A study on factors affecting students participation in speaking lessons and suggested activities for the first year english major students at HPU n0 2

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N
O
.2
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES




TRAN HUONG LINH



A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’
PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING LESSONS AND SUGGESTED
ACTIVITIES
FOR THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HPU N
o
.2

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLSH)







HANOI, MAY 2015
HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY N
O

.2
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES




TRAN HUONG LINH



A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’
PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING LESSONS AND SUGGESTED
ACTIVITIES
FOR THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HPU N
o
.2

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLSH)


SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI PHUONG LAN M.A.




HANOI, MAY 2015
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan (M.A.), for
her enthusiastic instructions. Without her insightful discussion, her critical comment,
her dedicated support, and her valuable orientation, this thesis would not have been
completed.

I also owe a great debt of gratitude to Ms. Emma Parenteau for her valuable
guidance and advice.

My special thanks are also sent to Mr. Dang Ngoc Nam (M.A.) from Faculty of
Foreign Language of HPU N
o
.2, for his help and advice for this thesis.

I cannot fully express my gratitude to all the lecturers of Faculty of Foreign
Languages of HPU N
o
.2 for giving me permission to commence this thesis in the first
instance and to do the necessary research work.

I would also like to send my sincere thanks to English major students from
Course 40 at HPU N
o
.2 in the academic year of 2014-2015 taking part in my research.

Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved
people, my parents, my younger sister and friends for their support and encouragement
throughout the time I carried out my study.

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ABSTRACT
Students‟ participation in classroom activities has been a centre of various TEFL
research. They have already found out a variety of factors that hinder the participation
of students in speaking lessons. In general, these factors can come from teachers‟ side,
students‟ side and others‟ side including classroom conditions, types and contents of
activities, etc. Despite the great importance of learners‟ participation, many teachers
have not paid enough attention to increase students‟ involvement in the lessons.
This study is implemented to investigate the factors on the students‟ side that
affect their participation in speaking activities. The subjects of the study are the first
year English major students of Faculty of Foreign Languages at HPU N
o
.2. The results
from survey questionnaires and classroom observations show that learners‟ factors
have been regarded as important factors impacting on the participation in speaking
sessions. Also, the researcher analyzed some effective activities to help the teachers
increase students‟ involvement in teaching English speaking. In addition, implications
and suggestions for further research are made with the hope for better methods to help
teachers reduce students‟ negative effects of these factors during the process of
learning speaking English.



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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title:
A STUDY ON FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION
IN SPEAKING LESSONS AND SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
FOR THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HPU N
o
.2

(Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Bachelor of
Arts in English)

I certify that all the materials in this study which are not my own work have
been identified and acknowledged, and that no material is included for which a degree
has been conferred upon me.


Date submitted: May, 2015

Student


Tran Huong Linh
Supervisor


Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, M.A.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

HPU N
o
.2 Hanoi Pedagogical University N
o
.2
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LIST OF GRAPHS
Graph Page
Graph 1 Students‟ learning style 35
Graph 2 Students‟ attitudes towards speaking English 37
in speaking lessons
Graph 3 Students‟ motivation 38
Graph 4 Students‟ levels of English proficiency 40
Graph 5 Students‟ personality 42
Graph 6 Students‟ anxiety 44
Graph 7 Students‟ gender differences 46
Graph 8 Students‟ perception of speaking activities 56
after the action plan
Graph 9 Students‟ on-task behavior before and after the action plan 57
Graph 10 Students‟ interaction in a 10-minute speaking group work 58
before and after the action plan
Graph 11 Students‟ interaction in a 50-minute speaking lesson 59

before and after the action plan

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Students‟ interaction in lesson 5 49
Table 2 Students‟ interaction in lesson 8 52
Table 3 Students‟ interaction in lesson 9 53
Table 4 Students‟ interaction in lesson 10 53
Table 5 Students‟ interaction in lesson 11 54
Table 6 Students‟ interaction in lesson 12 55

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Representing different student levels 12

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i
ABSTRACT ii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv
LIST OF GRAPHS v
LIST OF TABLES v
LIST OF FIGURES v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale 1
II. Research questions 2

III. Research objectives 2
IV. Research significance 2
V. Research scope 2
VI. Research methods 3
VII. Research tasks 3
VIII. Design of the research work 3
PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1. Literature review 4
I.2. Students’ factors affecting their participation in English speaking lessons 6
I.2.1. Students‟ learning style 7
I.2.2. Students‟ attitudes and motivation 9
I.2.2.1. Students‟ attitudes 9
I.2.2.2. Students‟ motivation 9
I.2.3. Students‟ language levels 12
I.2.4. Students‟ personality 14
I.2.5. Students‟ anxiety 16
I.2.6. Gender differences 18
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I.3. Activities to encourage students’ involvement in speaking lesson 19
I.3.1. Group work 19
I.3.2. Discussion 20
I.3.3. Role-play 21
I.3.4. Simulations 22
I.3.5. Information Gaps 22
I.3.6. Storytelling 23

I.3.7. Interview 24
I.3.8. Picture Narrating 24
I.3.9. Picture Describing 25
I.4. Summary 25
CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY
II.1. Research methods 27
II.1.1. Action research 27
II.1.2.Action research procedure 27
II.1.2.1. Identifying the problem (week 3) 27
II.1.2.2. Collecting initial data (weeks 4 – 5) 28
II.1.2.3. Analyzing data and generating hypotheses (week 6) 28
II.1.2.4. Planning action (week 7) 28
II.1.2.5. Implementing action (weeks 8 – 12) 29
II.1.2.6. Collecting data to monitor change (weeks 8 – 12) 29
II.1.2.7 Analyzing and evaluating students‟ participation after action plan (weeks 13 – 14) 29
II.2. Data collection instruments 29
II.2.1. Survey questionnaires 29
II.2.1.1. Rationale behind the use of survey questionnaires 29
II.2.1.2. Construction of the survey questionnaires 30
II.2.1.2.1. Construction of the Pre-survey questionnaire (Appendix A) 30
II.2.1.2.2. Construction of the Post-survey questionnaire (Appendix B) 30
II.2.2. Classroom observation 31
II.2.2.1. Rationale behind the use of classroom observation 31
II.2.2.2. Observation sheet: On-task behavior (Appendix C) 32
II.3. The participants 33
II.3.1. The teacher 33
II.3.2. The observers 33
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II.3.3. The student subjects 33
CHAPTER THREE: THE RESULTS
III.1. Results of the Pre-action stage 34
III.1.1. Results of the Pre-survey questionnaire 34
III.1.1.1 Students‟ perception of learning speaking English 34
III.1.1.2. Learners‟ factors that hinder the students‟ participation in speaking lessons 35
III.1.1.2.1. Learning style 35
III.1.1.2.2. Attitudes and motivation 37
III.1.1.2.2.1. Attitudes 37
III.1.1.2.2.2. Motivation 38
III.1.1.2.3. Language level 40
III.1.1.2.4. Personality 42
III.1.1.2.5. Anxiety 43
III.1.1.2.6. Gender differences 45
III.1.1.3. Preferences for speaking activities 47
III.1.2. Students‟ on-task behavior 48
III.1.3. Students‟ interaction self-report 49
III.2. Results of the action stage 50
III.2.1. Students‟ on task behavior 50
III.2.2. Students‟ interaction self-report 52
III.2.3. Results of the Post-survey questionnaire 55
III.3. Action research evaluation 57
III.3.1. Students‟ on-task behavior before and after the action plan 57
III.3.2. Students‟ interaction before and after the action plan 58
III.4. Summary 59
PART THREE
CONCLUSION
IV.1. Summary of the study 61
IV.2. Recommendations 63

IV.2.1. Recommendations for grouping students 63
IV.2.2. Recommendations for discussion 64
IV.2.3. Recommendations for role-play and simulation 64
IV.2.4. Recommendations for information gaps 65
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IV.2.5. Recommendations for storytelling 66
IV.2.6. Recommendations for interview 67
IV.2.7. Recommendations for picture narrating and picture describing 67
IV.3. Limitations and suggestions for further study 68
REFERENCES 70
APPENDIX A: Pre-survey Questionnaire 74
APPENDIX B: Post-survey Questionnaire 78
Appendix C: Observation sheet 79
Appendix D: Students’ interaction self-report 81
Appendix E: Speaking lesson plan – Lesson 5 (Pre-action stage) 82
Appendix E.1: Additional pictures 85
Appendix F: Speaking lesson plan – Lesson 11 (Action stage) 88
Appendix F.1: Additional material of lesson 11 91
Appendix F.2: Worksheet 1 92
Appendix F.3: Worksheet 2 93
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PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
Chapter One introduced the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the

significance, the scope and the design of the study.
I. Rationale
In the modern world today, there is no doubt that English is regarded as one of
the most renowned language for everyone all over the word. Among 5,000 to 6,000
living languages it is certainly right to say that English has become a means of
international communication in the aspects of business, commerce, education,
entertainment and so on.
Even though English is neither the official nor the second language of Vietnam,
the number of people learning this language in Vietnam has increased swiftly year by
year. In fact, English has become an obligatory subject in the curriculum from primary
education to tertiary education. It is undeniable that all foreign learners in general as
well as English major students at HPU N
o
.2 in particular want to master this language
in communication. The Communities 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, 1983).
It cannot be denied that many Vietnamese students can write and read English
well, but they are unable to speak English correctly and fluently. Sadly, most of the
students find speaking difficult even uninteresting. After a long time observing, it has
been found that the first year students are still quite passive in learning speaking
English. They do not actively participate in speaking activities. In reality, students‟
participation can be influenced by various factors coming from teachers‟ side like
teacher‟s teaching methods, teachers‟ characteristics, teachers‟ knowledge (Breach,
2005); students‟ side such as motivation, attitudes, personality, learning styles, age,
gender differences (Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991); and other elements including
classroom environment, types and contents of activities, etc. (Williams and Burden,
1997)
Nevertheless, students‟ participation in speaking activities has been the centre
of various TEFL research, the number of researchers who examined the factors from

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students‟ side and suggested solutions for this problems is still limited. This has given
me the desire to conduct a study to identify these factors as well as to find out the
effective activities to increase the students‟ participation in speaking lessons for the
first year English major students at HPU N
o
.2
II. Research questions
To achieve the aims which are mentioned above, the following research
questions were raised for exploration:
What are the factors on the learners‟ side affecting their participation in
speaking lessons?
What should be done to increase the students‟ participation in speaking
lessons?
III. Research objectives
This study aims to find out the factors that have negative effects on the first-
year-English-major students‟ involvement in speaking lessons. Based on the findings,
the researcher will suggest some activities to increase the students‟ participation as
well as to enhance the effectiveness of the speaking lessons.
IV. Research significance
The result of the study is expected to be useful input not only for the teachers
but also for the students. With regard to the teachers, it will help to indicate the factors
that directly affect the success of speaking lessons and suggest some effective
activities which teachers can apply in order to increase the learners‟ participation as
well as the qualification of speaking lessons. In term of students, the study will show
them the barriers that prevent them from participating actively in speaking lessons and
find out the oral activities which they prefer to take part in.

V. Research scope
Students‟ participation in learning speaking English can be impacted by several
closely related factors. Among these factors, learners‟ factors appear to be a complex
one that needs to be studied.
Besides, the subjects of the study are forty first-year English major students at
HPU N
o
.2 – K40.
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VI. Research methods
In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, theoretical study, action research
have been used. Besides, the data was collected by means of: classroom observations
and questionnaires.
VII. Research tasks
The research studies the definition of students‟ participation, the definition and
types of students‟ factors. After covering the theoretical background, the survey
questionnaires and classroom observation will be conducted and then some useful
activities will be suggested.
VIII. Design of the research work
The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and
Conclusion.
Part I: INTRODUCTION outlines the rationale, the questions, the objectives, the
scope, the task, the method, the significance and the design of the study.
Part II: DEVELOPMENT consists of three chapters.
 Chapter One: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND briefly presents
literature review, the background on students‟ factors and some common
effective activities in speaking sessions.

 Chapter Two: METHODOLOGY presents the methods used in the study.
 Chapter Three: RESULTS shows the detailed results and analysis on the
data collected from survey questionnaires and classroom-observation.
Part III: CONCLUSION provides a review, limitations of the study as well as
suggestions for further studies.
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PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
This chapter involves different issues in the theories of factors affecting students‟
participation, including the literature review, theoretical background of learners‟
factors and activities to promote students‟ involvement in speaking lesson.
I.1. Literature review
It is undeniable that, speaking is one of the most important skills that students at
any levels frequently desire to improve and enhance. That is the reason why,
nowadays there are a growing of teachers tries their best to find out more creative and
effective activities with aim of encouraging students to talk more in speaking lessons.
Ur (1996) illustrates four characteristics of a successful speaking activity,
including learners talk a lot, participation is even, motivation is high, and language is
of an acceptable level. Among those, learners talk a lot (as much as possible of the
period of time allowed to the activity in fact occupied by learners talk. This may seem
obvious, but often most time is taken up with teachers or pauses) and participation is
even (classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talkative participants: all
get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed) can be called as
“students‟ participation”. Moreover, low or uneven participation was recognized as
one of the most complicated and conspicuous phenomenon.
In general, students‟ participation is frequently considered as students‟

involvement in classroom activities, and in this case, oral activities. To be more
specific, it can be seen in the interaction between students and teachers as well as
between students and other students in the class. In term of student-teacher interaction,
students who are active participants often listen to their teacher, follow his/her
direction and subsequently fully complete the required tasks. Moreover, they also need
to answer the teacher‟s questions not only honestly but also adequately and voluntarily
speak out loud. With respect to the student-student interaction, students‟ participation
can be monitored when they are asked to work in pairs or work in groups. That is their
responsibility to complete the task with their partners or fellows, their willingness to
speak English in order to share their knowledge and understanding with other students.
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It is also important to note that, in time of working in groups, students‟ attention and
listening to other ideas of other students or even the correction for their friends are also
highly appreciated as great participation. According to Nunan (1991), learners‟ active
participation is “the ability of the learners to be constantly engaged in what is to be
learned”. Owing to the scope of this study, students‟ participation mainly refers to the
time students speak English to one another or to the teachers so as to express their
opinions, ideas, and feelings, to make questions, to answer or to give comments on the
others. Besides, their attention and attitudes during the others‟ talking time are also
considered as their involvement.
In reality, students‟ involvement in speaking lessons may be influenced by
several factors, that have been studied by a wide range of researchers before, such as,
age (d‟Anglejan, 1990), language aptitude (McLaughlin, 1990), attitudes and
motivation (McGoarty, 1996), social-psychological factors (Freeman & McElhinny,
1996; Rickford, 1996), personality, cognitive style, hemisphere specialization (Larsen-
Freeman and Long, 1991, p. 153), learning strategies (Ihsan R. Diem, 1997) and even
gender (Freeman & McElhinnv, 1996).

There are many variables that enormously influence students‟ acquisition as
well as their involvement in speaking sessions. Dunn, Dunn and Price (1979) believe
that learners are affected by their: (a) environmental (sound, light, temperature, and
the need for either a formal or informal design); (b) emotional (motivation,
persistence, responsibility, and the need for either structure or options); (c)
sociological (self, pair, peer, team, adult, or varied); and (d) physical (perceptual
strengths, need for intake, time of day or night energy levels, and need for mobility)
preferences.
Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) identify six factors, namely 1) age; 2)
language aptitude; 3) social-psychological factors: motivation and attitudes; 4)
personality: self-esteem, extroversion, anxiety, risk taking, sensitivity to rejection,
empathy, inhibition and tolerance to ambiguity; 5) cognitive style; and 6) learning
strategies.
Besides, Brown (1994) refers to three mutually informing categories: the first
he names styles and strategies: which comprise, among others, learning and reasoning
styles, left- and right- brain functioning and the tolerance of ambiguity; secondly, he
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cites sociocultural factors which are the process of overcoming of the personal and
transactional barriers presented by two cultures in contact, and the relationship of
culture learning to language learning; the third called personality, including in it self-
esteem, affect, anxiety, extroversion and motivation.
Additionally, Ellis (1994) describes general factors that make learners active or
passive in speaking class, such as language learning aptitude and motivation, and
specific learner strategies.
Moreover, Burns and Joyce (1997) show that the level of participation could be
closely associated to cultural, linguistic, or/and psychological factors. Those could be
the students‟ passive learning style; their limitations in pronunciation; vocabulary;

grammar; background knowledge and cultural norms, teaching methods and ways of
managing class, etc.
According to Spolsky (1998), there are many factors that directly affect
students‟ engagement, namely attitudes, intelligence, aptitude, learning strategies,
personality, material, motivation, memory, training strategies, social context. Many
other researchers agree that they can be divided into two groups: internal factors and
external factors. Weiner (qtd. in Williams & Burden, 1997) note that internal factors
are those which derive from inside and external ones are from the outside of an
individual.
On the other hand, Klinger (2002) finds 5 main groups of factors for success in
participating in speaking sessions: the amount of time available for speaking;
differences in motivation to learn; individual intellectual and personality differences;
the age of the learner at the start of the study speaking English; the choice of lesson
materials and teaching techniques.
Because of the limited time, this study just concentrates on the factors from the
learners‟ side, which directly influence language leaning and the participation of the
first year English major students at HPU N
o
.2 in speaking lessons.
I.2. Students’ factors affecting their participation in English speaking lessons
It has been proved that learners‟ factors play an important role in foreign
language learning as well as in students‟ participation in speaking lessons (Ur, 1996).
Due to the scope of the thesis, the researcher mainly pays more focus on students‟
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learning style, attitudes and motivation, language level, personality, anxiety and
gender.
I.2.1. Students’ learning style

Over the years, several educators have asked questions about how people learn.
How does a learner receive and process information? How is that information stored
within the brain and later retrieved for solving problems and learning new material?
How should sequencing and organizing information affect classroom presentation?
(Keefe, 1988). Attempts to answer these questions have focused a large number of
researches in the areas of learning styles. Even, different researchers will have
different definitions as well as opinions about this factor, it can be seen that studies of
learning styles give attention both to how a student learns and to how a student prefers
to learn.
From Reid‟s point of view (1995), the term “learning style” has been used to
describe as an individual‟s natural, habitual, and preferred way of absorbing,
processing, and retaining new information and skills.
Besides, Kolb (1979) explains that different people naturally prefer a certain
single different learning style. That is the reason why Willing (1987) (qtd. in Harmer,
2007) divides learners into four main categories.
 Converges: these are students who are by nature solitary; prefer to avoid
groups, and who are independent and confident in their own abilities. Most
importantly, they are analytic and can impose their own structures on learning.
They tend to be cool and pragmatic.
 Conformists: these are students who prefer to emphasize learning “about
language” over learning to use it. They tend to be independent of those in
authority and are perfectly happy to work in non-communicative classrooms,
doing what they are told. A classroom of conformists is one which prefers to
see well-organized teachers.
 Concrete learners: though they like conformists, they also enjoy the social
aspects of learning and like to learn from direct experience. They are interested
in language use and language as communication rather than language as a
system. They enjoy games and group works in class.
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 Communicative learners: these are language use oriented. They are comfortable
out of class and show a degree of confidence and a willingness to take risks
which their colleagues may lack. They are much more interested in social
interaction with other speakers of the language than they are with analysis of
how the language works. They are perfectly happy to operate without the
guidance of a teacher.
It is worth noting that, students who belong to the third and the last
classifications are more likely to be active and positive in speaking class than the
others. In particular, these students are intended to speak out loud as well as discuss
with their fellows during the lesson time and as a result, the level of their participation
will reach a peak. From a different angle, if learners possess learning style like the two
former categories that will consequently result in a reduction in the quantity and
quality of learners‟ engagement. What is more dangerous, the atmosphere of speaking
class as well as the spirit of students may be affected to a greater or less degree.
Keefe (1979) determines that learning style diagnosis…gives the most powerful
leverage yet available to educators to analyze, motivate, and assist students in
school…it is the foundation of a truly modern approach to education. Hence, Harmer
(2001 & 2007) gives some useful advice that we should do as much as we can to
understand the individual differences within a group. We should try to find
descriptions that chime with our own perceptions, and we should endeavor to teach
individuals as well as groups. To be more specific, we need to balance the interests of
individuals against what is good for the group and to be aware of certain individual
traits when putting students into pairs and groups. Also, we need different kinds of
explanations and practice of language to improve both students‟ participation and their
speaking skill. In fact, teachers cannot understand clearly each student in the class,
however, after a period of time, they at least can classify their learners as the
mentioned group above and plan the kinds of activity that will be appropriate for them.
In summary, it is evident that the whole area of learners‟ difference is, as

showed above, complex and sometimes perplexing. Thus, if teachers are unable to
cover all the types as well as the differences of the students, they may fail to provide
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maximal advantages to each learner in the class. That is also the reason why, when
teachers offer oral activities, not all students truly desire to involve in.
I.2.2. Students’ attitudes and motivation
I.2.2.1. Students’ attitudes
Of all the potential factors that can affect learners‟ success, perhaps none are as
important as attitudes and motivation which a student brings with him or her to the
learning process (Robertson, 2013). By this reason, these two factors have become the
subject of a wide range of science research, namely Gardner & Lambert (1972), Ellis
(1994), Long and Larsen-Freeman (1991), Ur (1996), Brown (1994), Harmer (2001 &
2007) and Ortega (2009).
The terms “attitudes and motivation” frequently go together because they have
close relationship. Gardner and Lambert (1972) and Lightbown and Spanda (1999), for
instance, always use these two term simultaneously. Nevertheless, in order to get clear
understanding about the difference between them, it will be better to define them
separately. First of all, the definition of attitudes should be made clear.
In the succinct words of Bem (1970), “Attitudes are likes and dislikes”.
Similarly, Eagly and Chaiken (1993) in a highly influential textbook, define attitudes
as “a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with
some degree of favor or disfavor”. In terms of second language acquisition, attitudes in
Chandrasegaran‟s research (1981) refer 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.
Attitudes towards a language can be either positive or negative. It can be seen in
speaking lessons that a student with negative attitudes may not desire to attend the

class and participate in oral activities with other friends. While positive attitudes of a
student will strengthen the existing motivation in learning or speaking English.
I.2.2.2. Students’ motivation
Attitudes are related strongly to motivation, Gardner and Lambert (1959) (qtd.
in Spolsky, 1998) suggests that an individual‟s motivation to learn a foreign language
is controlled by his attitudes toward the group in particular and by his orientation to
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the task itself. In other words, motivation comes from attitudes. In order to enhance
students‟ motivational intensity, it is necessary to know what motivation is.
Gardner (1985) proposes that motivation is described in the following equation:
“Motivation = effort + desire to achieve a goal + attitudes”. He points out that there
are several components of effort (effort to succeed, to please the teacher or the parents,
to pass examination) and it is important to identify them as some of them might not
link directly to learning a language. He also defines attitudes as the base for the middle
term of the equation, relating them to behavior.
Williams and Burden (1997) suggest that motivation is a „state of cognitive
arousal‟ which provokes a „decision to act‟, as a result of which there is „sustained
intellectual and/or physical effort‟ so that the person can achieve some „previously set
goal‟. Furthermore, they go on to point out that the strength of that motivation will
depend on how much value the individual places on the outcome he or she wishes to
achieve.
Harmer (2001) argues that motivation is an internal drive which encourages
language learners to pursue a course of action. That is, when a learner perceives an
attractive goal that he wishes to achieve, he may do whatever is necessary to realize it.
There are different types of motivation. The first and popular classification of
motivation is noted by Gardner and Lambert (1972) that involves Integrative and
Instrumental. Integrative motivation refers to the reasons suggesting that learners learn

the language in order to learn about, to interact with or to get involved to the
community. Instrumental motivation, on the other hand, refers to the desire to learn the
second language for a specific goal or reasons such as to get a degree or a job, or to
improve social status. However, Lightbown and Spada (2006) believe that the
distinction between these two types is not always clear. Additionally, in some learning
environments, it is difficult to distinguish between these two types of orientation to the
target language and its community.
Apart from this, in discussions of motivation an accepted distinction of Harmer
(2001) is made between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, that is motivation which
comes from outside and from inside. Extrinsic motivation is caused by a huge number
of outside factors, for example, the need to pass an exam, the hope of financial reward,
or the possibility of future travel. Intrinsic motivation, by contrast, comes from within
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the individual. Thus, a person might be motivated by the enjoyment of the learning
process itself or by a desire to make themselves feel better. Both the types of
motivation have different roles to play and both can lead to success. Nonetheless, most
researchers and methodologists have come to the view that intrinsic motivation is
especially important for encouraging success (Harmer, 2001).
Increasing and directing students‟ motivation is one of a teacher‟s
responsibilities, though he/she has no capability to help all of his/her students.
However, teachers can make a positive contribution to students‟ motivation to involve
in the lessons if classrooms are places where students enjoy coming to because the
content is interesting and relevant to their age and their level of ability, the learning
goals are challenging yet manageable and clear, and the atmosphere is supportive.
Crookes and Schmidt (1991) point to several areas where educational research has
reported increased levels of motivation for students in relation to pedagogical
practices. Included among these are:

 Motivating students into the lesson: At the opening stages of lessons (and
within transitions), it has been observed that remarks teachers make about
forthcoming activities can lead to higher levels of interest on the part of the
students.
 Varying the activities, tasks and materials: Students are reassured by the
existence of classroom routines they can depend on. However, lessons that
always consist of the same routines, patterns, and formats have been shown to
lead to a decrease in attention and in increase in boredom. Varying the
activities, tasks, and materials can helps to avoid this and increase students‟
interest levels.
 Using co-operative rather than competitive goals: Co-operative learning
activities are those in which students must work together in order to complete a
task or solve problems. These techniques have been found to increase the self-
confidence of students, including weaker ones, because every participant in a
co-operative task has an important role to play. Knowing that their team-mates
are counting on them can increase students‟ motivation.
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Briefly, no one can deny the crucial role of motivation and attitudes in learning
foreign language in general and in participating in oral activities in particular. Without
motivation, participation is not likely to take place. Although a course may be made of
well-selected items, and these items repeated many times, if learners are not motivated
to engage in, there will be little participation. To be more concrete, the more motivated
students are, the more actively they will participate in oral activities.
I.2.3. Students’ language levels
It is undeniable that a class with different levels of students will challenge
teachers to provide adequate activities and care to each student. Thereby, teachers‟
behavior in this case is immensely essential, too, especially in terms of both

methodology and the kind of language (and the topics) which teachers expose students
to.
Initially, teachers need to understand the basic levels of language proficiency,
based on this foundation they can plan suitable instructions, explanations and activities
for each group so as to benefit all students as well as to encourage them to engage
effectively in the speaking sessions.
Harmer (2007) describes students in three levels, beginner, intermediate and
advanced, and these categories are further qualified by talking about real beginners
and false beginners. Between beginner and intermediate, we often class students as
elementary. The intermediate level itself is often sub-divided into lower intermediate
and upper intermediate and even mid-intermediate. One version of different levels,
therefore, has the progression shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Representing different student levels
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Harmer also claims that some techniques and exercises are suitable for some
students but less appropriate for others at higher level, and some assumptions about
advanced students‟ abilities are less successful when transposed, without thought, to
students at lower levels. This is especially true in speaking tasks. That is the reason
why it is necessary for teachers to classify their students according to levels of
language and have different instructions for them.
In fact, students acquire language partly as a result of the comprehensible input
they receive – especially from the teachers. This means, of course, that we will have to
adjust the language we use to the level of the students we are teaching. For instance, it
is quite feasible to ask advanced students to get into pairs or groups to discuss a topic
of some kind without structuring the activity in any way. But when asking elementary
students to have a discussion in pairs or groups, we need to be far more rigorous in

telling them exactly what they should do, and we will probably help them with some
of the language they might want to use. To be more detailed, at beginner and
elementary levels, it is regular to use words and phrases that are as clear and simple as
possible, avoiding some of the more opaque idioms which the language contains.
Certainly, we will also take special care at lower levels to moderate the speed we peak
at and to make our instructions fairly clear.
Harmer also advises that teachers should choose interesting topics, even though
it will be impossible for us to choose the topics that can make all students get engaged
with. It is, however, important for us to try and find the topics which students desire to
join in. Actually, we cannot always choose exciting topics because we have to follow
textbooks or course books; however, unpromising topics can be attractive if we know
how to explore them. Moreover, if we have no right to replace difficult and
monotonous topics, we are also able to create interest in the topic. We can do it by
offering students to work in groups or organize well warm-up activities. Even, we can
ask students who know about the topic to talk to the whole class, or ask them to
express their initial impression, opinions about the topics before starting lessons.
Equally important is provide necessary information, when we ask students to speak
about some topics, we should ask ourselves what information they need to express
their ideas and provide them with such information and language. In that way, we can
make them topic-oriented and therefore they can come up to our expectations.
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Apart from, another barrier that prevents students from actively and voluntarily
involving in speaking tasks is their pronunciation of the second language. In
Gilakjani‟s research (2011), it is highlighted by the fact that many of English language
learners confront difficulties in learning English pronunciation. In reality, precisely
speaking, great pronunciation competence in English is able to make others understand
easily; whereas, English pronunciation inferior to basic level increases the

misunderstanding among conversations wither others. Clearly, most students who have
difficulties in pronunciation are unwilling to communicate in the target language for
fear of being ridiculed.
In light of aforementioned facts, it can be concluded that levels of language
proficiency take a great influence on learners‟ willingness and motivation to contribute
to speaking activities. Correspondingly, teachers should pay more attention to students
with aim of helping them break this barrier and speak up during the lesson time.
I.2.4. Students’ personality
Human personality in all its shapes and colors brings variety to this world
(Zafar & Meenakshi, 2012). This factor has been the core of the study of human
psychology for more than 150 years. In second language learning acquisition, the
study of the relation of personality and language learning has been the subject of
scholars like Krashen (1985), Skehan (1989), Gass & Selinker (1994), etc.
A large variety of research has been done to develop theories of personality that
could aid us in understanding the formation of personality traits.
According to Funder (2004) personality refers to an individual‟s characteristic
patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological
mechanisms-hidden or not-behind those patterns.
In Bilsky & Schwart‟s research (1994), personality is briefly defined as unique
pattern of traits whereby a trait is the way one individual differs from another.
As can be seen, each student has their own and special personality which will
induce various difficulties in learning second language. Even though, there are a great
deal of traits believed to make up human personality, Zafar and Meenakshi (2012)
point out that extroversion and introversion are two key characteristics that intensely
influence students‟ participation in the process of learning. As stated in “Handbook of