Teaching speaking skills for the first-year students at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Technology Dạy kỹ năng nói cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất trường Cao

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES
----------

TRẦN THỊ THẢO

TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT THAI
NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY : PROBLEMS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
(DẠY KỸ NĂNG NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG
KINH TẾ KỸ THUẬT THÁI NGUYÊN : CÁC VẤN ĐỀ VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢI QUYẾT)
M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410

Thai Nguyen - 2012


CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………....1
1. Rationales of the study…………………………...........................................1
2. Aims………………………………………………………………………….2
3. Research questions………………………………………………………….2
4. Scope of the study…………………………………………………………...3
5. Organization of the study……………….……………….……….................3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………….......….4
Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND……………………………….4
1.1.

The nature of speaking…………………………..…………….……4
1.1.1. Definition of speaking………………………………………...….4
1.1.2. Characteristics of speaking……………………………………….5

1.1.3. Development approach in teaching speaking skills………………5
1.2. Difficulties in teaching and learning speaking skills...........................8
1.2.1. Difficulties from teachers‟ view……….…………………………..8
1.2.2. Difficulties from non-native students in studying speaking skill…10
1.2.3. Difficulties from external factors .…………………………..……11
1.3. The roles of speaking skills….………………………………..………11
1.3.1. Teaching speaking skills on Vietnamese teachers‟ view..............11
1.3.2. Learning speaking skills in Vietnam ……………………………13
Chapter 2: RESEARCH METHODS…………………………………..........14
2.1. The reality of teaching and learning English speaking skills at
Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Technology………………….........14

iv


2.1.1. Overview of the English course and its objectives …...…............14
2.1.2. Description of the students………………………………..……..15
2.1.3. Description of the teachers………………………………………16
2.2. The research methods……………………………………...………….17
2.3. Data analysis…………………………...………………………………18
2.3.1. Procedure of the survey………...................……………………..18
2.3.2. Presentation of the statistical results……….................…………19
Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……………………27
3.1. Findings...................................................................................................27
3.1.1. Problems from the teachers……………………..............……27

3.1.2. Problems from the students……………………..............……29
3.1.3. Problems from other factors………………................………32
3.2.

Recommendations……………………………….........................…34
3.2.1. Overview…………………………………………..............…34
3.2.2. Suggested solutions for the situation at the college….....……35
3.2.3. Some teaching strategies for the teachers…………………....36
3.2.4. Some suggested activities in speaking lessons……………....38

PART C: CONCLUSION………………………………………………………..41
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………......42
APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………….I

v


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TNC-ET: Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Technology
GE: General English
PPP: Presentation, Practice and Production
ESP: English for Specific Purposes
TTT: Teacher talking time
STT: Student talking time
ELT: English language teaching
No of students: Number of students
No of teachers: Number of teachers
MA: Master of Arts

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Speaking activities and topics designed for New Headway Elementary....14
Table 2: Students‟ opinion on learning English……………………………………19
Table 3: The reasons that make students unwilling to speak in English class…..…20
Table 4: Students‟ assessment of speaking activities given by teachers…...………22
Table 5: Teachers‟ English communicative competence………………………..…23
Table 6: Teachers‟ difficulties in teaching speaking at TNC-ET……………….....24
Table 7: What teachers do to motivate students to speak in English class………...25

1


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationales of the study
The main reason for choosing this topic for my thesis was realizing how
important speaking English is in every day situations. Speaking a foreign language
represents one of the essential requirements of today´s society. No one can deny the
universality of English. Outside English-speaking countries, English has become a
compulsory component of education in many countries. This trend also applies in
Vietnam. At many schools and universities, English is chosen as a compulsory
subject for students as English is considered to be a useful tool to access the world
knowledge. It is considered as one of the most influencing factors while applying
for a job or sustaining in a particular work position under the condition of
advancing the language level. However, though the importance of English has been
recognized, how it is taught can often be questioned.
When we were students before, we learnt in traditional ways-teachers read,
explained grammar units and students copied, took notes. The teaching of oral
English was especially neglected with my former teachers. I had very little
emphasis in schools at secondary level on teaching oral English. In the upper

grades, even at my university, educators tended to particularly focus on reading,
writing, and academic content, and diminish the importance of helping students to
speak English better. And now we become teachers, standing in front of new
students and transmit a foreign language to them. We really want to make a better
effect. In my college, Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Technology (TNCET), students accumulate 6 credits of English out of total credits for an
undergraduate degree. The proportion of English compared to other subjects, then,
is relatively small. The requirement, however, after they graduate, is equal to level
B in language education. These people are required to reach a sufficient level in a
foreign language in order to accomplish communication in their jobs. That means
the curriculums must emphasize on oral communication. How we can do it when it

2


is is surprising to learn that many of the students are incapable of using their
English to talk, even in class. We now mainly spend time talking with students
about a particular topic and making sure they know vocabulary words connected
with that topic as a preview to reading a passage or a story. We consider that is all
about teaching oral English. We have had numerous studies on this situation and
various solutions, recommendations and suggestions, including changing teaching
methods, changing syllabus or textbooks, upgrading teachers‟ qualifications,
changing formats of speaking tests and so on. But what is the main difficulty and
where we can find suitable solutions for the situation we encounter everyday are
the questions that urge me to make my writing about this matter. My research is
conducted on Teaching speaking skills to first- year students at Thai Nguyen
College of Economics and Technology: problems and recommendations.
2. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at:
 Investigating the current English speaking teaching and learning
situations of the first-year students at TNC-ET on the basis of finding out

relevant difficulties experienced by the teachers of English and some
other external reasons.
 Identifying the factors which make the students inhibited or unwilling to
speak English in class.
 Making some suggestions for the teachers at TNC-ET with the hope of
helping the students overcome their inhibition and unwillingness, and
thereby, improve their speaking skills.
 Suggesting some realistic and appropriate class teaching techniques with
the hope that they can enhance the learners in speaking skills.
3. Research questions
The above aims can be realized through the following research questions:

3


1. What are the problems in teaching and learning speaking skills for the firstyear students at TNC-ET?
2. How can teachers and students minimize these difficulties?
4. Scope of the study
Although problems in teaching practices in my college exist in the four
macro-skills, we have chosen to focus on difficulties in teaching speaking skills to
first-year students at TNC-ET for the fact that mastering speaking is so central to
language learning that when we refer to speaking a language, we often mean
knowing a language. In addition, some recommendations for the teachers of English
to decrease those difficulties are also proposed. Also, due to the researcher‟s limited
ability, time constraints and narrow-scaled study, this study only involves a small
number of TNC-ET non-English students in their first academic year (i.e., 50 firstyear students of 2nd semester).
5. Organization of the study
The study consists of three parts. Part A, Introduction, deals with general
rationales of the study, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, and the
outline of the study. Part B, Development, is composed of three chapters. Chapter One,

Theoretical Background, reviews the theoretical literature involving the difficulties in
teaching speaking skill to non-English major students in three relating areas: nature of
oral communication; the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking skills; and
the roles of speaking skills in the views of teachers and students. Chapter Two, Research
Methods, mentions the concrete reality of teaching and learning speaking skills at TNCET, methods of the study and data analysis. Chapter Three, Findings and
Recommendations, presents and discusses the problems just found out in teaching the
skill of speaking to first-year students of English at TNC-ET including the difficulties
caused by teachers themselves, students and objective factors. It also gives the
recommendations and activities in reducing those difficulties suggested by the
participants of the study. The last part is the conclusion of the study, which presents the
overview of the study. Besides, the limitations of the thesis are pointed out and the areas
for further study are also proposed.

4


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. The nature of speaking
1.1.1. Definition of speaking
According to Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997, 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 purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous,
open-ended, and evolving.
According to Burn & Joyce, 1997, "speaking" is the delivery of language
through the mouth. To speak, we create sounds using many parts of our body,
including the lungs, vocal tract, vocal chords, tongue, teeth and lips. In the
framework of how we learn our first language, language has been divided into

different skill areas. A child first learns to practice language through the skill of
listening. Later, a child uses language by speaking combined with listening. Then,
when school begins, children learn the skills of reading and writing. So speaking is
usually the second of the four language skills that we learn. This vocalized form of
language usually requires at least one listener. When two or more people speak or
talk to each other, the conversation is called a "dialogue". Speech can flow naturally
from one person to another in the form of dialogue. It can also be planned and
rehearsed, as in the delivery of a speech or presentation.
Speaking can be formal or informal:


Informal speaking is typically used with family and friends, or people you
know well.



Formal speaking occurs in business or academic situations, or when meeting
people for the first time.

5


Speaking is probably the language skill that most language learners wish to
perfect as soon as possible.
1.1.2. Characteristics of speaking

According to Bygate (1987), speaking has the following characteristics:
Firstly, its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs,
including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical
environment, and the purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, open-ended,

and evolving.
Secondly, the learners must know how to produce specific points of language
such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary, but also they understand when,
why, and in what ways to produce language.
Thirdly, speech has its own features, structures, and conventions different
from written language.
Lastly, Bygate (1987) considers speaking as an undervalued skill in many
ways. The reason is that almost all people can speak, and so take speaking skill too
much for granted. Bygate also highly appreciates speaking skill by stating that
speaking is the medium through which much language is learnt.
To sum up, it is undeniable that speaking is the key to communication. By
considering what good speakers do, what speaking tasks can be used in class, and
what specific needs learners report, teachers can help learners improve their
speaking and overall oral competency.
1.1.3. Development approach in teaching speaking skills
Speaking in traditional methodologies usually meant repeating after the
teachers, memorizing a dialogue, or responding to drills.The emergence of
communication language teaching in the 1980s led to changed views of syllabuses
and methodology, which are continuing to shape approaches to teaching speaking
skills today. Grammar-based syllabuses were replaced by communicative ones built
around notions, functions, skills, tasks, and other non-grammatical units of
organization. Fluency became a goal for speaking courses and this could be
developed through the phases in teaching speaking skills that required learners to

6


attempt real communication, despite limited proficiency in English. Therefore, it is
essential that language teachers pay great attention to teaching speaking. Rather
than leading students to pure memorization, providing a rich environment where

meaningful communication takes place is desired. With this aim, the following part
will search the three main phases for an effective speaking lesson: Presentation
phase, Produce phase and Production phase.
In the Presentation phase, the teacher is a model, when students are aiming
for accuracy. The teacher says new language and asks students to repeat until they
are correct and confident with their pronunciation of the new language.
The teacher is a prompt during the Practice phase, encouraging students to think
about how to use the new language they are learning.
During the Production phase, the teacher is organizer, encourager and
monitor as students work in pairs or groups to practice fluency. He needs to
organize the groups, encourages students who may be afraid of making mistakes or
may not know what to say, and be a monitor to keep the noise at an acceptable level
and to make sure that everyone is doing what they are supposed to do.
Baker and Westrup (2003) denote some important features of the Presentation
phase of a PPP lesson:
-

This phase should only last about 5 or 10 minutes.

-

The information the teacher gives is for students to use later in the lesson.

-

The teacher should try to involve students in this stage as much as possible.

When presenting new language, it is important to include four things:


What the new language means;



When the new language is normally used;



The grammatical form;



The pronunciation of the new language, that is, the sounds and stress and the
intonation pattern;

Teacher can present language directly, present through situations, present
through pictures and real objects, present through students„ own knowledge...

7


Students need a lot of practice in using the new language they have learnt in the
Presentation phase. The Practice phase is a main part of a lesson, which can also
include practice in listening, reading and writing. During the Practice phase of a
lesson, teacher will work with the students to practice speaking in different ways at
different stages:


Controlled practice stage



Guided or less controlled practice stage

At the beginning, the teacher controls everything students say and corrects the
pronunciation, sentence construction and use of the language. Later, students should
do activities with less help and control from the teacher. They practice the language
in pairs or groups, but now the teacher only guides the activities. The teacher still
monitor the work, walking quietly around the pairs or groups, listening, sometimes
correcting and making sure students know what they have to do. At the end,
students should be able to use the new language reasonably well, and to speak more
fluently using the language they have learnt.
Once students have had an opportunity to practice speaking during the Practice
phase, they should be ready to concentrate on speaking fluently with little direction
from the teacher. This is the Production phase of the lesson. During this phase,
students focus on becoming more fluent. The teacher‟s task is to prepare the
students well during the Presentation and Practice phases and to set up interesting
and motivating activities, followed by useful feedback and correction, for the
Production phase.
To build students„ confidence, the teacher can suggest that they can use their
first language for a group discussion about the activity. Then, they can tell the class
or other groups about their ideas in English. They can gather their ideas easily and
quickly in their first language, and then communicate them in English to the rest of
the class.
In short, during the Production phase, students will speak with little help from
the teacher, so the language they say and hear is more unpredictable. This is why

8

need good preparation and support before the Production phase to help them to do
this successfully.
1.2. Difficulties in teaching and learning speaking skills
Basing on Larsen-Freeman‟s views, difficulties in language teaching in
general and difficulties in teaching English speaking skills in particular are
examined from teachers, students together with objective factors affecting the
teaching process.
1.2.1. Difficulties from teachers’ view
- Inappropriate teacher pedagogical practices
As Nunan (1991) points out: Teacher talk is of crucial importance, not only
for the organization of the classroom but also for the processes of acquisition. It is
important for the organization and management of the classroom because it is
through language that teachers either succeed or fail in implementing their teaching
plans. In terms of acquisition, teacher talk is important as it is probably the major
source of comprehensible target language input the learner is likely to receive.
The amount and type of teacher talk is even regarded as a decisive factor of
success or failure in classroom teaching. Besides, the ways the teacher corrects
students‟ mistakes influence on their mentality a lot. Moreover, to make the process
of teaching and learning effective, it is very essential to build a friendly, nonthreatening classroom atmosphere which is created on the basis of a close teacherlearner relationship. Therefore, inappropriate teacher pedagogical practices, through
not only classroom teacher talk but also classroom teacher-learner relationship have
also been seen as a major contributor to the difficulties in teaching speaking skills.
The first point is that teacher talks too much in an English class. Researches in
language classrooms have established that teachers tend to do most of the classroom
talk. Teacher talk makes up over 70 percent of the total talk (Cook, 2000; Chaudron,
1988). It is evident that if teachers devote large amounts of time to explanations or
management instructions, student talk will be indeed severely restricted. In order to
avoid the overuse of teacher talk, many scholars tend to maximize student talking time
(STT) and minimize teacher talking time (TTT).

9

Teacher‟s corrections are sometimes unsuitable. Inevitably learners will make
mistakes in the process of learning. “A learner’s errors... are significant in (that) they
provide to the researcher evidence of how language is learned or acquired, what
strategies or procedures the learner is employing in the discovery of the language”
(Brown, 2002: 205). It is a vital part of the teacher‟s role to point out students‟
mistakes and provide correction. Correction helps students to clarify their
understanding of meaning and construction of the language. However, if teachers do
it in an insensitive way, the students will feel upset and lose their confidence.
The next important thing is teacher and learner relationship. Sometimes
teacher does not build good relations with his learners as he thinks he need not care
about it. No student„s name in teacher‟s head and no talks outside classroom are
becoming common. The teacher does not know that neglection can cause problems
in teaching in general a lot, especially in speaking classes. In fact, the relationship
between the teacher and students plays a part in evoking problems in teaching
speaking skill. One of the possible ways of pursuing this aim is to talk with students
about their feelings and help them rationalize their anxiety about speaking, which
results in difficulties in teaching speaking skills (Tsui, 1996).
- Teachers’ deficiency in English communicative competence
This can be another constraint in teaching speaking skills which is related to
teachers‟ deficiency in English communicative competence. For many years,
language teaching was seen as helping learners to develop linguistic competencethat is, helping students master the sounds, words, and grammar patterns of English.
The idea was that by studying bits and pieces of a language, students could
eventually put them all together and communicate.
From the Hedge‟s description of communicative competence, to teach
teaching speaking skill, teachers might have been required to have language
teaching competence including five interrelated fields, that is, linguistic
competence, pragmatic competence or sociolinguistic competence, discourse
competence, strategic competence and fluency. This can be understood that

linguistic competence (syntactic structures, vocabulary, and pronunciation) is not

10


the only requirement of teaching speaking skill. However, in English oral classes
teachers only spend teaching time in providing the knowledge of linguistic
competence, which causes students‟ failure to unsuccessfully communicate.
However, every difficulty as well as problem mixes to each other as a chain.
The core may be unactive teachers. The teachers produce syllabuses and tests at the
end of each semester, students are assessed based on a written test of reading and
writing skills only. As a result, many students and even teachers are 'examinationoriented'. They spend time developing reading and writing skills while 'ignoring'
listening and speaking skills. This is likely to happen not at a single school in
Vietnam, but across the whole spectrum.
1.2.2. Difficulties from non-native students in studying speaking skill

There exist many student-related problems in teaching speaking skill in
English classes. Many learners, as reported by studies into speaking (e.g. Tsui:
“Reticence and anxiety in second language learning”), are unprepared or unwilling
to speak. Their reluctance and reticence in English oral classes pose a big challenge
for teaching speaking skills.
According to Burn and Joyce (1997), reasons for Vietnamese learners‟
unwillingness to speak can be enumerated. But the foremost one is of course the
cultural factors. Cultural factors follow from students‟ prior learning experiences
and consequently from the expectations that are formed on their basis. Another
reason originates in linguistic factors. Linguistic factorslimiting speaking may be,
according to Burns and Joyce, difficulties in the phonetics and phonology of the
target language, poor knowledge of grammatical patterns or low awareness of
cultural background and social conventions that are necessary for processing
meaning in the target language. From the fact that a large number of teachers are

limited in English proficiency, they cannot provide enough curricculum
emphasizing on speaking skills. Furthermore, examination system does not
emphasize oral skills, too. A low motivation level, timidity or anxiety in class,
negative social experiences, and culture shock are ranked among possible affective
factors. In other words, the reasons for students„ poor speaking skills determining

11


learners‟ hesitancy to speak in class are: students’ fear of making mistakes and
losing face in front of their peers, students’ low opinion of their own proficiency
level, limited opportunities outside of class to practice, uneven participationand
incomprehensible input.
1.2.3. Difficulties from external factors

The external factors like large and multilevel classes, time constraint, class
condition and text book also result in the difficulties in teaching speaking skills.
Large and multilevel classes are very common in Vietnam. Multilevel classes
can present challenges to teachers, as it is very difficult to design or organize
speaking activities for many learners with different levels and interests. Even
though they may be common, large classes challenge even well-trained and
experienced teachers. The task of teaching oral skills in large classes can be
daunting.
Many Vietnamese teachers feel that their circumstances oppose to attempts
to use communicative practices. For example, they have to prepare students for a
grammar-based examination, and have to finish certain content in the textbook in a
certain amount of time. They may have classes of 60 students, many of whom are
more concerned about the immediate goal – to pass exams, to get a degree, rather
than the long term goal – to develop communicative competence. Moreover,
textbooks with the allocated syllabus in the time allowed are also the obstacle to the

implementation of the communicative approach. If teachers are committed to
communicative methods, pre-determined syllabus worries them all the time.
To conclude, we have just reviewed a theoretical framework of difficulties in
teaching English speaking skills including nature of language skills and oral
communication, the skills of speaking and difficulties in teaching English speaking
skills. In the following part, the real situations at TNC-ET will be discovered.
1.3. The roles of speaking skills
1.3.1. Teaching speaking skills on Vietnamese teachers’ view
The poor quality of teaching speaking skills at a university in Vietnam
results in a large number of graduates who have difficulty in communicating in

12


English. All the teachers know the importance of teaching oral skill, however, it is
very hard to change the whole situation in a short time. Furthermore, speaking is
really a difficult skill to teach well. Therefore, for many of English teachers,
recognizing their role clearly or making a lesson better day by day is an effective
solution. And the active teachers always want to find the ways to diminish obstacles
in speaking periods. For example, a speaking period can go smoothly if the teacher
avoids the following errors: Oral skills in the text books by Hutchinson are
facilitated by three main activities: pronunciation, situational conversation and
argument. When dealing with pronunciation, teachers simply turn on the tape to let
students listen and repeat. Few teachers stop to explain to students the mechanism
of producing sounds. Consequently, students easily forget the correct pronunciation
of words (Bui, 2004, p. 31, translated). Situational conversations are practiced with
little motivation from teachers, creating modest cooperation between students (Bui,
2004, p. 35, translated). When the cooperation is poor, many teachers tend to ignore
developing argumentation because they often fail when they try. Teachers,
themselves, argue that they should spend time teaching writing and reading, as these

skills help students get high marks in their exams (Bui, 2004, p. 19, translated).
It is hard for the teachers to pay attention to speaking skill often. The
situation appears to constitute a vicious circle. The more they (both teachers and
students) focus on reading and writing exercises, the less they can communicate
verbally in English. To be fair, it is not the teachers' fault but the fault of syllabus
designers. They are not aware of the significance of speaking skills, about which an
English teacher states: "Speaking … is extremely important: it's a voice into pupils'
writing, it helps them to develop and make sense of their reading, and it also does
wonders for their self esteem, building confidence for the outside world" (Howe,
2003, p. 12). If assessment is based on four skills equally, the situation may be
different. However, it costs a lot of money and time to organize oral exams, which,
according to many education managers, are not economical. Their point of view is
being challenged by the current development of English within the country and in a
world where technology develops rapidly, reducing global divides. With the

13


development of technology as well as English as global language, humans across
the world now can communicate easily with one another.
It is widely accepted that one of the main purposes of studying English is to use it
for communications; speaking skill is labeled oral production and is one of the skills

students are to learn in their language development. Although teachers often find it
a skill that is hard to develop, they are always enthusiastic to go about promoting
this development.
1.3.2. Learning speaking skills in Vietnam
In general, it is said that English is very difficult to learn, of which, the oral
skill is the hardest skill to obtain. Although the ability to converse is highly valued
by students, they find it hard to go ahead because they often feel a great deal of

anxiety around speaking. However, because of the need of English communication
nowadays, learners‟ thinking is changing towards active way. They want to learn
more, to achieve improvement with obvious objectives.
For the students taking in-service English courses, they try to do various
activities to have a better command of English. Each one„s aim is to do something
different from the other students. It is because of their understanding of learning
English. Now students are eager to learn and they always wonder everything about
English since they love this language. In my point of view, this is the most
significant aspect of learning. The young know that a good ability of speaking
English will bring a person invisible chances in life.
For students who do not like English because they see it as something which
is compulsory, they are still aware of its benefits. If they accept doing homework or
practicing just because of their teachers or parents, many of them like finding
websites which include interesting and meaningful content that is related to English.
The most crucial thing is that students regard learning English, especially
oral skills necessary, and they will learn better when they are not afraid of making
mistakes and they should be risk takers to get progress.

14


Chapter 2: RESEARCH METHODS
2.1. The reality of teaching and learning English speaking skills at TNC-ET
2.1.1. Description of the English course and its objectives at TNC-ET

The study was conducted at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and
Technology. All students at this college are required to complete two semesters of
English as part of their general education requirements during the first year.
Students have to finish the General English (GE) program, which accounts for 108
periods. There is no English for Specific Purposes (ESP) program after that.

The main course book used is New Headway Elementary by Liz & John
Soars, to fit students‟ level of English and educational goals of the college. The total
number of units is 14, however, the designed syllabus covers only 10 units for 2
semesters. After studying these ten units, the students are intended to be “quite
communicative oriented and inclusive of the 2 language skills: listening and
speaking”. There are only 10 units, each contains a topic that is not really familiar to
learners and includes a variety of parts as grammar, vocabulary, exercises and
communicative skills. However, this can be seen on the very first page of the book,
which presents each unit with a topic and all grammar items it is about, activities for
speaking skills, for example, are not emphasized and sometimes their contents
appear unrelated to the main topic. To be more detailed, main activities and topics
or drills designed by English teachers group in terms of speaking skills in the course
book are presented as the following.

Unit Speaking activities; Content

Topics

1

Pair work; Greetings

Countries

2

Pair work; Prices

Family

3

None; Work

Work

4

Answering questions; Liking

Leisure

5

None; Furniture

House
activities

6

Discussion; Ability

Geniuses

15


7

Answering questions; Famous firsts

Past life

8

Answering questions; Love

Dating

9

Answering questions; Polite requests

Food

10

Answering questions; Describing

Cities & towns

Table 1: Speaking activities and topics designed for New Headway (Elementary)
It can be learned from the table that the variety of speaking activities is very
limited, with answering questions as the most common. It therefore depends very
much on teachers‟ experience and enthusiasm to design speaking activities that
motivate students and improve their speaking ability.
The textbook New Headway Elementary is used to aim at providing students
with general knowledge of English grammar, vocabulary, phonology as well as
developing students‟ four language skills with more focus on the speaking skill.

Therefore, after each semester two forms of tests are employed: an oral test making
up 30% of the total score and a written test for 70% of the entire score.
Although the oral test accounts for only a small part, a lot of students are too
nervous to pass it.
The objectives of the English course are quite impractical. At the end of the
course which includes 108 periods, students are required to obtain:
 General knowledge of everyday English and a relatively big amount of
vocabulary in use.
 The capability to communicate in English in common situations.
2.1.2. Description of the students

Students of TNC-ET come from 3 main faculties: the Faculty of Economics
and Business Administration, the Faculty of Industrial Technology and the Faculty
of Agriculture and Forestry. New students of TNC-ET do not have the same level of
English language proficiency. Some of them have learned English for 7 years at
junior and senior high schools; some have only learned English for 3 years while a
few have never learned English because nearly one fourth of the students are
minorities from high provinces. Although some of them study English rather well,

16


they are only good at grammar, not speaking. They are likely to do grammatical
exercises quite quickly and well at their level but they cannot speak some sentences
about some common topics, and most of them do not feel confident or even a bit
frightened in communicating in English. Moreover, motivation to learning English
in these non-English language classes is generally low since English, for most of the
students, is only understood as an obligatory subject in the college curriculum.
Hence, it is very important that the staff at the English session of TNC-ET find out
effective ways to help these students overcome their difficulties in speaking classes.

2.1.3. Description of the teachers
Obviously, if students are the most important factor in the learning process,
teachers are the most significant factor in the teaching process. In TNC-ET, there
are seven teachers of English aged from 27 to 35 but none of them have ever been
to any English-speaking countries. Of seven teachers, one was trained at Hanoi
College of Foreign Languages - Vietnam National University, one was from Hue
Univesity and other five were trained from Thai Nguyen College of Education. At
present, over half of the teaching staff at the Division of Foreign Languages in
TNC-ET has been taking MA courses in Hanoi College of Foreign LanguagesVietnam National University, Hanoi University of Foreign Studies and some
foreign organizations of education and training in Hanoi. Six out of seven teachers
have been teaching English from 6 years to over 10 years and have acquired
considerable pedagogical competence. However, the method of teaching, which is
applied by most of the teachers at this college, is a very traditional one – the
Grammar Translation method. Other methods are rarely used. In addition, as the
results of a recent study carried out by the researcher show, the teachers of English
at TNC-ET confront a lot of difficulties in teaching English, especially speaking
skill to non-English major students. They claimed about many inadequate problems
in teaching speaking skills in English classes. According to them, these problems
were originated from themselves-teachers of English, students and objective factors.
Therefore, it is very necessary for the staff at the Division of Foreign Languages of

17


TNC-ET to find out effective ways to minimize the difficulties in teaching English
and from then, to improve the quality of English speaking lessons.
2.2. Research methods
To collect information concerning the current situation of teaching and
learning speaking skills at TNC-ET, I conducted a survey in the form of
questionnaire under the heading of “The position of speaking from students and

teachers‟ point of view”. There were two types of questionnaires. One was designed
for students and the other for the teachers of English at TNC-ET. To answer the
questions in the survey questionnaires, informants may have more than one choice,
so the total percentage of the answers to a certain question may not equal 100
percent.
The first questionnaire was administered to 07 teachers who teach English to
non-English language major students at TNC-ET. The researcher selected them as the
subjects of the study with the hope to find out the difficulties they confront in
teaching English speaking skills to students at TNC-ET. There is 1 male teacher and
6 female teachers. Most of them range from 25 to over 30 years of age. In general, the
majority of the teaching staff is still young and active in their jobs. In terms of
qualifications, they were trained from full-time training courses in English language
teaching at different colleges and universities such as Hanoi College of Foreign
Languages, Thai Nguyen College of Education. The teachers always try to improve
their own expertise by firstly taking English MA courses and now the number of
postgraduates is five.
The second questionnaire was administered to 50 students at TNC-ET. They
are male and female students who were randomly chosen from the total number of
500 non-English major students. They are all from northern mountainous provinces.
Their time length of learning English is different from each other. Some of them
started learning English at grade 6, some started at grade 10 and some had never
learnt this foreign language. Because a large number of students are minorities, they
do not have an equal cultural standard. Most of them are from 18 to 20 years old and

18


they are first-year students. Only first-year students of 2nd term were chosen because
they were learning English at the time of delivering questionnaires. I delivered the
questionnaire to those students in order to investigate the problems facing them in

learning English speaking skills.
The first questionnaire was designed for the students with four questions:
Question 1: Why are you learning English?
Question 2: How is speaking skill important to you?
Question 3: What makes you reluctant to speak in English class?
Question 4: Do you often find your speaking lessons interesting?
The second questionnaire is designed for the teachers and consists of thee questions.
Question 1: How confident do you feel about teaching speaking?
Question 2: According to you, what are the reasons for ineffective speaking
lessons?
Question 3: What do you do to motivate students to speak in class?
50 copies of the questionnaire delivered to the students and 07 copies of the
questionnaire delivered to the teachers have been all responded.
2.3 Data analysis
2.3.1. Procedure of the survey
The respondents were contacted in their respective classrooms and
information about the purpose of the study was provided to them. After obtaining
their consent, the research questionnaire was given to them with request to complete
it at a sitting by selecting appropriate respond category which they considered more
appropriate regarding their learning and teaching in English language. The
questionnaire for the teachers was easily carried out. Seven copies were given to
seven teachers and a time-limit was made for the questionnaire to be given back.
For the students, to ensure that they have right understanding of the questions, the

19


researcher carried on translating the questions into Vietnamese one by one. After
each question translated three minutes were given so that the students could choose
their answers.

The information collected from two sources was first read through for a
sense of overall data. Then it was analyzed both descriptively and interpretatively.
The information from the questionnaire was displayed in the form of tables.
2.3.2. Presentation of the statistical results
a - Teaching and learning speaking skills at TNC-ET as seen from students’
perspective

Questions

Options

%

I like English.

20

Because English is an international

20

language.
1. Why are you learning
English?

To learn something about the target

30

culture.

To get a good job.

32

To communicate with foreign people.

9

Speaking English has prestige.

9

Have to learn.

82

Very

81

2. How is speaking skill

Quite

15

important to you?

Little

2

Not at all

2

Table 2: Students’ opinion on learning English

The low percentages in Table 2 reveal the fact that there is hardly special
reason for students at TNC-ET to study English seriously.

20


There is only a small number, 20% of the students like English. It is
understandable because many of them have never learnt any foreign language. The
same number studies for the reason that English is an international language. Other
reasons for students‟ attention in English lessons are to learn something about the
target culture and to get a good job, which respectively receive responses from 30%
and 32% of the students. Subjective causes like to communicate with foreign people
and speaking English has prestige make up only 9% of the number of students
coming to English classes. The biggest number of students chooses the last and
unarguable reason: have to learn it (82%).
However, when being asked about the importance of English speaking skills
most students confirm that speaking skills are very important to them. It takes 85%.
15% says that it is quite important and the percentage defying it is little important or
not important at all is very small, which takes only 2%.

Question

Options

%
60

Topics are not familiar and interesting.
I can‟t find exact words to express my ideas.

59

I‟m not in the habit of speaking English in class.

39

speak in

I‟m afraid that my classmates will laugh at me if I make

35

English

mistakes.

class?

My teacher often corrects my mistakes when I‟m

3. What
makes you

reluctant to

31

speaking.
It‟s ok if I don‟t speak. The teacher never complains

28

about that.
My teacher hardly ever pays attention to me.

56

My teacher and other students speak almost all the time.

56

21


My teacher never explains requirements in Vietnamese

53

so I don‟t understand what she/he is talking about.
Table 3: The reasons that make students unwilling to speak in English class

Statistics provided in Table 3 prove to be well-matched with those in Table
2. It seems that many students share the same reasons for their being uninterested in

classroom English speaking.
It can be seen from Table 3 above that 59% of the students in the survey
reveal that their teachers often kept a distance from them in oral English lessons,
which led to a stressful classroom atmosphere. This suggested that the relationship
between teachers and students might be another potential source of difficulty in
teaching and learning speaking skill in English classes. If the teacher rarely smiles at
students, they may consider he is too strict and hard to access. Hence, the classroom
atmosphere is quite tense
Many students (60%) blame boring topics for discouraging them to speak in
class and a similar number (59%) say that they are not interested in speaking as
they cannot find exact words to express their ideas.
Students who are not active in class make up the rate of 39%. They are
passive and only speak when they are asked to, especially 28% of them who are
never complained by the teachers for their not speaking in class.
Another factor that should be taken into consideration is students‟ wish to
save face. Although they are adult learners, 35% of them are afraid of making
mistakes and do not want to be laughed at. For this reason, 31% do not like it when
teachers interrupt them to correct their mistakes. This discourages them a lot.
Psychological factors also play a role in getting students speak English. 56%
of the students get discouraged when they receive little or no attention from
teachers or when teachers and other students speak most of the time. Some of them
state that their shyness also affects their willingness to speak in class.

22