their own sake, as the need to pass an exam or the hope of financial reward.

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If all the students just learn English in order to pass the written exams, they think that
participating in speaking activities is not necessary. In this case, a big question for the
language teachers is how to inspire students’ personal interests in the speaking
lessons?
In order to do so, we have to understand the sources of motivation as “without knowing
where the roots of motivation lie, how can teachers water those roots?” (Oxford &
Shearin, 1994:15). Fisher (1990) points to three major sources of motivation in
learning:
-

The learners’ natural interests (intrinsic satisfaction)

-

The teacher/ employment…etc (extrinsic reward)

-

Success in the task (combining satisfaction and reward)

Harmer (1999:51) also mentions that the sources of motivation are diversified. They

may derive from the society, significant others like the attitude of parents or old
siblings, the teacher and the method. The responsibility of the teachers is to increase
and direct students’ motivation through setting clear goals, learning environment and
interesting classes, which can directly influence students’ participation.
According to Sass (1989: 86-88) there are many factors affecting student’s motivation
to work and to learn: interest in the subject matter, perception of its usefulness, general
desire to achieve, self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as patience and persistence.
However, not all students are motivated by the same values, needs, desires, or wants.
Some students will be motivated by the approval of others, some by overcoming
challenges.
In conclusion, motivation and attitude play an important role in teaching and learning
as “positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language
learning” (Gardner (1975). Whatever factors affecting students’ motivation, it is a
duty for each language teacher to increase students’ motivation in speaking lesson.
d. Students’ anxiety
Anxiety is one of several affective factors which can influence attention and hence
lead to deterioration in language performance. There are different types of anxiety. A
distinction can be made between trait anxiety, state anxiety, and situational-specific
anxiety. Scovel (1978) defines trait anxiety as “ a more permanent predisposition to be
anxious”. It is perhaps best viewed as an aspect of personality. State anxiety can be

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defined as apprehension that is experienced at a particular moment in time as a
response to a definite situation (Spielberger, 1983). It is a combination of trait and
situation-specific anxiety. This latter type consists of the anxiety which is aroused by a
specific type of situation or event such as public speaking, examinations, or class

participation.
Psychological definitions of anxiety refer to a “transitory emotional state or condition
characterized by feelings of tension and apprehension and heightened autonomic
nervous system activity” (Spielberger, 1983:24), a state which can have both negative
and positive effects, and which motivates and facilitates as well as disrupt and inhibits
cognitive actions such as learning.
There are a lot of reasons for assuming that an anxious learner will not be a good one.
Anxiety will distract from the task of attending to and remembering new items; it will
discourage from the practices that will establish items. A number of earlier studies
failed to find evidence of the effect of general anxiety on second language learning.
Bailey (1983) analysed the diaries of 11 learners and found that they tended to become
anxious when they compared themselves with other learners in the class and found
themselves less proficient. Bailey also identified other sources of anxiety, including
test and learners’ perceived relationship with their teachers. Ellis and Rathbone (1987)
reported that some of their diarists found teachers’ questions threatening. These and
other possible sources of anxiety (like communication apprehension, tests, fear of
negative evaluation) in the foreign language classroom are reflected in the
questionnaires which a number of researchers have devised to measure learner anxiety
such as Gardner and Smythe (1975).
In Zhang Xiuqin‘s research (2006), he found out that anxiety was the main negative
factor which prevented students from participating in classroom speaking activities.
High anxiety learners tended to withdraw from voluntary participation and reluctant to
take risks. He identified some main causes of language anxiety:
-

Less proficient English

-

Students’ fear of mistakes and derision

-

Large class size

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Unwilling to take risks

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Low tolerance of ambiguity

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-

Competitiveness

In short, there is sufficient evidence to show that anxiety is an important factor in
second language acquisition in general and in students’ participation in speaking
activities in particular. “The students’ anxieties, if unacknowledged and unaddressed,
prevent interaction in the learner group and hinder the acquisition of the second
language” (McCoy, 1979:185). Therefore, language educators should strive to
promote a non-threatening learning environment and “user-friendly” oral exams which
students could prepare for well in advance, in order to prevent negative interactions
between language anxiety and other personality variables such as learning styles,

motivation, and personality types. Teachers themselves could eventually discover and
apply the most effective techniques in controlling anxiety.
1.3.2.2 Teacher’s factors
a. Teacher’s characteristics
To establish a good relationship, it is vital that teachers should be cordial, acceptant
and tolerant, otherwise it can make students scared and afraid of speaking in the class.
Tsui (1996) found out that teachers’ intolerance of silence is one of five principal
factors affecting students’ reluctance in speaking (cited in Nunan, 1999:234). Further
more, in his investigation, Dornyei (2001:146) also stated that the teacher’s
relationship with the students, the teacher’s attitude or the style conflicts between them
are major factors de-motivating students’ participation
It should be noted that not every teacher can have all the above characteristics, but it
can help improve a good rapport between the teacher and students. With such good
interaction during the lesson, it both creates a positive environment for learning and
enhances students’ participation in the activities.
Although “the perfect set of personal qualities and characteristics for an effective
teacher has not been found” (Barry, 1993:94), it would be true to say that in order to
involve students in classroom’s activities, teacher firstly should be one that students
respect and lay their trust on. The teacher’s prestige will make students feel safe in the
lesson and willing to participate in the activities. To support this point, Barry (1993)
mentions some characteristics that a teacher should have:
- Being natural: The teacher should present himself as real person such as the
feeling of happiness, sympathy, annoyance or humorous. Therefore, the relationship

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between students and teacher will be closer, which helps increase students’

involvement and co-operation in the process of teaching and learning.
- Being warm: The teacher regards students as his fellow people, respects their
personal characteristics and is happy to have them around.
- Being pleasant: The teacher’s attitude towards students expresses his relaxation,
friendliness in the relationship with his students. Besides, being pleasant also means
being enthusiastic towards the job of teaching.
- Being approachable: An approachable teacher is the one who makes students feel good
about being with him and the one that students can come to see if they have problems.
- Being tolerant: In learning a foreign language, students’ mistakes are inevitable. The
teacher needs to be tolerant with those mistakes instead of criticizing them tactlessly.
To sum up, not all teachers have all those factors. However, teachers should try to
create a close relationship with students to encourage students to participate in
speaking activities.
b. Teacher’s methodology
The teacher’s methodology refers to the approach or method and the teaching
techniques he uses in the classroom. Through the history we have experienced the
existence and development of many teaching methods that can be divided into two
types: teacher – centered and learner – centered methods. Traditional methods such as
the Grammar Translation Method, the Direct Method are teacher – centered ones
which mostly focus on grammatical and phonological accuracy. These techniques are
choral repetition, drilling substitution, content explanation and narrative presentation
seem so mechanical and simple that they will result in learners’ passiveness and limit
their participation in learning. Thuy (2008) also states that Vietnamese students’
passiveness in learning is the product of traditional teaching. In recent time, in the light
of Communicative Language Teaching, teacher’s technique turn from teacher –
centered method into learner – centered method. The teaching technique consist of
role-play, problem solving, games, pair work, group work, interview, discussion, and
so on. Harmer (1991: 12) finds that classes in which the teachers present a variety of
activities are far more likely to ensure students’ continuing interest and involvement in
learning, whereas classes in which the teachers continually give the same activities are

not likely to engage students’ interest.

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However, no teaching method is the best one as each one has its own advantages and
disadvantages. In order to apply a suitable teaching method, the teacher should take
some of the following factors into consideration including learners’ level, interests and
purposes. Applying the appropriate method can have positive effects on students’
learning and participation in classroom’s activities.
In conclusion, students’ participation can be affected by teacher’s factors including
teacher’ role, characteristics and methodology. Teaching method may play a decisive
part in obtaining teaching goals, and in this case, increasing students’ involvement in
oral activities. In addition, teacher’ characteristics and teacher’s roles in the classroom
activities play an important role in students’ participation. Therefore, in order to reach
this goal, teachers should improve themselves in methodology, knowledge and
personality to motivate students.
1.3.2.3 Classroom factors
a. Classroom size
Large classes cause problems not only for teachers but also for students and their
learning process. In Hayes’ definition (1997), any class with over 40 students can be
considered a large class. Teaching large classes is difficult for both teachers and
students in many reasons. First, teaching large classes requires more work for the
teacher as there are more learners to assist. Then, it is not easy for teachers to motivate
all students, make all of them concentrated, to have them involved, and to get them
promptly responded. Moreover, large classes are often more difficult to control
because of the number of learners. Noise is greater, and discipline problems are more
likely to become uncontrollable. Next, many of techniques and materials we use in

smaller classes are difficult to use with larger classes because of students’ different
learning preferences, different English proficiency level. If there is littler classroom
space, for example, arranging seats in groups can be difficult or impossible.
In short, large classes cause problems for both teachers and students. Therefore,
students should actively participate in the lessons and teacher should choose suitable
method or techniques to improve the situation.
b. Classroom atmosphere
Many teachers do not take classroom atmosphere into consideration when they
conduct their classes, but the atmosphere is an essential part of learning in a classroom.

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According to Underwood (1987:34-44), both students and teachers take the
responsibility for creating a good teaching and learning environment with the
following points:
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Giving a sense of purpose: All the students are provided opportunities to talk and

listen to each other and they have clear objectives to achieve in and after the lesson.
-

Ensuring that English is spoken: It is important to use English as the classroom

language right from the beginning and make sure that you want to conduct the lesson
in English. Therefore, students will form the habit of speaking English in the class.
There is no doubt that the teacher’s command of using the target language can have

great influence on the students’ willingness to speak. By doing so, the teacher can set
the best example and provides a good model for his classes.
-

Balancing

fluency

and

accuracy:

The

teacher

should

balance

the

encouragement of fluency with the need for accuracy. If he focuses too much on
accuracy, weaker students will be shy and reticent to speak. Then, they will lose the
confidence in speaking , and the gap between the weak and other fellow students
become bigger.
-

Using an appropriate language: Classroom expressions are highly appreciated

to be used regularly in the class. However, the language should be clear,
understandable and it matches students’ level.
-

Giving encouragement: When students are trying their best to reach the goals,

the teacher should give an appropriate comment to encourage them. A comment like
“Good”, “Well done”, “That’s right” can make students feel more confident and
motivated, and more importantly they are eager to speak more often.
-

Involving all the students: In large classes, it is very easy to miss some students

out when doing oral practice. Underwood suggests some ways of endeavoring to
include all the students such as using the class register list, setting speaking rules and
games to encourage all students to participate in the activities.
-

Decreasing the pressure of examination and tests: Students are often nervous

and anxious about the exams and tests. Thus, the teacher shouldn’t put too much
weight on giving marks or tests.
-

Increasing extra-curricular activities: Extra-curriculum activities conducted

outside lesson times can make a significant contribution to maintaining a good

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