Affective factors influencing speaking performance of non english majored freshmen at cao thang technical college

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

---------------------------

HUYNH LAM HAI

AFFECTIVE FACTORS INFLUENCING
SPEAKING PERFORMANCE
OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN
AT CAO THANG TECHNICAL COLLEGE
Major: English Language
Course code: 60220201

HO CHI MINH CITY, JUNE 2021


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

--------------------------The total number of words: 18,105 words
Chapter One:
2,071 words
Chapter Two:
7,995 words
Chapter Three:
2,794 words
Chapter Four:
3,797 words
Chapter Five:
1,448 words

AFFECTIVE FACTORS INFLUENCING
SPEAKING PERFORMANCE
OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN
AT CAO THANG TECHNICAL COLLEGE
Submitted to the
Faculty of English Language
in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English Language

Course code: 60220201
by
HUYNH LAM HAI
Supervised by
LE THI THANH, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, JUNE 2021


The thesis entitled AFFECTIVE FACTORS INFLUENCING SPEAKING
PERFORMANCE OF NON-ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT CAO
THANG TECHNICAL COLLEGE was successfully defended and approved on
……………………. at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH).

Academic supervisor: …………………………………………………………

Examination Committee
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On behalf of the Examination Committee
Chair

Chair
Reader 1
Reader 2
Member
Secretary
Member


HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE
HCMC, June 2021

MASTER’S THESIS REPORT
Student name: Huỳnh Lâm Hải

Sex: Male

Date of birth: 11/03/1989

Place of birth: Ho Chi Minh City

Major: English Language

Student code: 1941900014

I- Thesis title:
Affective Factors Influencing Speaking Performance of Non-English Majored
Freshmen at Cao Thang Technical College
II- Objectives and contents:
This study aims at investigating affective factors influencing speaking performance
of non-English majored freshmen at Cao Thang Technical College (CTTC). Hence,
the objectives are included as the following:
 To investigate affective factors influencing speaking performance of nonEnglish majored freshmen at CTTC.
 To find out reasons leading to these affective factors in speaking performance
of non-English majored freshmen at CTTC.
This study was conducted at Cao Thang Technical College (CTTC). The study
focused on the investigation of affective factors influencing speaking performance of
non-English majored freshmen at CTTC. The participants were students who came
from four departments at CTTC: Engineering, Electronics, Mechanics, and
Technology. In order to gain the results, the quantitative and qualitative methods were


applied. In addition, two instruments used for data-collection were questionnaire and
semi-structured interview.
III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University)
IV- Completing date: ............................................................................................................

V- Academic supervisor: LE THI THANH, Ph.D
ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR
(full name, signature)

FACULTY DEAN
(full name, signature)


Certificate of originality
I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled:
AFFECTIVE FACTORS INFLUENCING SPEAKING PERFORMANCE OF
NON-ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT CAO THANG TECHNICAL
COLLEGE
In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by
the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City
University of Technology.

Ho Chi Minh City, June 2021
HUYNH LAM HAI

i


Retention and use of the thesis
I hereby state that I, HUYNH LAM HAI, being a candidate for the degree of Master
of Arts (English Language) accept the requirements of the University relating to the
retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited
in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance

with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and
reproduction for theses.

Ho Chi Minh City, June 2021
Signature

HUYNH LAM HAI

ii


Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to those who provided me the
possibility to complete this thesis.
I would first like to show my greatest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Le Thi
Thanh, for the continuous support of my thesis, for her patience, guidance, constant
encouragement, and motivation throughout the whole research process. Under any
circumstances, she always gives me her warm support and dedication. She has been
a wonderful mentor for my study. Without her encouragement, support and guidance,
this thesis would not have been completed.
Beside my supervisor, I would like to show my profound gratitude to all the
lecturers at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology for their efforts to deepen,
broaden my knowledge over the past two years.
Thirdly, I would also like to send my gratefulness to Dr. Nguyen Thi Kieu
Thu, the Dean of English Language Faculty as well as some members of the staff in
the postgraduate institute of this university, who have helped me greatly to complete
this M.A course.
Last but not least, I am also profoundly grateful to my lecturers and students
at CTTC. My work could not be done without the participation of the lecturers and
students at CTTC. Their huge support and participation played a major role in the

completion of my study.

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Abstract
Speaking is an important skill in mastering English. Particularly, to speak
English for EFL learners is not easy and EFL learners need much effort to perform
their speaking in English. The aim of this study is to investigate affective factors
influencing speaking performance of non-English majored freshmen at Cao Thang
Technical College (CTTC) and to find out reasons leading to these affective factors
in speaking performance of non-English majored freshmen at CTTC. This study
involved 200 freshmen, the questionnaire and semi-structured interview were
employed for data collection. The questionnaire was used to investigate affective
factors influencing speaking performance of non-English majored freshmen at
CTTC, and the semi-structured interview was find out reasons leading to these
affective factors in speaking performance of non-English majored freshmen at CTTC.
The results showed that affective factors including lack of motivation, lack of selfesteem, and anxiety have negative impacts on speaking performance of non-English
majored freshmen at CTTC. The reasons for these factors are from these students,
classmates, teachers’ manner, and learning environment. The aspects related to
affective factors result in their low achievement in English speaking performance. It
is hoped that this study may help EFL teachers and students to recognize speaking
difficulties related to affective factors in order to get over them and gain the better
learning outcomes.
Keywords: affective factors; speaking skill; speaking performance; motivation; selfesteem; anxiety.

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Table of Contents

Certificate of originality .............................................................................................. i
Retention and use of the thesis ................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... iii
Abstract ..................................................................................................................... iv
List of tables ............................................................................................................. vii
List of figures .......................................................................................................... viii
List of abbreviations and symbols ............................................................................ ix
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1
1.1 Background to the study ...................................................................................1
1.2 Statement of the problem ..................................................................................3
1.3 Aims and objectives of the study ......................................................................4
1.4 Research questions ............................................................................................5
1.5 Scope of the study .............................................................................................5
1.6 Significance of the study ..................................................................................6
1.7 Definitions of key terms ...................................................................................6
1.8 Organization of the Thesis ................................................................................7
CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................9
2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................9
2.2 Speaking skill ....................................................................................................9
2.2.1 Definitions of speaking skill ....................................................................9
2.2.2 The Importance of speaking in language learning .................................10
2.3 Characteristics of Speaking Performance .......................................................11
2.3.1 Fluency...................................................................................................12
2.3.2 Accuracy ................................................................................................13
2.4 Affective factors influencing learners’ speaking performance .......................16
2.4.1 Motivation ..............................................................................................17
2.4.2 Self-esteem.............................................................................................21
2.4.3 Anxiety...................................................................................................25
2.5 Previous studies ..............................................................................................28
2.6 Conceptual Framework ...................................................................................34

2.7 Summary .........................................................................................................35
CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................36
3.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................36
3.2 Research design ..............................................................................................36
3.3 Research site ...................................................................................................37
3.4 Sample and sampling procedures ...................................................................39
3.5 Research instruments ......................................................................................41
3.6 Data collection procedures .............................................................................43
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3.7 Data analysis procedures ................................................................................44
3.8 Validity and reliability ....................................................................................44
3.9 Ethical issues...................................................................................................46
3.10 Summary .......................................................................................................47
CHAPTER 4 - RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.......................................................48
4.1 Introduction .....................................................................................................48
4.2 Results .............................................................................................................48
4.3 Discussions .....................................................................................................58
4.4 Summary .........................................................................................................62
CHAPTER 5 - CONLUSION ...................................................................................63
5.1 Summary of the main findings of the thesis ...................................................63
5.2 Pedagogical implications ................................................................................64
5.3 Limitations ......................................................................................................66
5.4 Recommendations for further research ...........................................................67
REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................68
APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................78
Appendix A - Questionnaire (English version) ....................................................78
Appendix B - Questionnaire (Vietnamese version) ..............................................80
Appendix C - Student interview questions (English version) ..............................82

Appendix D - Student interview questions (Vietnamese version) .......................83
Appendix E - The summary of results gained from student interview .................84
Appendix F - Questionnaire 1...............................................................................84
Appendix G - Questionnaire 2 .............................................................................84
Plagiarism report ...................................................................................................85

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List of tables
Table 3.1 Demographic information of participants …………………………… 40
Table 3.2 Cronbach’s Alpha (all questionnaire items) ………………………… 45
Table 3.3 Cronbach’s Alpha – Lack of motivation ……………………………. 45
Table 3.4 Cronbach’s Alpha – Lack of Self-esteem……………………………. 45
Table 3.5 Cronbach’s Alpha – Anxiety ………………………………………… 46
Table 4.5 Affective factors influencing students’ speaking performance ……… 48
Table 4.6 Lack of motivation influencing students’ speaking performance …… 49
Table 4.7 The result of questionnaire about the affective factor named “Lack of
motivation” ……………………………………………………………………… 50
Table 4.8 Lack of self-esteem influencing students’ speaking performance …… 51
Table 4.9 The result of questionnaire about the affective factor named “Lack of selfesteem” …………………………………………………………………………. 52
Table 4.10 Anxiety influencing students’ speaking performance ……………… 54
Table 4.11 The result of questionnaire about the affective factor named “Anxiety”
…………………………………………………………………………………… 54

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List of figures
Figure 2.1 Conceptual framework of the current study ………………………… 35

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List of abbreviations and symbols

CTTC:

Cao Thang Technical College

EFL:

English as a Foreign Language

ESL:

English as a Second Language

L1:

the first language

L2:

the second language

RQ:

Research Questions

SLA:

Second Language Acquisition

SPSS:

Statistical Products for the Social Services

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
English is of paramount importance and considered as the predominant tool of
daily communication in the society. According to Harmer (2007), there are 4 basic
language skills which are classified into two main groups: receptive skill and
productive skill. Receptive skills are reading and listening in which learners have to
receive information by reading and listening, while productive skills are speaking and
writing in which learners themselves are required to produce a language.
Rivers (1981) carried out a study on the use of language outside the classroom
situation to find out that speaking is used the most, compared with reading and writing
combined. Furthermore, according to Nunan (1995), speaking is considered as an
important skill in both first and second language acquisition, so the measurement of
success in learning a language is based on the ability of performing a conversation in
the target language. Hence, speaking skill must be mastered if learners want to
improve their ability of communication (Nunan, 2003). Furthermore, most of the
learners tend to evaluate their achievement or success in language learning based on
how much and how well they improve their ability of spoken language (Richards,
1990).

According to Brown (2007), speaking is one of the most difficult skills in
language learning. Learners, in general, often encounter speaking difficulties that
occur inside and outside the classroom because spoken language production is
considered as a big challenge for learners. Similarly, Brown (2007) shared the same
concern that spoken language production is a common problem among the learners,
and speaking is one of the most difficult skills that language learners encounter in

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learning a language. Although the learners spend many years on learning a language,
they still cannot overcome the difficulty in learning English speaking.
Speaking skill is considered as a language barrier which causes learners’
failure in oral communication in a target language. Ur (2000) pointed out that there
are some speaking problems encountered by learners, consisting of inhibition, lack
of topical knowledge, low or uneven participation and mother-tongue use. Krashen
(1982) proposed an affective model in which the most popular factors related to
success in second language acquisition (SLA) consist of self-confidence, lack of
motivation, and anxiety. Moreover, Brown (2007) stated that the factors consisting
of lack of motivation, lack of confidence, anxiety, and shyness are considered as the
main causes that hinder students from speaking performance. In addition, Wang
(2014) presented three main factors influence students’ speaking performance,
including cognitive factors (conceptualization, formulation, and articulation,
linguistic factors (pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary), and affective factors
(anxiety and self - restriction or psychology).
In Vietnam, there are a number of English centers as well as institutions
making efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning English over years;
however, the majority of students still have the low level of English. A study
conducted at Hanoi University of Technology, Vietnam by Dao Thi Thanh Hao
(2017) revealed that students’ speaking performance is negatively influenced by

factors including lack of motivation and anxiety. It is obvious that Vietnamese
students encounter speaking difficulties due to the negative impact of motivation and
anxiety. Hence, it is necessary for educators to find out the ways in which students’
level of anxiety decreases and their motivation increases in the classroom
atmosphere.
In the current context at CTTC, most non-English majored students, especially
the first year students, encounter speaking problems in speaking classroom. These nonEnglish majored freshmen have no good English linguistic foundation at the starting
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point. They are required to study English as a compulsory subject. In addition, English
lecturers at CTTC believe that their students often feel inhibited and reluctant when
being asked to speak individually, make discussion in pairs and groups. The students
often find it difficult to maintain fluency and effectiveness in spoken English. The
reasons for this may be on a hypothesis of affective factors influencing speaking
performance of students.
1.2 Statement of the problem
CTTC provides the same program of English training to the students majoring
in Engineering, Electronics, Mechanics, and Technology such as Electronical
Engineering Technology, Mechatronic Engineering Technology, Mechanical
Manufacturing and Repairing, and Computer Networking Management. The English
program aims to build up students’ English foundation and enables the students to
use English in society and working environment in the future. However, there have
been some problems that the freshmen have encountered as follows:
At CTTC, all students are not required to take any entrance exams related to
English. Most of them have been admitted based on their high school transcripts.
When being in charge of English courses, the researcher must do an oral interview to
test speaking performance of students to know their English competence. From the
interview, the researcher recognizes that during their high schools, the students were
mainly taught grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, sentence writing, and

less speaking because there were no speaking tests. Moreover, all students just
focused on vocabulary and grammar to serve for writing and reading purposes at their
high schools. They did not have any chances to expose themselves to oral production
skill of English until the first year at CTTC. Therefore, the freshmen at CTTC have
encountered limitation and challenges in speaking practice.
In addition, in the English course, the freshmen at CTTC have never performed
their speaking in speaking class; however, they try to speak English when they take

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the final exam to get the passing score. Therefore, the students are not able to perform
their speaking well. They tend to be afraid of making mistakes in their speaking
performance. Consequently, they maintain silent in the classroom.
Moreover, the number of students in one class is 40 and the students are taught
the skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, and vocabulary;
therefore, lecturers cannot spend too much time on teaching speaking skill. Hence,
the students have few opportunities to perform their speaking. In addition, when
lecturers explain lessons in English, students cannot understand. When lecturers
speak English to students, they are usually worried, keep silent, and give their
response with one or two words. They cannot speak the whole sentence or describe
something at the beginner level. When lecturers translate into Vietnamese to them,
they are more confident to understand what their lecturers say. They cannot use
English to answer their lecturer’s questions. Therefore, they lack knowledge of
English. Moreover, students tend to take time to study other subjects. They have no
enough time learning and reviewing English lessons at home. Hence, they find it
problematic to develop their language reflex, especially in English communication
skill.
The problems mentioned above prevent the students at CTTC from learning
speaking effectively. As a result, it is essential to investigate affective factors

influencing speaking performance of non-English majored freshmen at CTTC as well
as reasons leading to these affective factors in speaking performance of non-English
majored freshmen at CTTC.
1.3 Aims and objectives of the study
This study aims at investigating affective factors influencing speaking
performance of non-English majored freshmen at Cao Thang Technical College
(CTTC). Hence, following are objectives of the study:

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 To investigate affective factors influencing speaking performance of nonEnglish majored freshmen at CTTC.
 To find out reasons leading to these affective factors in speaking performance
of non-English majored freshmen at CTTC.
1.4 Research questions
To investigate affective factors influencing speaking performance of nonEnglish majored freshmen at CTTC, the thesis addresses the two following research
questions:
1. What are the affective factors influencing speaking performance of nonEnglish majored freshmen at Cao Thang Technical College?
2. What are the reasons leading to the affective factors in speaking performance
of non-English majored freshmen at Cao Thang Technical College?
1.5 Scope of the study
The study focused on affective factors influencing speaking performance of
non-English majored freshmen at CTTC and the reasons why students are influenced
by these affective factors. In the scope of the study, the researcher cannot cover all
other affective factors, the researcher only would like to focus on the hypothesis of
lack of motivation, lack of self-esteem and anxiety which influence the freshmen’s
speaking performance. Due to the large size of the population at CTTC, the study did
not investigate every individual in the population due to cost and time consumption.
The participants of the study were 200 freshmen at CTTC at the first semester of the
academic year 2020-2021. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research

approaches (questionaire and semi-structured interview) was employed.

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1.6 Significance of the study
In the light of the results found at the end of the study, the study is expected to
contribute to the understanding of affective factors that influence English speaking
performance of non-English majored students at CTTC in particular and other
colleges or universities in general. The significance of this study is listed as follows:
Theoretically, it is expected that this study can enrich the theories related to
language speaking, including the definitions and importance of speaking skill,
characteristics of speaking performance, affective factors influencing learners’
speaking performance and their reasons leading to the affective factors. This study
will be one of the sources for the further research. In addition, other researchers can
take this research as the literature review and support their research. This finding can
be used as a reference and other consideration to investigate the problems in further
research.
Practically, this study is hoped to provide English lecturers, especially English
lecturers at CTTC with affective factors influencing English speaking performance
of non-English majored students at CTTC. They are aware of how affective factors
influence students’ speaking performance and the common reasons leading to the
existence of affective barriers in speaking practice. Then, lecturers can create a
friendly learning atmosphere, design more speaking activities, find out appropriate
teaching techniques to motivate their students to participate into speaking activities
in the classroom.
1.7 Definitions of key terms
In order to make the study easier to understand, some key terms are explained
as follows:

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Affective factors refer to thoughts, feeling, and cognitive characteristics
which influence the emotion, attitudes, behaviors, as well as functions of people. In
the current study, they are lack of motivation, lack of lack of self-esteem, and anxiety.
Influencing refers to affecting or changing how non-English majored students
at Cao Thang Technical College develop, behave, or think about speaking English.
Non-English majored freshmen refer to the first year students whose majors
are Electronical Engineering Technology, Mechatronic Engineering Technology,
Mechanical Manufacturing and Repairing, and Computer Networking Management
and they study English as a compulsory subject at Cao Thang Technical College
Speaking performance refers to the ability of uttering sounds orally and the
act of conveying messages from speakers to listeners through, words or sentences.
1.8 Organization of the thesis
The thesis consists of five chapters as follows:
Chapter 1 consists of 8 sections. Introduction provides the background of the
study and the importance of English speaking skill both in Vietnam and in the world
generally. Next, the statement of the problem explains the reasons why the study is
carried out. The aims and objectives of the study are mentioned in the next section.
Following this, research questions are provided to help the researcher investigate the
affective factors influencing speaking performance of non-English majored freshmen
at CTTC and reasons of those factors. In addition, the following sections, including
the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the definitions of some key terms,
and the organization of the thesis, are provided.
In Chapter 2, the literature review is presented. This chapter provides some
definitions of speaking skill, the importance of speaking in language learning,
characteristics of speaking performance and successful activities, and possible

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solutions to increase students’ participation in speaking tasks and in classroom
activities. Moreover, problems faced by students in learning speaking are
demonstrated. Furthermore, some main affective factors affecting students’ speaking
performance is mentioned clearly in this chapter. Besides, previous studies in both
international and Vietnamese contexts are provided. Finally, the conceptual framework
of the study is mentioned.
Chapter 3 presents the methodology of the study. Research design, research site,
sample and sampling procedures, research instrument, data collection, analysis
procedures, validity and reliability are provided.
Chapter 4 presents the results of the study. These results are from the data
collected from questionnaire and semi-structured interview. The data are discussed,
analyzed, compared and contrasted with the data in previous studies.
In Chapter 5, the main findings of the thesis, the implications of the research,
limitations of the research, and recommendations for further research are mentioned
clearly.

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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
In this chapter, some reviews of the research literature are going to be
discussed. There are 9 sections. The first section is the introduction of this chapter.
The second section discusses the aspects of speaking skill, including definitions, and
the importance of speaking skill. The third section is about characteristics of speaking
performance including fluency and accuracy. The forth section mentions affective
factors influencing students’ speaking performance such as lack of motivation, lack

of self-esteem, and anxiety. After that, the fifth section provides the previous studies
in the international and in Vietnamese context. The sixth section is about the
conceptual framework of the study. The last section presents the summary of this
chapter.
2.2 Speaking skill
2.2.1 Definitions of speaking skill
Speaking a language is one of the important skills in language acquisition. It
has been defined by many authors over years. Ann and Florez (1999) and Howarth
(2001) defined speaking “as two-ways involving a true communication of ideas,
information or opinion”. In addition, Nunan (1995) explained that speaking means
uttering words by talking or having oral communication with people. Similarly,
Brown (2007) additionally emphasized that speaking is using the language to express
meanings to other people.
According to (Burn and Joyce, 1997), speaking is an interactive process of
producing, receiving and processing information. Additionally, Chaney (1998)
emphasized that “it is the process of building and sharing meaning by using verbal

9


and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of context”. Speaking is considered as a process
that produces verbal utterance (Bailey, 2003). It is the way to share ideas and opinions
in oral communication in society. Moreover, Howarth (2001) stated that “speaking
implies a reciprocal exchange in which both reception and production play a part,
thus the ability of speaking includes both the receptive and productive participation”.
Furthermore, Luoma (2004) asserted that speaking is the elementary form of
language. It is a process of producing, delivering, and collecting information through
the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols.
Through the definitions of speaking skill mentioned above, it is indicated that
speaking is plays an important role in human communication and interaction.

Speaking is considered as a great tool for understanding and expressing meanings in
different interactional contexts. In addition, speaking is a productive process as well
as a single action. However, it is a combination among elements including,
responding, sharing and processing information. Speaking successfully requires the
speaker’s linguistic and background knowledge. It is obvious that communication
occurs when there are at least one more person or interlocutor. In addition, the success
in speaking a language depends on many elements (Bygate, 1987). The failure in
language speaking and communication occurs when the combination of these
elements is not stable (Bygate, 1987).
2.2.2 The Importance of speaking in language learning
On a daily basis, human beings interact with others in spoken form more than
in written form. Speaking, hence, is of great important in maintaining conversation
(Harmer, 2007). Compared with other skills, speaking is the important skill for EFL
learners. In order to speak English well, learners need to integrate other skills.
Specifically, to interact well in conversations, speakers must have skills of listening
and processing information that they receive. In addition, speaking helps learners not
only develop skills of grammar and vocabulary in contexts but also improve cohesion
and coherence in writing skill. This is the reason why anyone good at speaking will
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be highly appreciated as if they have mastered all the other skills Nunan (1999)
further indicated that in order to measure the success of studying a language, the
ability of carrying out conversations in the target language has been brought into
focus. Ur (2000) additionally advocated that speaking is the skill appealing to more
attention in both first and second language.
Moreover, according to Burns and Joyce (1997) and Brown (2007), speaking is
regarded a necessary skill. It requires more concentration while studying both L1 and
L2 because it reflects speakers’ ideas, characteristics, and their points of view.
Similarly, Luoma (2004) noted that while speakers are performing their speaking,

people tend to pay attention to the way in which the message is conveyed. When people
perform their speaking, tentative and subconscious judgments are made regarding
other perspectives of the speakers such as characteristics, personalities, attitudes,
hometown, and native or non-native speaker status. It is obvious that speaking not only
transmits the information but also indicates other perspectives.
Finally, Baker and Westrup (2003) additionally emphasized the importance of
English speaking skill. They explained that students who are able to speak English well
may have better chances for finding employment, gaining promotion, and furthering
their education. The speaking skill, as a result, plays a pivotal role inside the classroom
and in organizations, companies, or enterprises looking for those who are proficient at
English speaking skill.
2.3 Characteristics of speaking performance
In order to be proficient in speaking skill, learners need providing with a
certain degree of accuracy and fluency in understanding, responding and expressing
themselves in oral performance. According to Torres (1997), speaking activities in
classroom should be designed based on the achievement of fluency and accuracy
because they are of paramount importance in communicative approach. In addition,
two main features including fluency and accuracy play a pivotal role in teaching and

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