An investigation into problems faced by non english major students in large classes in learning speaking skills at vietnam national university of agriculture

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS
AN INVESTIGATION INTO PROBLEMS FACED BY
NON – ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN
LARGE CLASSES IN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILLS
AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF
AGRICULTURE
TÌM HIỂU NHỮNG KHĨ KHĂN MÀ SINH VIÊN
KHƠNG CHUN TIẾNG ANH TRONG LỚP ĐƠNG
GẶP PHẢI KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NĨI TẠI
HỌC VIỆN NÔNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM
Student: NGUYEN PHUONG THAO
Student code: 621275
Major: ENGLISH
Supervisor: NGUYEN THI NGOC THU, M.A

Hanoi - 2021


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES

BA THESIS
AN INVESTIGATION INTO PROBLEMS FACED BY
NON – ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN
LARGE CLASSES IN LEARNING SPEAKING SKILLS
AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF

AGRICULTURE
TÌM HIỂU NHỮNG KHĨ KHĂN MÀ SINH VIÊN
KHƠNG CHUN TIẾNG ANH TRONG LỚP ĐƠNG
GẶP PHẢI KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NĨI TẠI
HỌC VIỆN NÔNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM
Student: NGUYEN PHUONG THAO
Student code: 621275
Major: ENGLISH
Supervisor: NGUYEN THI NGOC THU, M.A

Hanoi - 2021


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled “An investigation into problems faced by non english major students in
large classes in learning speaking skills at Vietnam National University of
Agriculture” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of Bachelor in English Language. Except where the reference is indicated, no
other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of
the thesis.
Hanoi, 2021.

Nguyen Phuong Thao

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Date:……………………

i


ABSTRACT

English is regarded as a worldwide language, with millions of people
speaking it throughout the globe. It is widely utilized as a means of
communication in a variety of disciplines, including science, technology,
aviation, international sport, and diplomacy, among others. Even though they are
from different nations and speak different languages, English allows them to
interact with one another. Therefore, speaking English is a very necessary skill
in modern life.
Nowadays, English is getting more dominant and it is the most popularly
used language by almost every country in the world. In Vietnam, the Ministry of
Education and Training has put the foreign language into schools' curriculums as
a key subject with an orientation of communicative English. Among the four
skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking, the last one is being paid the
most attention. When you learn any language, what you aim to do is how to
communicate naturally fluently with indigenous people. Maybe you have good
writing skills because you have a strong grasp of grammar and vocabulary, but
your reflection is poor. Some common causes for Vietnamese people who have
difficulty in speaking English are fear of communication, lack of training
environment, lack of vocabulary, poor grammar, etc.. For the above reasons, a
study of the problems that non-English major students encounter in the large
classes at Vietnam National University of Agriculture is implemented. This
study aims to find some difficulties and solutions to overcome to improve
speaking skills for students, to help students confidently communicate in class as
well as in daily life and further work.

ii


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the process of completing this thesis, I have received a lot of help from
my supervisor, teachers of the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages at
Vietnam National University of Agriculture. First of all, I owe my deepest
gratitude to M.A. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Thu - my supervisor who always promptly
directed and commented, giving valuable advice to me in a timely manner to
correct and complete my own shortcomings to complete this graduation thesis.
Secondly, I would like to thank the teachers of the Foreign Languages
department who helped me to complete my studies in class so that I can conduct
this thesis. At the same time, I also thank the 240 students of K62, K63, K63 of
non - English major classes and English teachers who are teaching general
English 0,1,2 at Vietnam National University of Agriculture for helping me in
surveying to find out the problems which they faced in learning English
speaking skills.
Last but not least, I would like to sincerely thank my family for always
supporting and strengthening my strength and efforts and love for me to follow.
Thank you, friends, who always stand side by side, support and support me in
my study and life.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ..................................................................... i
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. vi
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................. vii
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. vii
PART I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
1. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................... 1
2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ................................................. 2
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................... 2
4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................. 3
5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .................................................................. 3
6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY ............................................................................... 3
PART II: DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................. 5
Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 5
1.1. REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME & ABROAD) ....... 5
1.1.1. Related research 1 ....................................................................................... 5
1.1.2. Related research 2 ....................................................................................... 6
1.1.3. Related research 3 ....................................................................................... 6
1.2. REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ........................................ 6
1.2.1. Statement of theoretical framework chosen ................................................ 6
1.2.1.1. Speaking ................................................................................................... 6
1.2.1.2. Speaking skills........................................................................................ 10
1.2.1.3. Large classes .......................................................................................... 13
1.2.1.4. Difficulties in learning speaking skills................................................... 14
iv


1.2.1.5. Factors affecting speaking skills ............................................................ 14
1.3 SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 21
Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................ 22

2.1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................. 22
2.1.1. Research setting/context............................................................................ 22
2.2. DATA COLLECTION................................................................................. 23
2.2.1. Data collecting instruments ....................................................................... 23
2.2.1.1. Questionnaires ........................................................................................ 23
2.2.2. Data collecting procedures ........................................................................ 23
2.3. DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................................... 24
2.4. SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 25
Chapter 3: FINDING AND DISCUSSION ........................................................ 26
3.1. PROBLEMS OF NON – ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN LEARNING
SPEAKING SKILLS ................................................................................. 26
3.2. SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS ....................................................................... 33
3.3. SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 34
PART III: CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 36
1. RECAPITULATION ...................................................................................... 36
2. CONCLUDING REMARKS .......................................................................... 36
2.1. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS ....................................................................... 36
The first reason is because of students’ passive learning styles. Students at...... 36
2.2. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENTS ............................................................ 37
3. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY .................................................................. 38
4. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY ................................................... 38
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 39
APPENDIX ......................................................................................................... 43

v


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

VNUA

Vietnam National University of Agriculture

SLA

Second Language Acquisition

LSC

Language Speaking Class

ELT

English Language Teaching

EFL

English as a Foreign Language

L2

Second Language

vi


LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Teachers’ and students’ opinion about students’ favor of learning
English speaking skills. ....................................................................................... 29

Table 2.2: Teachers’ and students’ judgment about speaking skills for students
............................................................................................................................. 29
Table 2.3: Teachers’ and students’ judgment about students’ speaking
competence. ......................................................................................................... 30
Table 2.4: Students’ common difficulties in learning English speaking skill. ... 31

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Students’ background ....................................................................... 26
Figure 2.2 shows students’Figure 2.2: Students’ years of learning English
speaking skills. .................................................................................................... 27
Figure 2.3: Students' score of general English 2 at the second term at school year
2020 – 2021. ........................................................................................................ 28

vii


PART I: INTRODUCTION

1. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Nowadays, in the trend of globalization, English has become an
international language and has been widely used in many parts of the world.
With the development of modern science and technology along with the
integration policy, no one can deny the universality of English. Outside Englishspeaking countries, English has become a compulsory component of education
in many countries. This trend is also applied in Vietnam. At many schools and
universities, English is chosen as a compulsory subject for students because
English is considered to be a useful tool to access the world's knowledge.
Learning English language is, therefore, interesting to many young people,
especially students at universities for plenty of reasons such as getting a job in
foreign companies, studying abroad and so on. Most learners of English agree

that the ability to express themselves freely in communication is of great
importance for their future career, especially in modern societies where
contacting with foreigners often occurs. On the other hand, many people equate
the English ability as being able to speak in English. Many students regard
English speaking ability as the measure of knowing that language. They define
fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability to
read, write, or comprehend oral language. They consider speaking as the most
important skill they can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their
accomplishments in spoken communication.
However, there still exist many difficulties in learning English in general
and speaking skills in particular. Due to limited budgets, lack of human
resources, space and learning facilities, etc..., learning speaking skills in large
classes are currently popular at Vietnam National University of Agriculture ( up
to 60 non – English major students per class). This makes it difficult for the
1


language teachers to manage, control and arrange activities as well as students
practice speaking skills in large classes. On the other hand, mostly in high
school, students have almost no chance to practice speaking English, but only
focus on grammar and vocabulary for the final exam. The reason why makes
students afraid to speak, afraid to say wrong or fewer reflexes, etc.. In addition,
many Vietnamese learners, after many years learning English at schools and
universities, cannot use English to communicate properly and fluently in real life
communication even though they can write and read English quite well.
There are quite many researches on learning English speaking skill and
difficulties in learning this skill; however, there are still few researches about
difficulties in learning speaking skills by non - English major students at VNUA
although it is a quite big university in Vietnam and the number of non-English
major students is also quite large. Being a students at this university, I would

like to carry out a research to find out the common difficulties in learning this
skill by those students in order to help them to improve the situation in the next
semesters.
These above facts have provoked me to conduct a research with the title: “An
investigation into problems faced by non- English major students in learning
speaking skills at Vietnam National University of Agriculture".
2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study is carried out to investigate non - English major students’ problems
in learning English speaking skills in large classes at Vietnam National
University of Agriculture. The author will find out the current situation of
learning speaking skills of non - English major students as well as identify
problems they face in large classes at Vietnam National University of
Agriculture. Then, some solutions will be generated to overcome the problems.
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
All these above aims and objectives can be realized by answering two
2


following research questions:
1. What problems do non - English major students in large classes encounter
in the process of learning English speaking skills?
2. What are suggested solutions for non – English major students to overcome
the problems?
4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
There are many problems that learners can meet when they learn English
speaking skills. However, due to the limitation of time and the narrow scales, the
study focuses on English speaking skills of non – English major students of
K62, K63, K64 who learned English 2 in the first term at school year 2020 2021, and some general problems faced by non - English major students. The
study will limit itself to the problems of 240 non - English major students and
five teachers in General English subjects (English 0,1,2) in learning speaking

skills in the first term at school year 2020 – 2021 at Vietnam National University
of Agriculture. Then, some possible solutions will be suggested in order to help
students learn speaking skills better.
5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Theoretically, this study helps to discover non – English major students’
obstacles in learning speaking skills in large classes of General English subjects
at Vietnam National University of Agriculture. A clearer look into the reasons
for these difficulties will also be gained.
Practically, it suggests some certain ways to help the students overcome
these difficulties since then they can improve their English speaking skills.
6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY
This study consists of three parts:
Part 1: entitled “INTRODUCTION” provides the reason why the topic is
chosen. It then provides the aim and objectives of the study. It is also in this
section that we are concerned with the scope and the design of the study.
3


Part 2: named “DEVELOPMENT” deals with the main contents of the
study.
Chapter 1: "Literature review” considers a slight overview of some
previous research on the same subject. At the same time, it gives a theoretical
background to this study with theoretical preliminaries directly related to
English speaking skills, large classes and factors affecting speaking skills.
Chapter 2: “METHODOLOGY” start with the procedures of the
investigation that refers to the approach of the study and the method to collect
and analyze the collected data to help the author achieve the best results in the
study.
Chapter 3: “Finding and Discussion” focuses on presenting findings of the
research and discussions. The discussion comes after statistical results for each

stylistic feature. It is the basis of the later conclusions.
Part 3: “CONCLUSION” provides the recapitulation of main ideas, the
limitations of the study and some suggestions for further research. The study is
closed with the references and the appendix of English speaking skills that are
used for the analysis.

4


PART II: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

Chapter 1 considers a slight overview of some previous research on the
same subject. At the same time, it gives a theoretical background to this study
with theoretical preliminaries directly related to English speaking skills, large
classes and factors affecting speaking skills.
1.1. REVIEW OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME & ABROAD)
Speaking is an important language skill. People use English as a second
language to interact and communicate on a daily basis. There are many research
topics about English speaking skills, most of them exploit the importance of
speaking skills, and difficulties when learning speaking skills. Some topics refer
to non – English major students and techniques for increasing students’
participation in communicative activities in large classes. I have consulted some
studies in Vietnam in particular and in the world in general on this research
topic.
1.1.1. Related research 1
Hung (2009) carried out a study on increasing students’ participation in
communicative activities in large classes by using group work and questioning
techniques at Marie Curie High School in Hai Phong city. According to him,
learners should be active in groups as well as in classroom activities to enhance

their interactive learning to be communicatively competent. Thus, in order to
involve all learners in class activities, it is the teachers business to design and
apply techniques to increase students' participation in class activities and make
students active learners. He proved that the two techniques: group work and
questioning will help students increase their participation in communicative
activities in large classes.

5


1.1.2. Related research 2
In Penny Ur (1996) research studies “A course in language teaching”, she
pointed out that there are four factors that make it difficult to practice speaking:
students often worry about mistakes, fear of being scolded, shy, students
themselves have no effort; uneven participation in a class, some participants are
enthusiastic while the rest do not say anything; they are afraid to speak another
language, they tend to like to speak their mother tongue. It is easier than
speaking or expressing something in English. They feel unnatural to speak to
others in a foreign language and even they feel less “exposed” if they are
speaking their mother – tongue. She claims that these problems can influence
and make the students can’t speak fluently.
1.1.3. Related research 3
According to the study of Lawtie, Fiona (2004), they pointed out some of
the problems that teachers with large classes face when teaching speaking
activities in the classroom, one of those problems is the students’ difficulties are
affected by emotional state. They are dominated by emotions like unconfident,
shy, anxious, nervous. If they do not believe in themselves, this will become a
big problem for them. Therefore, they came to the conclusion that emotional
factors become one of the important factors to consider when communicating
with people who have difficulty speaking.

1.2. REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.2.1. Statement of theoretical framework chosen
This part revised relevant theories and studies that can be the base for the
research being carried out.
1.2.1.1. Speaking
a. Definition of Speaking
Bygate (1997) states that speaking is a skill which is very important and
requires as much attention as other skills, in both first and second languages. In
order to carry out most of their basic interactions and transactions, learners
6


need to be able to speak, and express their ideas to other people. He slso
emphasizes that “interaction is the use of language for maintaining
communication between participants” and „interaction skills are skills of
deciding what to say, when to say it and how to say it clearly” (Bygate, 1997,
p.115). Therefore, when learning speaking skills, students must understand not
only how to produce specific aspects of language, such as grammar,
pronunciation,

or

vocabulary

(linguistic

competence

or

grammatical

competence), but also when, why, and in what ways language is produced
(linguistic

competence

or

grammatical

competence)

(sociolinguistic

competence).
According to Brown, Burns & Joyce, speaking is an interactive process of
constructing meaning concerning three periods: producing and receiving and
processing information (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997) Chaney and Burk
(1998, p.13) states that speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning
through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in many different contexts.
Brown (1994) affirms that interaction is the heart of communication; it is what
communication is all about, for example in the cases of sending messages;
receiving them; interpreting them in a specific context; negotiating meanings;
and collaborating to accomplish certain purposes. And interaction is the
collaborative exchange of thoughts, feelings, or ideas between two or more
people resulting in a reciprocal effect on each other.
In Byrne’s view (1986), speaking skill is one of two ways of oral
communication process, and is the productive skill. The speaker has to encode
the message he wishes to convey in appropriate language, while the listener has

to decode (or interpret) the message.
According to Florez (1999) speaking is an interactive process of
constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing
information. It is often spontaneous, open-ended and evolving.
In short, there are many alternative definitions of speaking, each with its
own set of advantages and disadvantages. However, in this study the researcher
7


decided to follow the concept of speaking by Bygate (1997) which means that
speaking not only involves grammatical competence but also sociolinguistic
competence.
b. Characteristics of speaking
According to Bygate (1997), speaking involves two kinds of routines in
the process of communicating. They are information routines and interactional
ones. Information routines may be described to involve two subroutines:
expository and evaluation. The former includes description, narration,
comparison and instruction. The latter consists of explanation, prediction,
justification, preference and decision.
In Brown's opinion (1983) speaking has three characteristics: the first one
is that 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. The second one is that 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"). And the last, speech has its own skills,
structures, and conventions different from written language.
c. Speaking activities
Feature of speaking activities

Every activity has its own features and speaking activities also have their
specific features, which make them different from other activities. Those
features are suggested by a lot of language researchers. Ur (1996) also lists some
characteristics of an effective speaking activity such as talking a lot of students’,
even participation, high motivation and the acceptable level of language. Nunan
(1998) agrees, stating that a successful exercise should be applicable to everyday
life, entice all students to participate actively, allow students to use the target
8


language even when they are not in the classroom, and allow them to collaborate
in groups to solve a common problem. Furthermore, it may not make students
feel stressed or humiliated, and it may mobilize the ability for students to want
to speak and interact.
To conclude, the theory of good task suggested by Nunan (1998) seems to
reflect sufficient and clear features of a successful activity. Each feature has its
own characteristics so the use of one or more or a combination of all features
could help teachers improve speaking activities since then to raise students’
participation in learning English in general and in learning speaking skill in
particular.
Problems with speaking activities
Luu's study (2000) suggests the following concerns with speaking
activities in order to gain a better understanding of the challenge in learning and
teaching speaking that teachers and students frequently encounter:
Inhibition: unlike reading, writing and listening activities, speaking
requires some degree of real time exposure to an audience. Learners are often
inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language. In the classroom, they
are worried about making mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face or simply
shy of the attention that their speech attracts.
Nothing to say: even if they are not inhibited, they often complain that

they can not think of anything to say, or they have no motive to express
themselves beyond the guilty feeling.
Low or uneven participation: only one participant can talk at a time if he
or she is heard and in a large group. This means that each one will have only
very little talking time. This problem is compounded by the tendency of some
learners to dominate while others speak very little or not at all.
Mother – tongue use: in speaking classes, all or a large number of the
learners share the same mother – tongue for some reasons. First, it is easier than
9


speaking or expressing something in English. They feel it is unnatural to speak
to others in a foreign language and even they feel less “exposed” if they are
speaking their mother – tongue. If they are talking in a small group it can be
quite difficult to get some class – particularly the less disciplined or motivated
ones to keep to the target language (cited from Practical Course for teaching
English as a foreign language, 2000).
1.2.1.2. Speaking skills
a. Definition of speaking skills
When learning a foreign language, the ability to speak is considered the
most significant skill. Grammar, vocabulary, semantics, and pronunciation are
all aspects of speaking. When learning a new language, the first step is to learn
to speak it, and the best way to do so is to communicate with people around you.
Following that, you'll learn about other abilities like writing and reading.
Speaking shows the interaction between the speaker and the listener. Through
the way you speak, will the opposite person know what you are like? How do
you construct a speech, reason, guide, or receive and analyze information?
Speaking is the use of as much language as possible to convey meaning.
Speaking can be defined in a variety of ways. Widdowson (1984, p58) adds that
"Communication through speaking is performed face to face interaction and

occurs as part of a dialogue or other form of verbal exchange." According to
Chaney (1998): "Speaking is the process of making and sharing meaning by
using verbal and non-verbal symbols in different contexts". Brown (1994) and
Burns and Joyce (1997) defined speaking as the exchange process to create
meaningful sentences including production, reception and processing of
information. Bygate (1987) defined speaking as the reception of information
from the hearing to produce reactions from the listener. It is regarded as
combining sounds to create meaningful sentences.
From the above definitions, we can give a general definition of speaking.
10


Speaking is a method of conveying information through the use of language.
Saying is a way of communication between objects to convey their thoughts,
communicate ideas, feelings, and intentions to connect with each other by
utilizing language according on the speaker's intention. In English, speaking
skills are more important. Moreover, it is claimed to be a crucial talent in this
period of economic integration and distribution, as it is now. Students who speak
good English help them have a better chance of studying, finding jobs and
advancing.
b. The importance of speaking skills
One of the most important skills to have in life is the ability to communicate.
Speaking English is difficult since several aspects influence your ability to
communicate, such as pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. According to
Efrizal (2012) and Pourhosein Gilakjani (2016), speaking has an important
meaning in life because that is how people interact every day.
According to Conrad & Dunek (2012, p74): "Speaking is a communication
tool for changing ideas”. This can be interpreted to convey each person's
feelings according to one's own way of speaking and feeling, expressing
emotions, exploring or discussing. As a result, developing speaking abilities

allows a speaker to become a well-rounded communicator. The ingenuity and
wisdom in using words give the speaker a distinct advantage, impress the
listener, thereby gaining trust and making them respect them. If you want to
advance in your job, you must be able to communicate effectively. Speaking
allows you to express and reinforce your complexity and intellect. Since then,
there have been several possibilities for both study and job. Cushman & Cahn
(1985, p13) cited that: "Speaking is a cross-cultural communication system
whose function is to regulate consensus with respect to the recognition of crosscultural identities and the coordination of a nation's political, economic, and
social functions with other nations." In other words, , if you want to achieve
11


your goal of being a great person, influential to the public, speaking skills
become more important, subtlety, sophistication, sharp arguments in your
statement determine success.
c. Type of speaking skills
Based on Brown's description (2004, p.271), I summarize in 5 groups as
follows:
Imitative: In this imitative, the speaker tries to repeat the words they hear
in an easy-to understand way. This way makes the speaker passive in speaking.
Maybe the speaker repeats accidentally following the instructor but does not
understand anything. However, it will not matter if the speaker understands what
they are saying and can continue the conversation. When imitative speaking
makes them learn how to read words and accents correctly.
Intensive: Intensive speaking is a way of speaking that requires a higher
degree of imitation. In this parlance, the speaker will have a strong amount of
vocabulary and grammar to be able to understand correctly. For example, when
you read an essay, what you draw from it can be a lesson, a summary, or
answering questions related to the text. Intensive speaking compels you to speak
according to your own intentions, which cannot be imitated.

Responsive: Responsive has meant a conversation between 2 or more people
about a problem. The purpose is to create a certain understanding of the problem
in question. Response takes place in a few short questions and with simple
content so the speaker can adapt to interaction speaking.
Interactive: The interaction is the exchange between two or more people on
certain issues. This way of speaking is an upgrade of in-depth speech, through
many individuals to maintain conversation. The distinction is in the way words
are used to convey cohesiveness. The speaker and listener's relationship
becomes more personal as a result of the encounter.
Extensive: Extensive often points to monologue. The way to speak is no
12


longer an improvisation or imitation, it is more advanced. This way of speaking
requires the speaker to have more preparation, select professional words. Deeply
expresses a thorough understanding of what the speaker will say, from which the
listener feels trust and certain with the information heard. As far as I know,
students use all of the above types of speaking in their classroom studies.
Students use it in discussions, presentations, single/pair speaking practice. As a
result, the research concentrated on all of the aforementioned styles of speaking
in order to demonstrate.
1.2.1.3. Large classes
a. Definition of large classes
Penny Ur (1996, p.302) specifically proposes that “the exact number does
not really matter: what matters is how you, the teacher, see the class size in your
own specific situation”. This view is also supported by Baker and Westrup
(2000, p.2) who suggest that “a large class can be any number of students, if the
teacher feels there are too many students for them all to make progress”. It
becomes evident that the concept of large class size is subjective, largely
contextualized and situational based.

b. Advantages and disadvantages of large classes
Advantages of large classes: About the advantages, Balliro (2006) reflected
that large classes enrich the communication of the students. He suggested if the
classes have a strong and clear identity and students are taught to work in mixed
proficiencies, there will be fewer conflicts arising. Ur (1996) also mentioned
four advantages of large classes: the individuals in a mixed class have far more
life experience and knowledge, more varied opinions, more interests and ideas,
all of which can be used in classroom interaction. Students can get to know each
other’s values, personalities and so on to increase their own knowledge and
awareness of others as well as tolerance and understanding.
Disadvantages of large classes: However, besides these advantages, large
13


classes still have some challenges teachers and students have to face. The
interests of students in large classes are greatly diversified and that arise
differences among students in terms of their attitudes to the subject and the
teacher, their knowledge of language, and their personality. Penny Ur also stated
differences such as language learning ability, educational level, general
knowledge, cultural background and motivation make the problem of interest
generation more serious.
1.2.1.4. Difficulties in learning speaking skills
Different scholars have different ideas about the difficulties in learning
speaking skill. Hymes (1974) stated that speaking skill includes linguistics
competence, socio-linguistics competence and discourse competence. Therefore,
students’ psychology, linguistics, culture, learning materials, teachers’
characters, class size, learning environment can affect students’ learning to
master communicative competence. According to Larsen (1986), difficulties in
language teaching in general and difficulties in teaching speaking skill in
particular may stem from teachers, students together with objective factors

affecting the teaching process. And the researcher decided to follow this idea of
Larsen in her study.
There are many different ideas about difficulties from students in learning
a foreign language in general and in learning speaking skill in particular.
Nunan (1999) pointed out that students’ unmotivation is one of the factors that
causes difficulties in learning speaking skill. Unmotivation is caused by lack of
perception of progress, unspired teaching, boredom, lack of relevant materials,
lack of knowledge about the goals of the instructional program, lack of
appropriate feedback. Teachers often find that it is very hard to motivate
students in learning communicative competence.
1.2.1.5. Factors affecting speaking skills
Speaking is daily communication skill Speaking English, on the other
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hand, has never been simple. There are several variables that make learning
English difficult for you. These characteristics make it difficult for you to
communicate successfully in English and drift away. There is an effect from the
inside out as well. Some factors affecting English speaking are psychological
factors, linguistics and other factors. According to Mahripah (2014), Elhadi Nasr
Elhadi Mustafa (2015) and I have noticed some influences in the process of
learning to speak English.

a. Psychological factors
English speaking is a complicated psychological process. In terms of spoken
English teaching, it's critical for teachers and students to consider several key
psychological variables. Clearly, psychological variables play an important part
in language acquisition. Positive emotions can facilitate the language learning
process and improve learners' language performance, while negative emotions
will bring barriers to language learning and reduce learners' learning capacity.

The following are some of the emotional factors in details:
Motivation: Among the factors affecting Second Language Acquisition
(SLA), motivation is the most important one. According to Johnstone (1999, p.
146), it is a drive directed towards a goal. Rod Ellis (1994, p. 715) considers
motivation as "the effort which learners put into learning an L2 as a result of
their need or desire to learn it". Lightbrown and Spada (2001, p. 33) define
motivation in SLA as "a complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of
two factors: learners' communicative needs and their attitudes towards the
second language community". Research has shown that whether second
language learning is successful or not closely relates to the four types of
motivation: Integrative & instrumental motivation, Intrinsic & extrinsic
motivation (Lightbown & Spada, 2001) Gardner and Lambert (1972) considers
the integrative motivation is the one from which learners learn language in order
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to take part in the culture of its people. Meanwhile, ones with the instrumental
motivation learn the language for a career goal or other practical reasons. Paul R
Pintrich & Dale H. Schuck (1996) believes that intrinsic motivation is the
motivation to engage in an activity for its own sake. Meanwhile, extrinsic
motivation is motivation to engage in an activity because it will bring back
something valuable from the outside. It is clear that learners with high and
favorable motivation for speaking often try to devote themselves to English
speaking. They look for the chances to practice speaking English everywhere. In
English class, they are active, and cooperate with teachers' activities positively.
Out of class, they take any opportunity for imitating, practicing and speaking
English. They are of strong volition and will, of clear learning purpose. Thereby,
they easily and more proficiently achieve success in spoken English In their
turn, the success encourages higher motivation.
Anxiety: Language anxiety is the fear or apprehension occurring when a

learner is expected to perform in the second or foreign language (Gardner,
1972). According to Horwirtz et al (1986), anxiety is the subjective feeling of
tension, apprehension, nervousness, and worry associated with an arousal of the
autonomic nervous systems. From the former research, Horwitz (1986) found
that "anxiety can affect the communication strategies students employ in
language class", and that "difficulty in speaking in class are probably frequently
cited as a concern of the anxious foreign language students seeking help at the
LSC." (p. 126). He also stated that students seemed to be fairly comfortable
responding to a drill or delivering prepared speeches in foreign language class
but they tended to "freeze" in a role-play situation. Most anxious students are
afraid of being evaluated negatively and to be less competent than the other
students. They also are afraid of making mistakes. (Horwitz, 1986) Therefore,
anxiety is bad for the improvement of students' spoken English. With the role of
the educators, teachers should help students reduce anxiety by paying much
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