An investigation into factors that hinder the participation of Univeristy students in English speaking lessons = khảo sát các yếu tố hạn chế sự tham gia của sin20150227.PDF

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TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv
LIST OF TABLES iv
LIST OF FIGURES iv
TABLE OF CONTENT v
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Objectives of the study 1
3. Research questions 2
4. Scope of the study 2
5. Methods of the Study 2
6. Design of the study 2
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Theoretical background of speaking 4
1.1.1. Definition of speaking 4
1.1.2. The importance of speaking skill 4
1.1.3. Nature of speaking 4
1.1.4. Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity 5
1.1.5. Learners’ participation 6
1.2. Factors hinder students’ participation in speaking activities 7
1.2.1. Students’ factors 7
1.2.1.1. Students’ learning styles 7
1.2.1.2. Students’ attitude and motivation 8
1.2.1.3. Students’ second language level 9

1.2.1.4. Personality 9
1.2.1.5. Students’ anxiety 10
1.2.1.6. Gender differences 11
1.2.2. Teachers’ factors 12
1.2.2.1. Teachers’ teaching methods 12
1.2.2.2. Teachers’ knowledge 13
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1.2.2.3. Teachers’ characteristics 14
1.2.2.4. Teachers’ roles in speaking activities 15
1.2.3. Teaching and learning conditions 17
1.2.3.1. Physical conditions 17
1.2.3.2. Classroom climate 18
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 19
2.1. An overview of the current situation of learning and teaching speaking at English
department, Ba Ria – Vung Tau University. 19
2.1.1. Introduction of English section, Ba Ria – Vung Tau University. 19
2.1.2. The Syllabus and Materials for Speaking 19
2.2. Methodology 20
2.2.1. The subjects 20
2.2.2. Data collection instruments 21
2.2.3. Data collection procedures 22
2.3. Results and Analysis of Data 22
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36
3.1. Major findings and discussion 36
3.2. Recommendations for increasing students’ participation in speaking activities 38
3.2.4. Building a cooperative atmosphere in class 39
3.2.5. Helping students to be confident 40
3.2.6. Being enthusiastic, friendly, helpful and tolerant 40
3.2.7. Creating interesting and appropriate topics 40

3.2.8. Forming a habit of speaking English in the class 41
PART C: CONCLUSION 42
1. Conclusion 42
2. Limitations and suggestions for further research 43
REFERENCES I
APPENDIXES III

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
L2: Second Language
M.A: Master of Arts
B.A: Bachelor of Arts
CFL: College of Foreign Language
VNU: Vietnam University
TOEIC: Tests of English for International Communication
ESP: English for Special Purposes
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Factors prevent students’ participation in speaking lessons
Table 2: Students’ attitude when participating in speaking activities
Table 3: Students’ difficulties in speaking lessons
Table 4: Speaking activities teachers often use to increase students’ participation
Table 5: Speaking activities teachers often conduct in speaking lessons
Table 6: Activities motivate students to take part in speaking lessons
Table 7: Activities teachers use to increase students’ participation
Table 8: Suggestions for teachers to increase students’ participation
Table 9: Teachers’ attitudes towards unwilling students
Table 10: Students’ participation
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure1: Students’ interest in speaking English in class
Figure 2: The frequency of students’ speaking in class
Figure 3: Students’ evaluation on the topics of speaking in class
Figure 4: Students’ confidence when speaking in class
Figure 5: Degrees of the difficulties students feel when joining in speaking activities
Figure 6: Difficulties teachers have to face when teaching speaking.
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PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part will focus on five smaller parts. The first part is the rationale of the study,
which introduces a brief overview of speaking, particularly, related to the participation of
university students in English speaking lessons, the reasons for our choice of the topic and the
purposes of our study. The second part is the objectives of the study. The third part presents
the research questions of the study. The fourth part is the scope of the study and the last one is
the design of the study.
1. Rationale
No one can deny the importance of English in life. English has become the vital device
for communication in all fields. The final goal of study English is to master this language in
communicating. The Communicative Approach teaching requires developing language
learners‟ four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. However, speaking is seen as the
center skill and the most demanding of the four skills (Bailey and Savage (1994:7)).
There is a fact that many Vietnamese students can write and read English well but they
cannot speak fluently and correctly. Most of the students find speaking difficult, even
uninteresting. After several years of teaching English, we have found that the university
students are quite passive in speaking English. They do not actively participate in speaking
activities. Certainly, students‟ participation can be affected by a variety of factors coming
from teachers‟ side, students‟ side and others including classroom environment, types and

contents of activities, etc. Unfortunately, this is not only the situation in my university but also
the case for many other universities in Vietnam.
This has given me the desire to conduct a research to identify the factors that hinder
students‟ participation as well as to find out the techniques and activities to increase students‟
participation in speaking activities at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University.
2. Objectives of the study
The study is carried out to find out the factors hindering the university students‟
participation in speaking lessons, and why these factors have negative effect on university
students‟ participation in classroom speaking activities. Based on the findings, the researcher
will analyze activities and techniques often used by the teacher to increase students‟
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participation. Furthermore, the researcher will give some suggestions for teachers to stimulate
students in speaking English and overcome the difficulties they have to face with in teaching
speaking English for university students.
3. Research questions
The study will answer the following questions:
1. What are the factors affecting university students‟ participation in speaking lessons?
2. What should teachers do to increase students‟ participation in class speaking activities?
4. Scope of the study
First, the subjects of this study are second - major students of English at Ba Ria - Vung
Tau University. Second, the study only covers the speaking skill. Third, the study focuses on
finding out the factors including teachers‟ factors, students‟ factors and learning – teaching
conditions hindering students‟ participation in classroom activities.
5. Methods of the Study
In the study, both qualitative and quantitative methods are used. The data will be
collected by means of questionnaire, interview and classroom observations. After the data is
collected, analyzed and discussed, some conclusions will be drawn and some suggestions will

be made in the thesis.
6. Design of the study
The research consists of the following parts:
Part A: Introduction
This part deals with the rationale, objectives, significance, research questions, methods, scope
and the design of the study.
Part B: Development
This part includes 3 chapters.
 Chapter 1: Literature Review
The first chapter provides a theoretical background of speaking including definition of
speaking, the importance of speaking, nature of speaking, characteristics of a successful
speaking activity and learners‟ participation. In addition, this chapter also provides factors
affecting students‟ participation in classroom speaking activities including teacher‟s factors
such as teaching techniques, teachers‟ knowledge, teachers‟ characteristics, and teachers‟ roles
in speaking activities, students‟ factors such as personality, learning style, attitude and
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motivation, different genders of students and students‟ anxiety, and learning and teaching
conditions such as physical conditions and classroom climate. This is viewed as the theoretical
framework for the investigation in the next chapter.
 Chapter 2: The study
This chapter will present methodology adopted to collect data for the research, which
consists of descriptions of setting, research questions, data collection, data procedures, data
analysis and participants involved in the study.
 Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion.
The data of this chapter will be collected form questionnaire, interview and observation,
which reveals (1) how these factors hinder students‟ participation, (2) techniques used for
speaking lessons, (3) some suggested solutions.

Part C: Conclusion
The conclusion will include the summary, the limitations of the study and suggestions
for further research.

















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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Theoretical background of speaking
1.1.1. Definition of speaking
Speaking is a skill which language teachers, quite rightly, believe is particularly
important. By speaking, individuals can express needs, opinions and feelings, understand and

ask questions.
According to Donough and Shaw (1993), speaking is a skill which enables people to
produce utterances when communicating to achieve a particular end. This may involve
expressing ideas, wishes or opinions, negotiating or solving problems, or establishing or
maintaining social relationships.
Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal
and non – verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts” (Chaney, 1998:13).
Thus, speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves
producing and receiving, and processing information. 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 purpose of speaking. 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"). A good speaker
synthesizes these skills and knowledge to succeed in a given speech act.
1.1.2. The importance of speaking skill
It is difficult to say which skill is the most important among four language skills.
However, speaking seems the most important and the closest to the goal of language teaching:
communicative competence. Pattison (1992) confirms that when people know or learn a
language, they mean being able to speak the language. Besides that, Ur (1996:120) states, “of
all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking seems intuitively the
most important.”
1.1.3. Nature of speaking
Speaking is one of the features that distinguish us from the animals because it is the
common way to convey information from this person to another through using language.
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Language is a complicated phenomenon and language learning is a complicated process, so

speaking a foreign language is a complex skill.
The nature of speaking has been discussed by many researchers. Byrne (1976:8)
clarifies, “speaking is a two-way process between speakers and listeners involving the
productive skills of understanding”. Byrne (1995: 10) gives a diagram to show what happens
in a speech situation and incidentally, therefore, what is involved in oral activity.
Initiate
Speak
Oral ability
Respond
Listen
Another author- Bygate (1987) shows that in order to be able to speak a foreign
language, learners not only need to understand some grammar, vocabulary but also know how
to use knowledge as well as language on deciding what to say and how to say.
One more thing concerning the ability to speak is that of fluency and accuracy.
Accuracy involves the correct use of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, fluency can be
thought as the ability to keep going when speaking spontaneously (Roger Gower, 1995:99).
Furthermore, Nunan (2003:55) wrote, “accuracy is the extent to which students‟ speech
matches what people actually say when they use the target language, fluency is the extent to
which speakers use the language quickly and confidently”.
1.1.4. Characteristics of a Successful Speaking Activity
Classroom activities would be an important component of a language course.
Successful speaking activities in class can result in great improvement of students‟ speaking
skills. According to Ur (1996: 120), there are four characteristics for a successful speaking
activity.
First, students talk a lot. It means that learners always have to be the center of all
speaking activities and teachers only play the role as guides.
Secondly, participation is even. Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority
of talkative participants; all learners get a chance to speak and contributions are fairly evenly
distributed.
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Thirdly, motivation is high. Interesting topics and new things will attract learners to
take part in speaking activities. They are eager or excited to speak and really want to express
their feelings as well as opinions in order to contribute to achieving a task objective.
Finally, language is of an acceptable level. Students express themselves in utterances
that are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other, and an acceptable level of language
accuracy.
In short, if we want to have a successful speaking activity or if we want to get students
talking, we need to meet all the above criteria.
1.1.5. Learners’ participation
Students‟ participation can be seen in learners‟ verbal or written responses to tasks,
their concentration, or through their contributions to classroom discourse. Participation can
also be gauged from other signals such as when learners pay attention, smile, and raise their
hands to answer a teacher‟s question. For example, students participate in speaking lessons by
volunteering answers, asking questions, or contributing to discussions. Ellis (1994) considers
participation from the point of views of both quantity and quality. Quantity refers to the mount
of learner classroom participation. A number of correlational studies have examined the
relationship between amount of learners‟ classroom participant and second language (L2)
proficiency. The results are mixed.
It is believed that L2 classrooms in which there is negotiated interaction between
students and teachers result in more language learning, because it produces the linguistic
conditions for classroom learners to access comprehensible input and produce comprehensible
output. According to Ellis (1993:8) comprehensible input is one of the most important ways in
which learners obtain new information about the language, while Wong – Fillmore (1985)
notes that the teacher may be the only really competent English speaker available to provide
comprehensible input. About comprehensible output, Swain‟s (1985) claims that in order to
acquire a language successful, the learners must not only be given opportunities to produce the
language but they must also be pushed into making their meaning clear.

One of the factors that seems to determine the quality of learner participation in
classroom environment is the degree of control the learners exercise over the discourse.
Cathcart (1986) found that situations where learners had control of the talk were characterized
by a wide variety of communicative acts and syntactic structures, meanwhile the situations
where the teacher had control seemed to produce single – word utterances, short phrases and
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formulaic chunks. Also, the differences in the quality of learners‟ participation depended on
the kinds of activities they were involved in.
1.2. Factors hinder students’ participation in speaking activities
Students‟ participation usually means students speaking activities in class, for
example, answer and ask questions, make comments and join in discussion. It is also shown
through interactions between students and students, between teacher- students when working
together. Students‟ participation can be affected by various factors coming from students,
teachers, and classroom. In the following section, some of the factors will be discussed.
1.2.1. Students’ factors
1.2.1.1. Students’ learning styles
Successful language learners are usually people who have a personal learning style or
positive learning strategies. It means that good learners must have some awareness of their
preferred techniques, and modify them in the light of their own or other people‟s experience.
Learning style is an individual‟s natural, habitual, and preferred way of absorbing,
processing, and retaining new information and skills. Skehan defines learning styles as
“ cognitive, affective, and physiological traits that are relatively stable indicators of how
learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the environment” (Skehan, 1991). Learning
styles, according to Spolsky, B. (1998: 108) are terms to describe identifiable individual
approaches to learning situation.
Recently, Harmer (2001) emphasizes the importance of understanding that there are
different individuals in our class if we are to plan suitable kinds of activities for them.

Different individuals may have different learning styles, prefer different kinds of works, and
expect different degrees of care and attention from the teacher.
Every student has a learning style; therefore, there is no particular teaching or learning
method that can suit the needs of all learners. If the teachers do not take care of or neglect the
differences among students, for example, teachers only pay attention to good students
meanwhile the rest students do not get benefit from their teachers. This makes them feel
uncomfortable. This is one reason for the fact that when an activity is in progress, not all
students participate in actively.


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1.2.1.2. Students’ attitude and motivation
There has been a great deal of research on the role of motivation and attitude on
second language learning. Attitude and motivation have a close relationship. “A learners‟
attitude affects the development of motivation”. (Spolsky, B. 1998: 23)
To understand the learners‟ motivation, we should make clear about students‟ attitude.
In Chandrasegaran‟s research (1981), attitude refers specifically to states of emotion and
thought relating to the English language, to the learning of English and to the Culture of
English-speaking people. Gardner, (1985:8) adds that individual‟s attitude is an evaluative
reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred on the basic of the individual‟s belief or
opinion about the reference. Gardner believes that there are two kinds of attitude: attitudes to
the people who speak the target language, and attitudes to the practical use to which the
learners assumes he or she put the language being learnt.
Attitudes do not have direct influence on learning but they lead to motivation which
helps to determine the level of proficiency achieved by a learner.
Motivation in second language learning is a complex phenomenon which can be
defined “an affective factor alongside culture shock” (Schuman, 1978). Lightbown and Spada

(1999) define motivation in terms of two factors: learner‟s communicative needs and their
attitude towards the second language community.
Gardner and Lambert (1972) identified motivation as integrative motivation and
instrument motivation. Integrative motivation refers to an interest in learning a second
language; for example; want to learn English in order to communicate with people of other
cultures who speak it. And instrument motivation refers to the practical value and advantages
of learning a new language, for example, want to learn language because it will be useful for
practical goals such as reading novels, newspapers or passing an entrance exam, etc.
Motivation can also be divided into two kinds: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic
motivation comes from the learners‟ desire such as: to get external reward, to pass an exam, to
get a good job or to avoid of punishment. Intrinsic motivation comes from the learners‟
internal factors such as the enjoyment of learning process itself or by a desire to learn the
target language.
No one can deny the importance of motivation towards the success in learning a foreign
language. According to Caroll (1962), motivation decides the amount of time a learner will
spend on the task of language learning. She claims, “The more motivation a learner has, the
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more time he or she will spend learning an aspect of a second language”. Lalonde (1982) also
makes a conclusion that motivation is an important factor that helps to determine the level of
proficiency achieved by a learner.
Clearly, motivation plays an important role in the success of language learning in
general but we may wonder how much or to what extent motivation accounts for students‟
participation in oral activities. We may not give the correct answer but we can see that if
learners perceive a goal and if that goal is really attractive, they will be strongly motivated to
do whatever necessary to reach that goal. Therefore, the more motivated students are, the more
actively they will participate in oral activities.
1.2.1.3. Students’ second language level

It is undoubted that students‟ levels in a class are not alike. There are two levels of
language: the basic interpersonal communicative skills and the cognitive academic language
proficiency. The basic interpersonal communicative skills concept represents the language of
natural, informal conversation. Basic interpersonal communicative skills are used by students
when talking about everyday things in concrete situations, that is, situations in which the
context provides cues that make understanding not totally dependent on verbal interaction
alone (Cummins, 1992).
According to Harmer (2001), in a class with the different language levels of students,
teachers may meet some difficulties in choosing a suitable teaching method, language as well
as organizing activities for students. He also suggests that there are some techniques and
exercises that are suitable for some students but less appropriate for others.
Another factor related to students‟ language level that may hinder students‟
participation in speaking activities is their pronunciation of the second language. Most of the
students who are learning English have difficulties in pronunciation, which makes it difficult
to communicate in the target language.
Thus, students‟ participation can be affected by their own language level. We,
therefore, should choose the topics as well as techniques which are suitable for their level.
This will surely encourage their participation in all speaking activities.
1.2.1.4. Personality
According to many language teachers, the personality of their students considers a
major factor contributing to the success or failure in language learning. Lightbown and Spada
(1999) list a number of personality characteristics such as: extroversion, inhibition, self –
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esteem empathy, dominance, talkativeness and responsiveness. Hedge (2000) defined that
extrovert learners are more willing to participate, more willing to experiment and take risks.
Although their language was not good enough, they were not afraid to make mistakes and try
to communicate. And for introvert learners, they feel more comfortable when they work

individually (Harmer, 2001).
Brown (2000) argues that personality is one of the affective factors that are equally
important for explaining differential success among second language learners. While
extroversion is associated with risk-taking, introversion is subsumed under the concept of self-
esteem. In addition, students from Galvan and Fukada‟s (1997/1998) study explained they
were unable to participate in class because they were not used to a student-centered class
setting. Myers (1962) also suggested that extroverts tend to prefer learning situations that
afford interaction while introverts tend to prefer small group. Barrett and Connot (1986) stated
that introverted students are least involved in school activities and have lower academic
achievement.
1.2.1.5. Students’ anxiety
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines anxiety as the state of feeling nervous
or worried that something bad is going to happen. Empirical research shows that anxious
foreign language students are less willing to participate in learning activities, and have lower
performance than non – anxious students (Gardner, 1991).
Young (1991) presented six types of sources of foreign language classroom anxiety
such as: personal and interpersonal anxieties, learner beliefs about language learning,
instructor beliefs about language learning, instructor-learner interactions, classroom
procedures, and testing. Besides that, Bailey also identified sources of anxiety, including test
and learners, perceived relationship with their teachers.
When anxiety occurs relating to the use of second language, it seems to be restricted
mainly to speaking and listening, reflecting learners‟ apprehension at having communication
automatically in the target language. We can see anxiety in speech in a greater degree of
pausing, in a lack of coherence, and in an increased number of false starts.
Horwitz and Cope have identified three components of foreign language anxiety. They
are: communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety (Horwitz,
Horwitz and Cope 1986). He also explains that students who exhibit communication
apprehension do not feel comfortable communicating in the target language in front of others
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because they have limit about knowledge of the language, especially in relation to speaking
and listening skills. Students who experience fear of negative evaluation do not consider
language errors as a natural part of the learning process, but like a threat to their image, and a
source for negative evaluations either from the teacher or their partners. As a result, they
become silent and withdrawn most of the time, and do not participate in language activities
(Ely, 1986). Students who experience test anxiety consider the foreign language process, and
especially oral production, as a test situation, rather than an opportunity for communication
and skills improvement.
In brief, sufficient evidence shows that anxiety is an important factor in learning
second language in general and in students‟ participation in speaking activities in particular. It
seems to be a factor that distributes in differing degrees in different learners.
1.2.1.6. Gender differences
The relationship between gender differences and language learning has been
mentioned in some research. When studying prototype of gender and its reflection on speech
communication competence between the two genders, Song Haiyan (1998) shows that obvious
differences exist between male and female in terms of language use, for instance, females are
inclined to passiveness and not imposing their own will upon others, etc. Larsen-Freeman
(2000) believed that in the process of first language acquisition, at least at the early stage,
female students excel male ones. Furthermore, Hu Zhuanglin (1989: 199) pointed out it was
generally believed that male and female are born with different linguistic advantages, for
example, the male learn to speak faster and better but slower than the female.
Homes (1986) found some results when he carried out the research on the relationship
between sex and language such as men talked more and took more frequent turns at talk,
interrupted more often, withheld responses to women‟s topics and withheld self-disclosure.
Contrast to men, women tended to be more often than men to use speech strategies which
supported other speakers‟ contributions, initiating topics and providing feedback and
information for others to participate.
Clearly, all these above studies make us believe that sex differences may have a great

effect on students‟ participation. Understanding the different learning styles and strengths and
weakness of male and female can help teachers better understand and work with students with
disabilities and gifts and talents.
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In conclusion, those are the main factors coming from students‟ side that may hinder
students‟ participation in classroom activities. The degrees of effect of the above factors may
be different for each student. The first factor is students‟ learning styles. The second factor is
students‟ motivation and attitude. The third factor is students‟ language level including
knowledge of English proficiency and knowledge of other fields. The fourth one is students‟
personality. One more factor is students‟ anxiety. The language anxiety of students may affect
their participation because foreign language speaking anxiety in the English classroom may
stem from fear of making mistakes and the consequent fear of negative evaluation, and
students‟ perception of low ability in relation to their peers. The last one is the gender
diffrence.
1.2.2. Teachers’ factors
1.2.2.1. Teachers’ teaching methods
Stern (1983) lists out some main teaching methods as follows:
 Grammar-translation or traditional method: This method is used for the purpose of
helping students read and appreciate foreign language literature. Most of the interaction in the
classroom is from the teachers to the students. There is a little student initiation and little
student-student interaction. Consequently, students learn rules of grammar and vocabulary
without much feeling of progress in the mastery of the target language. This cannot motivate
them to learn of the target language because they have little opportunity to express themselves
through it. They just learn what they have to learn without any creativeness. As a result,
students who are passive recipients become structurally competent but communicatively
incompetent.
 Audio – lingual method: The first point of this method is to develop students'

listening comprehension and fluency in speaking in the target language. Students are
encouraged by the sense of being able to use what they have learned very early. The
success or failure of this method depends largely on the qualities of the teachers and the
availability of resources. The teacher must be a fluent speaker as most of his/her work is
done orally in the target language.
 Direct method: The Direct Method is based on the direct involvement of the student
when speaking, and listening to, the foreign language in common everyday situations.
Consequently, there is lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language.
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 Reading method: This method is characterized by teaching through reading
comprehension. Vocabulary is emphasized in this method.
 Audiovisual method: This method allows students to learn through meaningful
utterances and contexts in a visually presented scenario. Students can also learn by watching
images and listening to sounds.
Recently, with the ever – growing need for good communication skill in English,
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has given as a replacement to the earlier
structural methods. CLT focuses on meaningful tasks rather than on language form, which
helps heighten learners‟ motivation in learning a language because they do not often
concentrate their mind on the forms or grammatical items of the target language. One
more fact is that in CLT, there are different kinds of tasks to make teaching and learning
more communicative.
Thus, mentioning the above methods will help us know their advantages as well as
disadvantages and choose a suitable method to teach our students. Choosing an appropriate
teaching method for a certain class may create a lot of opportunities for students to take part in
class activities.
1.2.2.2. Teachers’ knowledge
What a teacher knows is one of the most important influences on what is done in

classrooms and ultimately on what students learn. Breach (2005) shows that the teacher is a
fountain of knowledge and their main responsibility is to impart knowledge to students.
Grossmann (1990) points out the categories of teachers‟ knowledge including general
pedagogical knowledge, subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and
knowledge of context. Ferguson (1997:85) affirms that teacher should have knowledge of the
culture and values of the discipline, knowledge of the epistemological basis of the different
disciplines and knowledge of the genres and discourse patterns.
Thus, being a teacher, we should have:
 General pedagogical knowledge: Teacher should understand how to moderate
discussions, design group work, organize materials for student use, utilize texts and media,
etc.
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 Linguistic knowledge: Teachers need a basic working knowledge such as knowledge
of the nature and functions of language, knowledge about the systems and structure of English
such as: phonetics, syntax, semantics, discourses, etc.
 Specialist knowledge: English teaching in Vietnam can be divided into two types:
Teaching General English and English for Special Purposes (ESP). ESP teachers teach special
content due to the demands of the fields involved like business, tourism, technology,
informatics, accounting, etc. In order to teach ESP, besides general knowledge, teachers must
have the knowledge of the subject he (or she) teaches.
Clearly, teachers need to understand the subject matter deeply and flexibly to teach all
students. They need to see how ideas connect across fields and to every life. This kind of
understanding provides a foundation for pedagogical content knowledge that enables teachers
to make ideas accessible to others.
1.2.2.3. Teachers’ characteristics
Besides the knowledge and teaching methods, teachers‟ characteristics may have a
great influence on students‟ participation. There are two sets of qualities that characterize a

successful professional teacher: professional characteristics and professional competences
(Whitty, 1996: 89–90). Professional characteristics include professional values, personal and
professional development, communication and relationships as well as synthesis and
application. Professional competences include knowledge and understanding of children and
their learning, subject knowledge, curriculum, the education system, and the teacher‟s role.
Barry (1993) shows some characteristics a teacher should have that help increase
students‟ involvement in classroom activities in general:
 Being natural: The teacher should express himself (or herself) as a real person. He
should express his real feeling when he is sad or happy or angry, etc. especially, he should be
a good sense of humor when humorous situations occur.
 Being warm: The teacher should consider students to be like his fellow people, respect
students‟ personal, family and community identities.
 Being tolerant: The teacher should be tolerant with students‟ mistakes. Instead of
shouting at them and criticizing them when they make mistakes, the teachers should find out
the effective ways to encourage them to speak.
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 Being pleasant: It means that teachers‟ attitude towards students express his relaxation,
friendliness and enthusiastic.
 Being approachable: An approachable teacher means that he (she) makes students feel
good being about with him/her and students can see whenever they need his/her help or
advice.
Moreover, the teachers should be sensitive to individual and group needs and feelings.
He should be fair to his profession and assess students on their performance instead of
personal rapports and likings.
Therefore, besides the command of teachers‟ knowledge and teaching methods,
teachers should have these above characteristics. The teachers‟ characteristics may create a
comfortable and an interesting learning environment for students.

1.2.2.4. Teachers’ roles in speaking activities
Teacher role refers to the different functions a teacher can have in a class. The role
usually implies the relationship between the teacher and learner, particularly in terms of the
autonomy learners have over their learning.
Pine and Boy (1997) express “pupils feel the personal emotional structure of the teacher
long before they feel the impact of the intellectual content offered by that teacher”. It is evident
that teachers‟ performance will have an influence on their students. A teacher who lacks self-
esteem will find it difficult to develop self-esteem of his students. A teacher who does not lead
a warm atmosphere at class will find low learning spirits of students. So the teachers‟ roles are
very critical in language teaching. According to Harmer (2001), a teacher can have the
following roles:
 The teacher as a controller
The teacher plays the role of controller when he is totally in charge of the class. He
controls not only what the students do, but when they speak and what language they use.
 The teacher as an assessor
Clearly, a major part of a teacher‟s job is to assess the students‟ work, to see how well
they are performing or how well they performed. The teacher will correct students‟ errors and
mistakes. His function, it is suggested, is to show where incorrectness occurs and help the
student to realize what has gone wrong and how to put it right.
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When assessing students‟ performance, the teacher waits until an activity or task has
been completed and then tells the students how well they did. The teacher tells the students at
what degree they have come up to our expectations and points out their mistakes so that they
can avoid the next time.
 The teacher as an organizer
The main aims of the teacher when organizing an activity is to tell the students what
they are going to talk about, give clear instructions about what exactly their task is, get the

activity going, and then organize feedback when it is over.
The organization of an activity and the instructions the teacher gives are of vital
importance since if the students have not understood clearly what they are to do, they will not
be able to perform their task satisfactorily.
 The teacher as a participant
There is no reason why the teacher should not participate as an equal in an activity
especially where activities like simulations are taking place. Teachers should not be afraid to
participate since not only will it probably improve the atmosphere in the class, but it will also
give the students a chance to practise English with someone who speaks it better than they do.
 The teacher as a resource
During the proceedings, students may ask the teacher the meaning of word or phrase,
the information about the topic they are given. Being a resource, the teacher should always be
ready to offer help if it is needed, especially in speaking activities.
 The teacher as a manager
Students are given opportunities to use language freely. Sometimes students can make
mistakes, but mistakes are unimportant because in order to encourage students‟ talk we should
focus more on fluency than accuracy. The more important is that students have chance to use
language as they wish, to express their own ideas. Moreover, they become aware that they
have learnt something useful to them personally, and are encouraged to go on learning. So,
what is needed is flexibility, tolerance, patience on teacher‟s part and, above all, an
understanding of the learners‟ difficulties.
 The teacher as a tutor
During lessons, students need support in analyzing problems and synthesizing relevant
knowledge. They may misunderstand some aspects of the newly acquired information, use
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terms and concepts which are not truly understood, fail to recognize the coherence of the
subject matter. In this case the teacher can go around the class and give suggestions to

students. The teacher guides students to identify the key issues, checks the understanding and
achieves their learning goals.
 The teacher as an observer
The teacher observes what the students do, especially in oral communicative activities
so that he (she) can give them useful feedback. When observing students, the teacher should
be careful not to be intrusive by hanging on their every word, by getting too close to them as
students may be distracted from the tasks they are involved in.
In brief, students‟ participation can be hindered by the factors coming from teachers
such as teaching methods, teachers‟ knowledge, teachers‟ characteristics and teachers‟ roles in
classroom activities. Each factor plays an important role in students‟ participation.
1.2.3. Teaching and learning conditions
1.2.3.1. Physical conditions
Among many factors affecting the participation of students in speaking activities,
physical learning environment is also considered to be an important factor. Physical conditions
in the classroom such as the classroom size, chairs, tables, lights and boards affect students‟
participation either positively or negatively.
Effective classroom managers create orderly, safe environments where students feel
valued and comfortable, thus setting the stage for teaching and learning. To achieve that, they
strategically arrange classroom space to support a variety of independent, small and large
group activities (Crane, 2001). If a classroom is not properly organized to support the type of
schedule and activities a teacher has planned, it can hinder the functioning of the day as well
as limit what and how students learn. However, a well-arranged classroom environment is one
way to more effectively manage instruction because it triggers fewer behavior problems and
establishes a climate conducive to learning.
The spatial structure of the classroom refers to how students are seated, where the
students and teacher are in relation to one another, how classroom members move around the
room, and the overall sense of atmosphere and order. Weinstein (1992) suggest that
classrooms should be organized to accommodate a variety of activities throughout the day and
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to meet the teacher‟s instructional goals. In addition, the classroom should be set up to set the
stage for the teacher to address the academic, social, and emotional needs of students.
Hammer (1992) emphasized that physical conditions had great impact on students‟
learning as well as their attitude towards the subject matter. Physical condition affects
students‟ motivation. The large class, the poor facilities will decrease the relationship between
teacher and students, and their motivation. Thus, arranging the physical conditions in
classroom is a need if we want to increase students‟ participation in classroom activities.
1.2.3.2. Classroom climate
Classroom climate is referred to as the learning environment, or by a term such as
atmosphere. The impact of classroom climate on students and staff can be beneficial for or a
barrier to learning. Classroom climate is a perceived quality of the setting. It emerges from the
complex transaction of many immediate environmental factors (e.g, physical, material,
organizational, operational, and social variables), as a major determiner of classroom behavior
and learning. Understanding how to establish and maintain a positive classroom climate is
seen as basic to improving schools in general and students‟ participation in particular. One
important factor is how teachers attend or respond to students‟ behaviors. Lightbown and
Spada (1999) pointed out that students seem to feel anxious and less constrained but more
secured to take part in learning activities in supportive, cooperative and encouraging
atmosphere.
A proactive approach to developing a positive classroom climate requires careful
attention to (1) enhancing the quality of life in the classroom for students and staff, (2)
pursuing a curriculum that promotes riot only academic, but also social, and emotional
learning, (3) enabling teachers to be effective with a wide range of students, and (4) fostering
intrinsic motivation for classroom learning and teaching.
In conclusion, this chapter has presented relevant literature, which has helped to form
the theoretical framework for the study. It has discussed the concepts and issues concerning
about speaking skill. Besides that, the factors that hinder students‟ learning in general and
students‟ participation in particular were also discussed. In the next chapter, we will display

the detailed description of the methodology and the procedures of the study.

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CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
2.1. An overview of the current situation of learning and teaching speaking at
English department, Ba Ria – Vung Tau University.
2.1.1. Introduction of English section, Ba Ria – Vung Tau University.
The English section of Ba Ria-Vung Tau University was founded in 2006. It is
considered to be the biggest group in the Faculty of Foreign languages. There are 12 teachers
of English whose ages range from 25 to 40. All of them graduated from the English
Department The College of Foreign Languages of and International Studies (CFL), Vietnam
National University (VNU). Five of them have got Master of Arts degree (M.A). Five are
doing M.A and the rest hold Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A). Besides teaching professional
subjects for major-students, teachers of English in the department teach TOEIC for non-major
students coming from other faculties.
Ba Ria-Vung Tau University is a private one. The students‟ academic results at
entrance examination are very low. The levels of English proficiency of the students of
English section at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University are generally different. Most of the students
come from rural areas such as Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, etc. with a little chance for
speaking English. As a result, when they entered university, it is quite difficult for them to
become confident in speaking English as expected.
2.1.2. The Syllabus and Materials for Speaking
At Ba Ria – Vung Tau University, English majors have to study four skills in seven
semesters. Each semester contains 15 weeks, the students have 3 speaking periods peer week
and each period lasts for forty-five minutes. Speaking syllabus is designed to help students
develop English-speaking skill both accuracy and fluency. By the end of the course, the
students must be able to communicative effectively in job-related situations as well as daily

life, establish, and maintain relationships with members of the target community. They will be
able to present their ideas about personal and social issues in English. The main topics include
getting acquainted, communication, education, healthy, money and technology.
In term of methodology, teachers usually use the communicative method of teaching.
Students often play the key role in the lesson, being the main speakers. Teacher only acts as an
advisor during communication activities.
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The testing-assessment includes assessment on two mid-term tests during the course of
study, a final oral test, assessment on attendance and class participation. It can be specified as
follows: class attendance and participation (10%), mid-terms test (30%) and final examination
(60%). The final test is often designed with two parts and lasts about 10 – 12 minutes. In part
1, students are given a topic or issue and prepared it for 5-7 minutes. The second part is the
presentation or discussion on the topic.
The chosen textbooks are Let Talk 3 by Leo Jones & Mosaic 1 - speaking by Brenda
Wegmann & Miki Knezevic. The books are laid out with plenty of authentic models of spoken
language, and communicative activities to help students practice using the language in the
classroom. Most importantly, there are many pairwork and groupwork activities in the books.
However, the activities are not well-structured enough and some topics are uninteresting,
which cause problems during class activities such as not even participation, students are
inhibited to speak, students have nothing to say or they use mother tongue, act.
2.2. Methodology
2.2.1. The subjects
The subjects of this study were students and teachers at Ba Ria-Vung Tau University.
There were 50 students who took part in this study. They were second-year-English majors,
studying for their Bachelor of Arts Degrees. Their ages ranged from 18 to 22, the average
being 20. They had 3 Speaking lessons per week. Although they have learnt English for over
seven years at school, their English proficiency has been very low. They are only good at

grammar, not speaking. They can do grammatical exercises very quickly and well but they
cannot speak fluently. They are not used to working in peers, groups or taking responsibility
for their learning. They often feel shy in the public as most of them come from countryside
and have little social contacts.
There were 9 teachers involved in this study. Eight of them were females and one was
male. Most of them had over 4 years of experience as English teachers. Some have taught
English for over ten years. English teachers at Ba Ria-Vung Tau University are energetic and
willing to devote their time and energy to teaching. Most of them have a high appreciation to
teaching speaking. However, they have to face a lot of difficulties in teaching speaking
because students seem to be passive in all speaking activities.
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2.2.2. Data collection instruments
The main instruments used in this study to collect data were questionnaire, interview
and observation.
Two questionnaires, one for teachers and the other for students, were delivered to the
nine teachers and 50 second-year major of English from Ba Ria-Vung Tau University
respectively. The researcher mainly used the close- ended questions in the questionnaires.
2.2.2.1. Questionnaire for students
The first questionnaire, consisting of 12 questions, was delivered to 50 second-major
students of English at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University (Appendix 1). The aims of them were to
elicit:
(1) The students' attitudes towards speaking skill (questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
(2) Factors making the students reluctant to speak English in class (questions 6,7)
(3) The students‟ difficulties in speaking activities (questions 8, 9)
(4) The students‟ attitudes about teaching techniques to increase participation in
speaking activities (questions 10, 11, 12)
2.2.2.2. Questionnaire for teachers

The second questionnaire, which includes both multiple – choice and open – ended
questions, was delivered to 9 English teachers (Appendix 2). The purpose of this questionnaire
was to identify:
(1) Teachers' attitude towards speaking skill (question 1)
(2) Difficulties teachers have encountered in teaching speaking at Ba Ria – Vung Tau
University (question 2)
(3) Teachers' attitude towards unwilling speakers (questions 3, 4)
(4) Factors making the students reluctant to speak English in class (questions 5)
(5) Their current teaching techniques and communicative activities used in class to
increase the students‟ participation in speaking activities (questions 6, 7, 8)
2.2.2.3. Class observation
This is a method to ensure the reliability of the questionnaire. The researcher observed
10 speaking periods. I designed a checklist for what I wanted to observe. (See appendix 5).
The checklist for observation included kinds of activities that the teacher uses, students‟
attitudes toward the teacher‟s activities, their participation in the activities and general
comments on the effect of lessons.
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2.2.2.4. Interview
This is a method of collecting necessary and reliable information. The researcher
interviewed 5 teachers and 10 students to get their ideas about the research issues beyond the
questionnaires.
2.2.3. Data collection procedures
The questionnaires were handed out to 9 English teachers and 50 learners at Ba Ria-
Vung Tau University to collect information. The responses to each question were calculated
and converted into percentage for analysis and discussion.
The researcher observed ten speaking lessons lasting 135 minutes. During the lessons,
the researcher focused on the students‟ and teachers‟ activities and interactions between the

students and the teachers or among the students and noted down the information on the
observation sheet.
2.3. Results and Analysis of Data
The research was mainly based on quantitative approach. The data was converted into
statistical numbers and percentages. The results were presented by means of numbers and
tables or charts.
2.3.1. Teachers and students’ perception on learning speaking English
2.3.1.1. The importance of speaking skill in English classes.

Question for students: What do you think about the importance of speaking skill?

Question for teachers: How important is speaking skill to your students?
The questionnaire‟s results showed that most students and teachers admitted the
importance of speaking skill. Surprisingly enough, 94% of the students and 100% of the
teachers gave speaking skill much importance in learning English. 60% of the students and
77.8% of the teachers found it “very important” and 34% of the students and 22.2.% of the
teachers found it “important”. These results also proved that the students and teachers at Ba
Ria-Vung Tau University were well aware of the necessity and the particular role of speaking
skill among the four language skills.
2.3.1.2. Students’ interest in speaking English in class

Question: How do you feel interested in speaking English in class?