A study on the difficulties in learning speaking English of the first year students at the Faculty of Information Technology, Thai Nguyen University

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
--------------------*&*--------------------

NGÔ PHƯƠNG THÙY

A STUDY ON THE DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING SPEAKING
ENGLISH OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
AT THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY,
THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
(TÌM HIỂU NHỮNG KHĨ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHOA CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN,
ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 10

HA NOI - 2010


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
--------------------*&*--------------------

NGÔ PHƯƠNG THÙY

A STUDY ON THE DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING SPEAKING

ENGLISH OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
AT THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY,
THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
(TÌM HIỂU NHỮNG KHĨ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHOA CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN,
ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 10
SUPERVISOR: PHAM MINH HIEN, M.A

HA NOI - 2010


TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................3
1.1 Rationales of the study .................................................................................................. 3
1.2 Aims and objectives of the study................................................................................... 4
1.3 Scope of the study......................................................................................................... 4
1.4 Methods of the study .................................................................................................... 4
1.5 Significance of the Study .............................................................................................. 4
1.6 Structure of the study .................................................................................................... 5
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................................6
1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 6
1.2 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) .................................................................. 6
1.2.1 Definition of CLT .................................................................................................. 6
1.2.2 Characteristics of CLT ........................................................................................... 7

1.3 Nature of speaking and Development of speaking Skills ............................................... 8
1.3.1 Definition of speaking ............................................................................................ 8
1.3.2 Characteristics of speaking ..................................................................................... 8
1.3.4 The development Approach of Speaking Skills .....................................................10
1.4 Difficulties in learning to speak English .......................................................................12
1.4.1 Psychological factors ............................................................................................12
1.4.2 Cultural factors .....................................................................................................15
1.4.3 Linguistics factors .................................................................................................16
1.4.4 Objective factors ...................................................................................................17
1.5 Summary .....................................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 20
2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................20
2.2 The setting of the study ................................................................................................20
2.3 Subject of the study .....................................................................................................21
2.4 Instruments for collecting data .....................................................................................21
2.5 Data analysis ...............................................................................................................22
2.6 Summary .....................................................................................................................22
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................. 23
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................23
3.2 Data analysis of students’ responses.............................................................................23
3.3 Data analysis of teachers’ responses.............................................................................32
3.4 Summary .....................................................................................................................37
CHAPTER 4: SUGGESTIONS .......................................................................................... 38
4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 38
4.2 Recommendations for the Teaching of Speaking to first year students in FIT ...............38
4.2.1 Teaching students strategies to learn to speak English ...........................................38
4.2.2 Improving teachers’ classroom techniques ............................................................40
4.2.3 Developing speaking materials ..............................................................................45
4.2.4 Creating speaking environment for students ..........................................................45
4.2.5 Reducing the class size..........................................................................................46

4.2.6 Ranking the students’ ability .................................................................................46
4.3 Summary .....................................................................................................................46
PART 3: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………47
1. 1 Conclusion..................................................................................................................47
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1.2 Limitations and suggestions for further research ..........................................................47
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 49
APPENDIXES ..................................................................................................................... 51

2


LIST OF TABLES AND PIE CHARTS
Tables
Table 1: Students’ judgments in speaking materials ..................................................... 30
Pie charts
Pie chart 1: Students' competence in speaking skills .................................................... 23
Pie chart 2: Student's perception towards speaking skills ............................................. 24
Pie chart 3: Students' actual activities in speaking class ............................................... 25
Pie chart 4: Students' perception towards difficulties in learning to speak English ....... 26
Pie chart 5: Students' perception towards the psychological barriers to learning to speak
English ........................................................................................................................ 26
Pie chart 6: Students' perception towards the effect of cultural factor to learning to
speak English .............................................................................................................. 27
Pie chart 7: Students' perception towards the effect of grammar knowledge to learning
to speak English .......................................................................................................... 28
Pie chart 8: Students' perception towards the effect of vocabulary to learning to speak
English ........................................................................................................................ 29

Pie chart 9: Students' perception towards the effect of pronunciation to learning to
speak English .............................................................................................................. 29
Pie chart 10: Students' expectation towards the teachers' instruction ............................ 30
Pie chart 11: Students’ thought of class size ................................................................ 31
Pie chart 12: Students’ thought of mixed ability class .................................................. 32
Pie chart 13: Teachers' perception of students' thought over speaking skills ................ 32
Pie chart 14: Teachers' perception of students experience over speaking skills ............ 33
Pie chart 15: Teacher's perception of students' actual activities in speaking class ......... 34
Pie chart 16: Teacher's perception of their students' speaking difficulties .................... 35
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CLT:

Communicative language Teaching

ELT:

English Language Teaching

ESL:

Learning English as a Second Language

FIT:

Faculty of Information Technology

IT:

Information Technology

L2:

Second Language

LSC:

Learning Skills Council

SLA:

Second Language Acquisition

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PART I: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationales of the study
David Nunan (1995) wrote: “When someone asks, “Do you know another language?” they
generally mean “Can you speak the language?”(p.225)”. One can not be considered to know a
language without speaking it. It can be seen that speaking is one of the most important skills
that learners must master during the learning a foreign language process. However, speaking
another language is not an easy task for all people. To this one, it is easy but to the others it is
so difficult.
Nowadays, with the development of modern science and technology as long as the integration
policy, the Vietnamese government has allowed more and more foreign companies and
partners to invest in most industries in the country to help boost the economy. This process has
resulted in increasing interactions between Vietnamese and foreigners, especially from

English-speaking countries. Therefore, the demand of studying foreign languages, especially
learning to speak English, has become more and more necessary.
Understanding the important role of speaking skill when learning a foreign language, the
Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) - Thai Nguyen University focuses on the teaching
and learning English in the light of Communicative Teaching Approach. FIT pays special
attention to develop speaking skill. Despite that, the desired effect is not high.
With the hope of helping students to learn to speak English effectively, the difficulties in
learning to speak English have been chosen as the topic of the present research. Realizing the
current difficulties that the first year students in FIT encounter will attribute to the
improvement and enhancement of the learning and teaching English speaking quality in the
FIT.
The research will first shed a light on how learners think and study to speak English in FIT;
second, it will reinterpret the recent difficulties in learning to speak English that learners meet
in terms of revised relevant theories. Third, it will recommend some solutions to upgrade the
learning to speak English quality in FIT. Forth, it will make the teachers become more aware
of the problems may occur in speaking class, from which they can have better and reasonable
solutions to their classes.

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1.2 Aims and objectives of the study
The study is carried out to find out the answers for the following questions:
1. “What difficulties do students in FIT meet when they learn to speak English?”
2. “What are possible causes leading to difficulties in learning speaking skills of the first
year students in FIT?”
3. “What are possible solutions to the problems?”
The study is aimed to
-

Investigate the current situation of learning and teaching speaking in the FIT

-

Find out what difficulties the first year students in FIT meet when they learn to speak
English

-

Suggest some realistic and appropriate techniques to help improve the teaching and
learning to speak English in FIT

1.3 Scope of the study
In this study, the researcher tends to overview the difficulties the students in FIT face when
learning speaking English and to suggest some possible solutions to the problems in order to
help students learning speaking English better. This is also the limitation of the study.

1.4 Methods of the study
-

Two questionnaires are designed to find out the difficulties that the first year students
in FIT face (one for teacher and one for students).

-

Data collected will be analyzed and presented in the study.

-

Besides, there will be some interviews and observations carried out in informal

situations.

1.5 Significance of the Study
The research is the first step of a larger investigation into the difficulties in learning to speak
English in a university or in a nation. The goal of the research is to conduct a small survey of
the difficulties that the first year students in FIT meet when they learn to speak English. A
questionnaire will be designed based on the three main factors: psychology, linguistics and
socio-culture. Data collected will be analyzed statistically. The result achieved will interpret
4


the difficulties that the students in FIT encounter, and support further and more detailed study
of the phenomena identified here.

1.6 Structure of the study
This study includes five chapters
Chapter 1: Introduction
In this chapter, the reasons why the topic was chosen are stated. Besides, the background and
scope of the study, the aims, the significance, the method and structure of the study are also
mentioned.
Chapter 2: Literature review
The relevant theories are revised in this chapter as the base for the research carried out.
Chapter 3: Development
This chapter will present the development and how the study is carried on.
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions
This chapter present the research result achieved and discussed on the result acquired.
Chapter 5: Suggestions and Conclusion
In this chapter, the suggestions will be presented basing on the result discussed in the previous
chapter. The conclusion will show a brief summary of the study and the limitation.

5


PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Introduction
This chapter revised relevant theories and studies that can be the base for the research being
carried out. The nature of speaking, the development of speaking as well as the main factors
that affect learning to speak English of the ESL learners will be presented.

1.2 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
1.2.1 Definition of CLT
So far, CLT has been viewed and studied by different authors such as Wilkins (1972), Nunan
(1989). Each author has his own point of view about CLT. However, they all considered CLT
as an approach that is more prominent than those appeared before them like Grammar –
Translation method, Direct method, The Audio-lingual method.
CLT can be understood as a set of principles about the goals of language teaching, how
learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate learning, and the
roles of teachers and learners in the classroom (Richards, 2006).
Nunan (1989 p.194) considered “CLT views language as a system for the expressions 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 learner
including functional skill as well as linguistic objectives. The learner‟s role is as a negotiator
and integrator. The teacher‟s role is as a facilitator of the communication process.”
According to Sandra J. Savignon‟s perspective (2000, pp. 124 – 129): “The essence of CLT is
the engagement of learners in communication to allow them to develop their communicative
competence.” (p. 128)
“The focus of CLT is to promote the development of functional language ability through
learner participation in communicative events.” (p. 126)
CLT is associated with a focus on learners‟ communicative needs, on learner autonomy, and

on negotiation of meaning. It includes attention to form as well as to meaning. The principles
of CLT apply also to reading and writing as well as to face-to-face oral communication.

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1.2.2 Characteristics of CLT
Since its appearance, CLT has improved its prominent power which no approaches appeared
before it had. With the change from the “weak” version to the “strong” version, CLT has
changed its ideal method. It focuses on the learners, and develops the syllabus based on the
learners‟ needs. It turns from “learning to use English” to “using English to learn it” (Howatt,
1984 p. 279). CLT has its own characteristics as follows.
As for British and American perspectives, CLT aims to make communicative competence the
goal of language teaching and to develop procedures for teaching of the four language skills
that acknowledge and the interdependence language and communication.
Larsen- Freeman (cited in Rao (2002, p. 87)) considered the central characteristic of CLT is
that “almost everything that is done is done with communicative intent”. Another feature of
CLT is that “activities in the Communicative Approach are often carried out by students in
small groups” (Larsen-Freeman cited in Rao (2002, p.87)). One more noteworthy attribute of
CLT is “its learner-centred and experience-based teaching” (Richards and Rodgers cited in
Rao, (2002, p. 88).
As for David Nunan (1991 p.279), CLT has five basic characteristics:
(1) An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
(2) The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
(3) The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the language but also on
the learning process itself.
(4) An enhancement of the learner's own personal experiences as important contributing
elements to classroom learning.
(5) An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the
classroom.

Though CLT‟s prominent characteristics, teachers should know how to turn from the “weak”
version into the “strong” one to make CLT possible. The Communicative activities should be
used at the proper time to arouse learners‟ interest.

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1.3 Nature of speaking and Development of speaking Skills
1.3.1 Definition of speaking
Joji Miyauchi (2001:5) assumes that speaking is an action to produce words. Speaking is "the
process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in
a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998, p. 13). As for Bygate M (1987), “speaking is a skill
which deserves attention every bit as much as literacy skills, in both first and second
language”. Florez (1999, p.1) gave another definition on speaking. He considered speaking is
“an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and meaning and
processing information, it is often spontaneous open-end, and evolving”. There have been
many different kinds of definitions on speaking; however, speaking can be understood as the
process of forming utterance which carries a certain meaning to express one‟s idea to the
others for a certain purpose.
Truly speaking, speaking is one of the most necessary skills that the foreign language learners
have to master. Murphy (1991) stated “the ability to speak coherently and intelligently on a
focused topic is generally recognized as a necessary goal for ESL students”. Understanding
adequately about speaking and the nature of it, ESL learners will achieve communicative
competence more easily.
1.3.2 Characteristics of speaking
Many language learners regard speaking ability as the measure of knowing about a language.
These learners define fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability
to read, write, or comprehend oral language. They regard speaking as the most important skill
they can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their accomplishments in spoken
communication. On talking about the nature of speaking, David Nunan mentioned the

communicative competence. In which, he stated to be able to speak another language “one
needs to know how to articulate sounds in a comprehensible manner, one needs an adequate
vocabulary and one needs to have mastery of syntax.” (David Nunan, p.226). A few years ago,
Dell Hymes (1974) considered the communicative competence included three factors:
linguistic competence, socio-linguistic competence and conversational skills. In the early
1970s, Sandra Savignon defined communicative competence as “the ability to function in a
truly communicative setting – that is, in a dynamic exchange in which linguistic competence
must adjust itself to total information input, both linguistic and paralinguistic, of one or more
interlocutors” (p.9 cited in Nunan (1995, p.226)). As for Canale (1983, p.5) “communicative
8


competence refers to both knowledge and skill in using this knowledge when interacting in
actual communication. Knowledge refers here to what one knows (consciously or
unconsciously) about the language and about other aspects of communicative language use;
skill refers to how well one can perform this knowledge in actual communication.”
Richards, Platt and Weber (1985: 49) also stated:
“Communicative competence includes: a) knowledge of grammar and vocabulary of
the language; b) knowledge of rules of speaking; c) knowing how to use and respond
to different types of speech acts such as: requests, apologies, thanks, and invitations; d)
knowing how to use language appropriately.” (cited in Nunan (1995, p. 226)).
Obviously, the communicative competence depends on each person. To this one it is easy, but
to this one it is difficult. Since, it is assigned with many factors: psychological, socio-cultural,
and linguistic factors.
Generally speaking, one of the most typical characteristics of speaking is the communicative
competence as mentioned above.
David Nunan (1995 p.227) reckoned “Another aspect of speaking that is particularly relevant
for second language speakers concerns whether or not the speaking is planned or
spontaneous.” He also stated that “We tend to assume that all conversations are spontaneous,
and so they are to a degree. However, we all have routines, set phrases and other expressions

that we use to assist us when speaking spontaneously.” Aslo discussing about the routines,
Bygate M (1987) suggested that conversation can be analyzed in terms of routines. Which are
conventional ways of presenting information: Information routines and interactional routines.
He explained informational routine recurring types of information structures, including stories;
descriptions of places and people; presentation of facts; comparisons; instructions. Meanwhile,
interactional routines are routines based not so much on information content as on sequences
of kinds of terms occurring in typical kinds of interactions. These routines can be
characterized in board terms to include the kinds of turns typically occurring in given
situations, and the order in which the components are likely to occur. (Bygate, 1987 p.24:25).
David Nunan then based on the concepts that Bygate mentioned further discussed the routines.
He neither asserted Bygate‟s theory nor disclaimed. He brought forward his point of view and
affirmed “Bygate‟s routines facilitate communication for first language speakers because they
make the interactions more predictable”. However, he stated “if language were totally
9


predictable, then the communication would be unnecessary.” He added “for second language
speakers, routines can be crucial in facilitating comprehension”. Hence, when teaching and
learning to speak the teachers and the learners have to enable themselves to communicate in
the challenging situations, the unpredictable situation, which force the learners more actively
to take part in and to comprehend the communication. Teachers and learners have to build up
themselves the knowledge about grammar, vocabulary, and socio-culture to be confident when
speaking. Besides, they should take chances to communicate in class as well as outside
classroom. Though, communication outside classroom is not similar to that inside class.
Teachers should understand the importance of communicative competence and the differences
between the two kinds of situations to help learners speak English naturally and make their
speeches sound “native”.
1.3.4 The development Approach of Speaking Skills
According to Byrne (1991 p.22:23) there are three phrases to develop learners‟ oral ability.
Phrase 1: The presentation phrase

In this phrase, teachers play the dominant role while learners passively listen and take notes.
With their English knowledge, teachers select materials and present it in such a way that
learners can absorb knowledge easiest. The oral materials introduced to learners are often in
two forms: dialogue and prose. Each form needs a different way to present. To present a
dialogue, Byrne (1991 p.22), suggested 10 following different steps.
1. Establish setting by using pictures. At this phrase, English should be used as much as
possible.
2. Draw out learner‟s experience related to situation.
3. Explain some key words.
4. Set listening task by asking key information of the dialogue.
5. Ask listeners listen without looking at their books.
6. Allow learners to have a look at their books when necessary.
7. Ask learners to listen and repeat.
8. Ask learners to pick up difficulties and explain difficulties
9. Ask them to practice
10


10. Ask them to dramatize the dialogue.
Obviously, the procedure is perfect and logically arranged. However, it depends on the
learners‟ competence. Teachers do not need to follow every step. They can leave out some
steps to adapt with their lectures and to make the lectures more flexible and attract the learners.
Byrne (1991) also pointed out 9 other steps to introduce the prose to the learners.
1. Introduce the topic by asking students to look at the picture or asking them about the
related things.
2. Introduce the text. New words and structures are given.
3. Provide relevant practice.
4. Set the reading task: Make questions
5. Ask the learners to read the passage in silence and find the answers.
6. Ask learners to read again aloud and ask for the answer.

7. Explain difficulties they still have.
8. Do silent reading again because the learners need to go on with the step 9.
9. Get the learners to talk about what they have learned based on the previous answers.
Phrase 2: The practice phrase
Learners are the centre. They are given chances to practice based on the activities that the
teachers created for them. Learners can practice individually, in pairs or in group depending
on the kinds of materials being exploited.
Phrase 3: The production phrase
Learners can practice speaking freely. They can speak what they want for the sake of
themselves not for the teachers. Working in group can help learners a lot. Since, it reduces
shyness or anxiety in public speaking. Learners feel safe and confident to express their ideas.
Byrne (1988) asserted to help learners to improve their speaking ability. These three phrases
should be followed orderly. However, in real class it is not easy to do that because it depends
on many factors: time, learners‟ ability, materials used… A good teacher should find herself a
suitable teaching method with the class.

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1.4 Difficulties in learning to speak English
According to Hymes (1974), (Richards & Rogers, 1986; and Hedge, 2000), to learn to speak a
language, one needs to have communicative competence. Communicative competence
includes linguistics competence, socio-linguistics competence, and discourse competence.
These factors determine the success of learning to speak a language. These factors are affected
by the subjective factors such as: psychology, linguistics, culture and the objective factors like
class size, materials used and learning environment. Therefore, they are also the factors that
affect learning to speak English.
1.4.1 Psychological factors
English speaking is a complicated psychological process. In terms of spoken English teaching,
it‟s quite essential for teachers and learners to take some important psychological factors into

accounts in order to achieve better results in spoken English teaching and learning.
Obviously, psychological factors play a significant role in language learning. 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. There have been many research on the impact of the psychological
factors on learning to speak English such as the research of Wu Guang, Liang Jia-xia . In their
research, they focused on analyzing the psychological barriers in oral English teaching. They
stated four types of difficulties like self-abasement, pride, fear of difficulty, anxiety. From that,
they found out the causes and analyzed deeply those causes. The causes that they found out
are divided into two kinds subjective and objective. The subjective causes then further divided
into three causes: psychological factors, motivation, interest and attitude, learners‟ original
ability of listening and speaking. Whilst, the objective factors are classified into four types:
traditional language teaching mode and method, environments of language teaching, form and
content of language test, and qualifications of language teachers. Also studying about this
problem, Xuemei Meng and Qianyu Wang had other ideas. They believed that the
psychological barriers include anxiety, self-esteem and ETL and risk-taking. Therefore, the
influences of negative emotional factors include motivation, anxiety, low self-esteem, insecure
classroom atmosphere, lack rapport between teachers and students, etc. The following are
some of the emotional factors in details:
Motivation:
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Among the factors affecting 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
(Lightbrown & Spada, 2001)
Gardner and Lambert (1972) considers the integrative motivation is the one from which
learners learn language in order 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 into 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 concern of the anxious
foreign language students seeking help at the LSC.” (p.126). He also stated that students
seemed to be fairy comfortable responding to a drill or delivering prepared speeches in foreign
13


language class but they tended to “freeze” in a role-play situation. Most of 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 attention to teaching attitude and creating a free
learning environment without stress. Teachers should use effective language when evaluate
students and encourage them to study.
Self-esteem:
Self-esteem refers to the individual‟s evaluation on himself, and attitude towards his or her
ability, value, and achievement (Coopersmith (1967 p. 4-5). It is originated from individual‟s
experience and the judge of the outside world. Comparatively speaking, learners with high
self-esteem are full of the sense of self-confidence and self-affirmation. In English learning,
they can evaluate reasonably and objectively their own English level as well as the other
learning skills: listening, reading, writing, speaking and translating. Self-esteem was
associated with the English speaking, and that learners with high self-esteem could have more
chances to achieve speaking proficiency.
Presumably, they are less likely to feel threatened when speaking or communicating in English
or in an unfamiliar situation. They may also be more ready to risk making mistakes or
projecting a reduced image of them.
Extroversion:
Extroversion is a personal characteristic that can be observed through behaviors. The ones
who are extrovert tend to be out going, sociable and active. They like being with people and
feeling confident in social programs. They are not clumsy when talking with strangers (Yul
Iskandar,2000, p. 46). On the contrary, the ones who are introvert seem quiet, clumsy and
passive. They are afraid of meeting people or showing their own ability.
In the pedagogical perspectives, when learning English, learners with extroversion may enjoy
certain advantages in English speaking. Their nature makes them easier to be successful than
the ones who are introvert. They are more active, willing to take part in speaking activities and
social interaction. In turn, the success makes them more confident and more extrovert.
Self-concept:

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Gouws and Kruger (1994 p.91) stated that the self-concept comprises a unique set of
observations, ideas and attitudes which the individual has about himself or herself. Burns
(1979 p.29) defines self-concept as the sum total of the views that a person has of himself or
herself and entails his or her beliefs, evaluations and behavioural tendencies. The self-concept
is a person‟s way of perceiving himself which may either be positive or negative.
A positive self-concept is the base of the establishment of the healthy psychological. Whether
or not a student learns in the classroom, and whether or not he or she enjoys the school
experience, depends on how that student fell about himself or herself (Leonnetti 1980 p.10). A
student who feels good about himself or herself usually participates in the classroom activities
freely and with enthusiasm. Canfeild and Wells (1994 p.2) stated that an individual‟s selfconcept is composed of all beliefs and attitudes he has about himself. It determines “who you
are”, “what you think you are”, “what you do”, and “what you can become.”
1.4.2 Cultural factors
According to Trudgill (1983) language usually portrays in meaningful ways the speaker‟s
innate and inherent national culture. The American linguist Sapir (1921 p. 60:90) maintains
that language and culture are dual entities: Culture representing what a society thinks and does,
while its language expresses and embodies the ideas of that society. Thus, language and
culture may be said to exist in a symbiotic relationship: language serving both as a conveyor
of culture and the capsule containing the mode of intellectualizing.
Cultural characteristics impact foreign language learning. From a practical standpoint,
language serves as a kind of social action because oral and written communications take place
within expected interpersonal exchanges, and meaning is derived from previously accepted
social parameters. (Dimitracopoulou,1990). In other words,

commonly shared traditions,

values systems and cultural beliefs create those traditions and social structures that bring and
hold a community together and are thus inherently expressed in their language" (Carrasquillo

1994:55).
Thus, it is a given: If one wishes to speak a language well, one must appreciate how that
language is used in social contexts. It is commonly accepted that each language has its own
rules of application as to when, how, and to what degree a speaker may impart a given verbal
behavior to one‟s conversational partner (Berns,1990).

15

It is often taxing for non-native


speakers to choose the forms appropriate to certain communicative situations due to mixed
signals emanating from their own cultural norms.
In addition, oral communication involves a very powerful nonverbal communicative system,
which may sometimes contradict messages received via listening. Due to the lack of
familiarity with the nonverbal communicative system of the target language, EFL learners
usually do not know how to be alert for and deduce nonverbal cues. Thus ignorance of the
nonverbal message often leads to misunderstanding the content of the message.
1.4.3 Linguistics factors
Language proficiency is never a single construct, but a multiple module, comprised of various
levels of abilities and domains (Carrasquillo1994, p.65). Hyme‟s theory of communicative
competence components (1971) entails the interaction of grammatical, psycholinguistic,
sociolinguistic, and probabilistic language components.
Grammatical competence may be visualized as an opening umbrella concept that portrays
increasing expertise in grammar (morphology, syntax), vocabulary, and mechanics. With
respect to speaking, the term mechanics refers to the basic sounds of letters and syllables, the
proper pronunciation of words, meaningful and concise intonation, and stress elements
(Scarcella and Oxford, 1992 p.141).
In order to convey a desired meaning, EFL learners must

possess a knowledge of the

meanings of words, the four types of sentences, the complete sentence and a firm grasp of
syntax; that is, they must fully comprehend how words are segmented into various sounds, and
how sentences are stressed orally and in writing in particularly effective ways. Thus, a solid
underpinning in grammatical competence enables speakers to employ and fully comprehend
English language structures both precisely and unhesitatingly, which unfailingly contributes to
their fluency in that language..
Besides grammatical competence, EFL learners must develop discourse competences which
are consistent with communicative relationships. In discourse, whether formal or informal, the
rules of cohesion and coherence are applied, which aid in holding the communication together
in a meaningful and structured way. In communication, both the message and comprehension
of a language require one's ability to perceive and process sometimes lengthy discourse, and to
derive meaning based on both what was previously stated and whatever follows

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Therefore, truly effective speakers should attempt to acquire a large repertoire of structures
and discourse markers to express ideas, show relationships of time, and indicate cause,
contrast, and emphasis (Scarcella and Oxford, 1992). With such acquired skills, learners can
then more readily manage more complex conversational exchanges.
1.4.4 Objective factors
When talking about the factors affecting speaking, beside the subjective factors, the objective
factors are also the factors cause difficulties in learning to speak English.
Textbook
Sheldon (1988, p237) considers textbook is “the visible heart of any ELT (English Language
Teaching) program”. In English as a foreign language (EFL) context it may even constitute the
main and perhaps only source of language input that learners receive and the basis for
language practice that occurs both inside and outside the classroom (Richards, 2005).

Researchers have suggested several advantages of using textbooks. For example, textbooks
help to standardize instruction and assessment. That is, by giving students in different classes
the same textbook, teachers can teach and test them in the same way (Richards, 2005).
Textbooks also provide syllabus for a program, thus supporting novice teachers, training them
in methodology and saving their time and effort for more worthwhile pursuits than material
production (Cunningsworth, 1995). What is more, since textbooks are always carefully tested
before being brought into the market, students tend to give them more credibility than teachergenerated or „inhouse‟ materials. Students also often expect to use a textbook in their learning
program (Sheldon, 1988). Without textbooks, they may think their learning is not taken
seriously; thus, textbooks are psychologically essential for students. Finally, textbooks may
constitute an effective resource for learning in the classroom and self directed learning
(Cunningsworth, 1995). A learner without a textbook might be out of focus and teacherdependent.
However, there still remain some limitations about the textbook. One of the most prominent
limitations is the textbooks are often implicitly prescriptive and thus might control the
methods, processes, and procedures of classroom practice and „deskill‟ teachers (Allwright
1982). The second problem is that since textbooks are often written for global markets, they
might not suit all classrooms and might require adaptation to better meet students‟ true needs

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(Richards 2005). As a result, teachers should upgrade and adapt the materials to suit with
students levels
Class size
The debate on class size has taken for a long time. There have been many different ideas about
that. The old researches claimed that class size has great impact on the student‟s achievement.
Whereas, the new researches show that it has little impact. (Sid Gilbert, 2005). There is
another idea that: "most college professors believe small classes to be superior to larger ones
in many respects" (McKeachie, 1980). The smaller the class size is the greater number of
interaction students have with their instructors and their fellows. Obviously, this is very
important to English speaking class. If a student has to study in a large class, he will lack

opportunities in involving and interacting with the others. Otherwise, if he studies in a small
class, he will have more chances to practice and interact with the others.
Mixed-ability class
Ainslie (1994) defined that mixed-ability classes are the classes where students differ greatly
in ability, motivation for learning English, needs, interests, educational background, styles of
learning, anxiety, experiences and so on. Tomlinson (1999), Berry & Williams (2002) and
Shank (1995), found out that every class is multileveled. Therefore all teachers have to face
with the challenges of mixed-ability classes.
Baker (2002) recognized that in mixed ability classes, keeping the attention of all students
become really difficult. Since, the class is divided into different levels. There remain active
and non-active students because of the suitable levels of the lesson with their ability. Hess
(2001) believed that a mixed-ability class can seem uncooperative, the students can get bored
easily and this can cause commotion in the classroom.
To overcome this difficulty, teachers should create a relaxed and free environment to make
students of multilevel actively take part in learning activities. Otherwise, upgrading and
adapting materials to suit with students‟ abilities is necessary.
Environments of language teaching and learning
Language learning environment is very important to the English learners. Being in an English
speaking environment will improve learners‟ English speaking skills, which helps learners
communicate more easily and effectively. When learners are constantly hearing and speaking
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English on a daily basis, learners can dramatically improve how to speak and understand the
language. However, it is not very easy to have a chance to go abroad to study English in order
to live in an English speaking community. Learners should create the English learning
environment themselves by working in groups, in class or reading or listening to news or the
songs written or sang in English. As English language teachers, teachers should upgrade and
improve the teaching method to suit with the learners‟ levels and the ability.

1.5 Summary
This chapter has briefly discussed and revised the relevant theories that are the base of the
study. There is a short talk about CLT at the beginning. The writer wants to revise the concept
and the characteristics of the CLT since CLT has been the center approach in language
teaching since the years 1970s. After that, speaking and the nature of speaking are also
mentioned. The main theory is discussed carefully. The factors that hinder the process of
learning to speak English are clarified.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the writer describes the current situation of learning and teaching to speak
English of the first year students in the FIT, Thai Nguyen University as the setting for the
study. The data gathering method using the questionnaires is also mentioned in terms of the
purposes as well as how they were developed and used in the study

2.2 The setting of the study
Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) is a small one belonging to Thai Nguyen University.
From the nascent days (2001), FIT defined its purpose that is training informatics for students
living in the Northern provinces. Beside the compulsory subjects like mathematics, physics,
informatics, programming and so on, FIT pays attention to teaching English. The subject can
be considered to be extremely necessary, which can enable students to self-study in future.
Thanks to the fact that many information technology documents are now written in English.
Once students master the English language or at least they can read the documents written in it,
they can easier approach the new technology than the other ones. Understanding the
importance of English, teachers of English in FIT have tried their best in order to improve and
enhance the quality of teaching and learning English. However, this is not an easy task. The
fact is that most of the students in FIT are from mountainous regions. They are not carefully

taught English in high school or are not taught at all. Students are familiar with the old method
“teachers give lectures, students take notes”. They have few chances to practice speaking
English. When coming to the FIT, they are taught to fulfill the need of oral tests. It is very
difficult for them to get acquainted with. Further more, the class size is also a big challenge for
the teachers. It is too large. There are about 60 or over 70 students in a class. How can English
be taught in such a big class? As a result, chances for students to practice English are less and
less. The problems are given to the teachers: how to improve the teaching and learning; how to
help students study English better…In addition, most of the English teachers are fresh from
university. There are 11 teachers of English. Among them, only 7 are full-time teachers. The
others are amateurs. They do administrative work in the FIT. The one who has the most
teaching experience is ten years and the others are about three to five years. Therefore, it is not
avoidable to lack teaching experiences. Teaching in these large classes with non – equal level
students is too difficult. There are students who have studied English for 7 years, and also
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students who have only studied English for 3 years. Further more, there remain students who
have not studied English at all in the high school. They studied French or Russian instead.
Like other universities, English levels at Elementary, Pre-intermediate and Intermediate. Each
course takes 3 months. Course books are chosen depending on age, levels, and requirements
and so on. The two books of Inside Out which have been adapted to suit with the students
have been used to teach during the last three years.

2.3 Subject of the study
This study was carried out with the cooperation of the 10 teachers and 100 first year students,
who are working and studying in the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT), Thai Nguyen
University. The students were of mixed abilities and all of them were willing to participate in
questionnaire responses. The teachers were chosen randomly since they were in charge of
teaching speaking skills to the first year students.
Among the 700 first year students, 100 of them were chosen from different classes. Since

students were assigned to different classes, investigators decided to choose random sample of
classes. Thus, the students in this study could be the representative for the whole group of the
first year students in the Faculty of Information Technology. These students were between 18
and 20 years old, of whom males are majority and females are only 1/3 since males preferred
to specialize in Informatics than the females. They all have similar backgrounds, that is, they
all finished high school and pass the entrance examination before entering the FIT. Most of
them had studied English for at least three years. However, their competence of English was
very different.

2.4 Instruments for collecting data
Two questionnaires, one designed for students and one for teachers, were designed to collect
data for the investigation. The questionnaires were administered to 10 teachers and 100
students. The aim of the investigation is to collect information concerning:
-

The difficulties that the first year students encountered when they learn to speak
English and the sources of their difficulties.

-

The teachers‟ perception of the first year students‟ difficulties in learning to speak
English and their suggestions to upgrade and improve the teaching and learning to
speak English in the FIT.
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