An investigation into the effects of English new on Speaking skill of junior majoring in English at Tay Do University

ABSTRACT
Speaking plays a great role in developing English proficiency. Therefore, students
should apply some effective methods to build this skill and one of them is listening to
English news. This method might have good effects on students speaking skill which
could link the factors of vocabulary, grammar, knowledge, confidence and other skills
all together. This study “An investigation into the effects of English news on speaking
skill of juniors majoring in English at Tay Do University” aimed to investigate the
effects of English news on speaking skill. Data were collected from 34 juniors
majoring in English course 7 at Tay Do University and 3 teachers teaching speaking at
the same school. The instruments of this research included questionnaire and interview.
The findings revealed that listening to English news resulted in positive influences on
developing students’ speaking ability. It showed the effects on students’ abilities such
as background knowledge, vocabulary, pronunciation, logically thinking and listening
skill which would help students improve their speaking skill.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my profoundly indebted to many teachers and students for their
help in my study.

Firstly, I sincerely thank to Tay Do University, particularly Faculty of Linguistics and
Literature, for giving chance to conduct my research.

Secondly, I am extremely grateful to Ms. Dang Thi Bao Dung for her guidance
throughout the project. She always gaves me instructions, corrections, comments and
provides me referent materials during the time I did my research. I would not have
been able to complete the study properly without her timely and helpful advice.

Then, I would like to gratefully thank 3 experienced teachers who spent priceless time

giving truthful and helpful information to providing this study. Additionally, many
thanks to students of English class course 7 for supporting helpful information to finish
my research.

Finally, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my beloved family and dear friends, without
whose encouragement, inspiration and consolation support over time and distance, I
could not complete this report.

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COMMENTS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………….………………….i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………..……….….……ii
COMMENTS…………….…………………………………………….…….…………iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….…....iv
LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………...….….…...vii
LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………….viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1
1.Rationale: .................................................................................................................. 1
2.Research aims - Research questions: ........................................................................ 2
2.1.Research aim: .................................................................................................... 2
2.2.Research questions: ........................................................................................... 3
3.Significance: ............................................................................................................. 3
4.Organization: ............................................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 4
1.Definitions of the term speaking: ............................................................................. 4
2.The importance of speaking skill: ............................................................................ 5
3.Factors affecting speaking: ....................................................................................... 6
3.1.Pronunciation:.................................................................................................... 7
3.2.Vocabulary: ....................................................................................................... 8

3.3.Grammatical structures: .................................................................................. 10
3.4.Accent and interpretation: ............................................................................... 11
3.5.Confidence:...................................................................................................... 13
3.6.Speaking environment: .................................................................................... 14
4.The effects of English news on speaking skill: ...................................................... 15
4.1.Widening knowledge:...................................................................................... 15

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4.2.Enriching vocabulary: ..................................................................................... 16
4.3.Learning pronunciation: .................................................................................. 17
4.4.Thinking logically: .......................................................................................... 18
4.5.Improving listening skill: ................................................................................ 18
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................................... 20
1.Design: .................................................................................................................... 20
2.Participants: ............................................................................................................ 20
3.Instruments: ............................................................................................................ 21
3.1.Questionnaire:.................................................................................................. 21
3.2.Interview: ......................................................................................................... 21
4.Procedure: ............................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................... 23
1.Result: ..................................................................................................................... 23
1.1.Result of the questionnaire: ............................................................................. 23
1.1.1.The participants’ learning and practicing time: ..................................... 23
1.1.2.Environment: ......................................................................................... 25
1.1.3.Attitude and motivation: ........................................................................ 26
1.1.4.Factors affecting students’ speaking ability: ......................................... 28
1.1.4.1.Pronunciation:................................................................................. 28
1.1.4.2.Vocabulary: .................................................................................... 30

1.1.4.3.Grammatical structures: ................................................................. 31
1.1.4.4.Accent and interpretation: .............................................................. 32
1.1.4.5.Confidence:..................................................................................... 33
1.1.4.6.Environment: .................................................................................. 34
1.1.5.The awareness about the benefits of English news: .............................. 35
1.1.5.1.Widening knowledge: ..................................................................... 35
1.1.5.2.Enriching vocabulary: .................................................................... 37

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1.1.5.3.Learning pronunciation: ................................................................. 38
1.1.5.4.Thinking logically: ......................................................................... 40
1.1.5.5.Improving listening skill: ............................................................... 40
1.2.Result of the interview: ................................................................................... 42
1.2.1.Students’ interview: ............................................................................... 42
1.2.2.Teachers’ interview: .............................................................................. 43
2.Discussion: .............................................................................................................. 44
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................ 47
1.Conclusions: ........................................................................................................... 47
2.Limitations: ............................................................................................................. 48
3.Implications: ........................................................................................................... 48
4.Recommendations: ................................................................................................. 49
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………….….…….ix
APPENDIES……………………………………………………….……..…….…….xiii
APPENDIX 1…………………………………………………….……….…….….….xiii
APPENDIX 2……………………………………………………….…….………...…xxi
APPENDIX 3…………………………………………………….……….……...…..xxiii

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figures

Name

Page

Figure 1 Percentage of participants’ English learning years

24

Figure 2 The juniors’ self-evaluation on speaking level

25

Figure 3 Participants’ residences

26

Figure 4 Students’ thinking about English speaking

27

Figure 5 Students’ favorite subject

27

Figure 6 Participants’ problem in producing sounds

29

Figure 7 Participants’ attitude toward English grammar in speaking English

32

Figure 8 Participants’ thinking about the affection of environment

35

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LIST OF TABLES

Tables

Name

Page

Table 1

The amount of time students spend on practicing speaking everyday

24

Table 2

Some methods chosen to improve their speaking skill

29

Table 3

The results of statements about students’ pronunciation

28

Table 4

Participants’ vocabulary knowledge

Table 5

Participants’ attitude toward English grammar in speaking English

31

Table 6

Participants’ thinking about accent and interpretation

33

Table 7

Participants’ feeling about confidence in speaking English

34

Table 8

The effect of English news on widening knowledge

36

Table 9

The effect of English news on enriching vocabulary

37

30, 31

Table 10 The effect of English news on learning pronunciation

38

Table 11 The effect of English news on improving students’ thinking

40

Table 12 The effect of English news on improving listening skill

41

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 mentions the rationale, the research aim and research questions, the
significance and the organization of the research.
1. Rationale:
English may not be the most spoken language all over the world. However, it is the
official language in a large number of countries. It is estimated that the number of
people in the world that use in English to communicate on a regular basis is 2 billion. It
helps people communicate with the citizens in most of countries without confusing in
expressing their thinking, feelings when they know English. If students have good
English knowledge, it could help them find a good job with high salary.
Notwithstanding, learning English is not easy. In communication, speaking is an
important part and the main tool for human to communicate with others.
Speaking is the means through which learners can communicate with others to achieve
certain goals or to express their thinking and feelings. When speakers want to express
their thinking, they should do that by oral communication. Therefore, the frequency of
using speaking skill is very high. As Rivers (1981) argues, speaking is used twice as
much as reading and writing in our communication. Speaking is also classified to
monologue and dialogue. The former focuses on giving an interrupted oral presentation
and the latter on interacting with other speakers (Nunan, 1989). Speaking can also
serve one of two main functions: transactional (transfer of information) and
interactional (maintenance of social relationships) (Brown & Yule, 1983).
In fact, transfer of information is an activity which does not lack in human’s everyday
life. It also causes some problems and students have to face a lot. The main reasons are

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confidence in expressing ideas, mistakes in pronunciation, lack of knowledge and
vocabulary in speaking. In addition, when learning, students just keep silence and only
sit in their seats, they do not move around to exchange ideas or say anything. This
becomes the obstacles for them to find the words to say out. On one hand, a large
number of students who come from the countryside were familiar with the traditional
methods. From that, students become nervous about speaking when turning to
university for learning English major. Their speaking background knowledge is not
enough for them to receive other knowledge in the new environment. This is also the
problem for most of all students majoring in English at Tay Do University. They did
not have to stand in front of many people to talk about any topic, show their ideas, or
discuss and argue their thinking with other people. They will feel so hard with new
teaching methods at university.
Therefore, improving speaking skill as well as communication skill plays an important
role in English learning. However, how can students improve their speaking skill? And
who could help them practice it? From the viewpoint of the researcher, listening to the
news in English is a good way to improve their speaking skill. They need to focus on a
lot of things such as the interpretation, intonation, spelling, vocabulary, grammatical
structure when listening to English news. Through this study, the researcher would like
to make an investigation into the effects of English news which may help students
overcome difficulties in speaking and also develop their speaking ability. The
researcher hopes that the research will be useful with juniors majoring in English in
learning speaking and become a foundation for them to build their other skills as well.
2. Research aims - Research questions:
2.1. Research aim:
The research aimed at investigating the students' attitude toward the effects of news in
English on speaking. This study showed the relationship between listening to English

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news and its benefits in building speaking skill. Thanks to this study, students could
have a chance to apply this effective method to develop their speaking skill.
2.2. Research questions:
To possess a good speaking skill is a challenge to almost learners, especially people
who do not have enough time to practice speaking skill regularly. Spending a little time
each day listening to the English news may help students improve their skill
invidiously. This research was expected to figure out the benefits of news in English.
The research was carried out to answer these following main research questions:
1) Does news in English help juniors majoring in English at Tay Do University
improve their speaking skill?
2) How does news in English help juniors majoring in English at Tay Do
University improve their speaking skill?
3. Significance:
This study is expected to provide the way to improve speaking skill of students at Tay
Do University. Particularly, by investigating the application of listening to English
news of juniors majoring in English, it will shed some benefits on the effectiveness of
this method. The researcher hopes that students can improve their speaking with the
news as well as the previous method which they have applied.
4. Organization:
This study includes five chapters consisting of
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Chapter 2 – Literature Review
Chapter 3 – Research Methodology
Chapter 4 – Result and Discussion
Chapter 5 – Conclusions and Recommendations

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter 2 is about the definitions of the term speaking. This section also mentions the
importance of speaking, the factors affecting speakers, effects of English news on
speaking skill.

1. Definitions of the term speaking:
Nowadays, English is known as the most popular language all over the world. People
use it to learn, communicate, exchange goods, etc. It is also an important subject at
school. Students were taught four main skills including speaking, listening, reading and
writing through the time of studying at school. In which, speaking is the skill which is
learned in the oral mode. This skill is not only the way of speaking words but also the
way of pressing idea.
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.
Richards and Renandya (2002: 204) stated that “effective oral communication requires
the ability to use the language appropriately in social interactions that involves not only
verbal communication but also paralinguistic elements of speech such as pitch, stress,
and intonation.” Moreover, nonlinguistic elements such as gestures, body language,
and expressions are needed in conveying messages directly without any accompanying

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speech. Besides that, another definition of speaking is “the action of conveying
information or expressing one’s thought and feeling in spoken language” (Oxford
Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009). Similarly, in Oxford Learners’ Dictionary

(1995), speaking is to express or communicate opinions, feelings, ideas, etc by or as
talking and it involves the activities in the part of the speaker as psychological,
physiological (articulator) and physical (acoustic) stages. In fact, speaking is a skill
used by someone in daily life communication whether at school or outside. The skill is
acquired by much repetition; it primarily a neuromuscular and not an intellectual
process. It consists of competence in sending and receiving messages (Cambridge
University Press, 1960: 5). According to Roger Grower and Steve Walters (1995),
“speaking is also a productive skill which consists of two main aspects: accuracy and
fluency”. From these above definitions, it can be concluded that speaking skill has the
relationship with communication. It also seems like the skill to use the words to
express human’s meaning accurately and fluently.

2. The importance of speaking skill:
In the modern world, to adapt to the demand of work, each person should have enough
abilities of communicating fluently in English because English is used as a common
language in this global village. For this reason, a lot of educational systems in the
world consider speaking English the most important subject. They bring speaking to
the students and help the students improve their speaking skill in many ways. Gerald
Gillis stated that “speaking skills are important for career success, but certainly not
limited to one’s professional aspirations. Speaking skills can enhance one’s personal
life, thereby bringing about the well-rounded growth we should all seek”. In fact, it is
like a big deal which brings a lot of profit, if human can speak English fluently.

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According to Exforsys – a team of IT Consulting and Training team led by Chandra
Vennapoosa (2010), they stated that we have established the importance of
communication skills in any and all aspects of our lives. What one needs to remember
is that communication is a two-way process involving the speaker and the listener.

Communication can only be considered effective if both aspects are achieved
successfully. Actually, every single day, people are given opportunities to speak. At
home, they interact with family members and neighbors. They ask for driving
directions from passersby or converse with the waitress at the local pub. At work,
people can talk to colleagues and superiors. They discuss business issues and concerns
during business meetings. They educate customers on products and services being
offered. Indeed, such skill is being utilized anywhere and everywhere.

Now imagine if a person does not possess good speaking skills. It would be very
difficult to express thoughts and ideas to others; it would be almost impossible to gain
understanding from these people if human cannot even convey their message clearly
and accurately. People with below average communication skills, particularly speaking
skills, will have difficulties in presentation over gatherings, whether social, personal, or
business-related. It is either that he does not know how to put his thoughts and ideas
into words or he simply does not have enough confidence to speak in the presence of
other people. Regardless of what may be the reason for this, it leads to one thing:
ineffective communication. And a person who cannot communicate effectively would
find it difficult to strike a good impression on others, especially on their superiors.

3. Factors affecting speaking:
English is a common language in the modern life. However, in our country, the
applying of this foreign language is still not spread widely. It limits the development of
English and other language as well. In learning a second language, students have

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already faced difficulties of communicating in a new language. The speakers’ perfect
speaking is affected by many different aspects such as pronunciation, vocabulary,
grammar, etc. In this study, the researcher presents some common factors that students

often meet in learning English.

3.1. Pronunciation:
In almost all languages, the communication between human and human is the first
factor that people have to focus on. It is the beginning of all things like exchange
goods, expressing ideas or points of view, etc. Thus, to have a good communication
with other people, a person should pronounce exactly the sounds of the words that he
wants to say.

In a high or low level, pronunciation has the connection with other language skills and
sub-skills. For that, trying to separate these skills is impossible. Pronunciation is
considered as “an integral part of oral communication” (Morley, 1991, p. 496) since
“good pronunciation facilities communication and enhance intelligibility” (Varasarin,
2007). Linking pronunciation with grammar and vocabulary, Underhill (2011) maintain
that while the two cerebral activities (i.e., grammar and vocabulary) give language its
structures and meaning, pronunciation is its embodiment through speaking and writing.
According to Peodjosoedarmo (1995), the features of pronunciation which can cause
confusion include: using the wrong words, leaving sounds out, adding sounds, putting
stress on the wrong syllable in a words, putting stress on the wrong words in a
sentence, using the wrong intonation pattern, combination of these problems. On one
hand, Coulthard & Johns (1980) said that “intonation in English might also convey a
speaker’s involvement in a conversation as well as a desire to take a turn of talk of talk
or leave a conversation. Intonation is a significant feature in English.” Gilbert (1994)

7


also stated that the purpose of intonation is to help the listener to follow. Although
intonation is a remarkable part in speaking English, not many people pay attention to it.

As these above reasons, the importance of speaking needs to concentrate much.
However, to develop pronunciation skill, people should spend a lot of time to learning
and practicing day by day because in some countries, learning a foreign language is not
easy. They do not have experience when listening to a foreigner’s language, of having
great difficulty in understanding what they are going to say. The main obstacle here is
the sounds which they produce seem peculiar and the voice rises and falls in
unexpected places, not because of their lack of knowledge of vocabulary or
grammatical structures. Therefore, foreign language learners should pay attention to
the significance of producing the sounds accurately and fluently.

3.2. Vocabulary:
In the way of learning a new language, learners have to learn vocabulary which will
help them to convey their messages or ideas. So, the more they study, the more easily
they can speak or write out the thinking because in the learning time, they will meet a
lot of types of words with a lot of meanings. Hence, vocabulary is very important when
learning a language. It needs time to develop and remember. In many cases, even
native speakers of the language could not know all of the words of their mother tongue.
Sometimes, students themselves may surprise because their vocabulary is not enough
for them to communicate with other people. This is the most difficult of learning
vocabulary that students have to face.
Stahl and Fairbanks (1986) said that “vocabulary knowledge has been identified as the
most indicator of oral language proficiency, which is particular important for
comprehension of both spoken and written language". Besides that, Loews et al (2004,

8


p.127) confirmed that “you want your audience to understand you as easily as possible,
so always choose vocabulary you think they will know or explain specialist terms to
them when you use them”. In this point, he wants to mention that the speakers should

choose the words carefully when they would like to say something in front of the
audiences. It will help the listeners understand what speakers mean easily and
correctly.

According to Lehr et al, 2004, vocabulary is broadly defined as knowledge of words
and word meanings. However, Lehr and his colleagues state that vocabulary is more
complex than this definition suggests. First, words come not only in oral forms
including those words that can be recognized and used in listening and speaking but
also in print forms to be recognized and used in reading and writing. Second, word
knowledge also comes in two forms: receptive and productive. Receptive vocabulary is
words that can be recognized in reading and listening. Productive vocabulary refers to
words that can be used in speaking and writing (Lehr et. al., 2004). Besides that,
vocabulary is understood as knowledge of word spelling, pronunciation, collocations
(i.e. words it co-occurs with), and appropriateness (Nation, 1990). However, Pyles
(1970) confirmed that vocabulary is the focus of language with its sounds and
meaning, which interlock to allow us to communicate with one another.

As discussed above, vocabulary can be known in many ways. It plays an important role
to learners because it is an instrument to help them to convey and perceive messages.
Students should acquire a large number of words to communicate well and need to
know how to use the words exactly. Good vocabulary knowledge and mastering the
ways to use it skillfully will help students be more confident when speaking and
writing.

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3.3. Grammatical structures:
Whenever people want to speak from the simple sentences to the complex ones, they
must use right grammatical structures. It represents language abilities of each person.

From that, grammar can be seen as one element that needs accuracy. To have a good
ability in using grammar structures, it needs time and diligence to develop because
even some native speakers usually find it hard to speak or write a sentence
grammatically. They sometimes make some mistakes which often cause the changing
of the meaning of sentences, especially in the paragraphs. Therefore, speakers may
sometimes create the misunderstandings in expressing their ideas or meanings.
According to Wikipedia website - the free encyclopedia, “English grammar is the body
of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the English language. This
includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences.” Anh and Hung (2012,
p.1) claimed that “grammar is a vital language component, without which
communication is impossible. Indeed, misuse of structures can obstruct the conveyance
of messages, which consequently leads to confusion and sometimes communication
breakdown. An advanced knowledge of grammar, however, may enable the
pronunciation of concise, witty and elegant utterances.” Additionally, grammar plays
an important role in foreign language teaching (Marianne - Celle Murcia, 1991). No
one can deny the importance of grammar in learning language. Thus, improving
grammar helps the students know how to use grammar structures exactly in speaking
English. It is the basic element that students have to acquired in speaking English
because when students are good at grammar, they will have more advantageous than
other who are not in learning speaking English. They could avoid from using wrong
grammatical functions to have appropriate sentences in speaking. It is a good idea for
learners to combine good grammar with suitable words, so it will affect directly
students’ communication as well as their speaking ability.

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In fact, Richards and Schimidt confirmed that spoken languages as “language that has
been spoken, as compared to written language” (2002, 41). In addition, Brown and
Yule (1983) pointed out that regarding sentence structures, spoken language is much

simpler than written language. In spoken language, sentences are usually shorter and
possibly incomplete or ungrammatical form may often occur. Indeed, students just
learn English in some years in high school. They do not have enough time to focus on
sentence structures and using tenses. On one hand, teachers just introduce them some
simple grammar forms. It makes a hole in the grammar skill which affects their study
abilities when going to university. For example, using Vietnamese style for English
grammar, confusing in meeting some complex grammatical structures, mistaking when
identification the types of grammar sentences, these obstacles will hind the reception
knowledge from teachers, friends, books or other sources. Hence, possessing a large
knowledge of grammar is the first step in learning every type of languages.

3.4. Accent and interpretation:
When we listen to the news or watch the media, we can see that the editors or MC use
the accent and interpretation to transmit to the listeners or viewers. If their accents and
interpretation have the inspiration, they will make the audiences want to be eager
follow their program in the next time or more. In fact, accent and interpretation are the
two important elements in speaking skill. In the conversation of two people or the
group of people, if the one cannot attract others, the conversation will fail because of
boring atmosphere. There are no connections and attractions between the two or the
group of human. There are many reasons causing that problem such as lacking ideas,
boring accent, lacking interpretation.

In the previous paragraph, there is a big obstacle in speaking if human cannot express
their ideas or meanings to others. However, that obstacle is in the daily life, what are

11


the problems in learning a second language? According to Alison (2011) “professional
interpreting is best done by native or near-native speakers with an intimate knowledge

of the cultural and linguistic quirks of the languages they work with”. She means that
accent and interpretation could be arrived in the near-perfect if it is expressed by the
native speaker. The reason is the native speakers who have the time to practice with
that language when they were the children. So, they themselves accumulated their own
experiences, knowledge, vocabulary, etc for the accent and interpretation in
communication, presentation, and so far.

On the other hand, a researcher from the Hong Kong Institute of Education suggested
that students may do better learning a language from a teacher whose accent mirrors
their own – that is, not a native accent. It confirmed that learners did not need to mimic
like a native tongue. They just needed to study that second (or third or fourth) language
in the easy ways. Alison (2011) also stated that “striving for a “perfect accent” is a
little nonsensical anyway, unless you’re taking lessons from a newscaster - virtually
every language has a multitude of acceptable native accents”. It is an opposite idea in
her article. She pointed out that people should express their accent and interpretation in
the appropriate and comfortable way of them. Since, in a conversation, the expression
has the implication for other people to understand the meaning of the speaker.

Therefore, if a person can possess both good accent and good interpretation even the
native or near-native accent, they can communicate easily, express ideas and meaning
better. Especially, making other people know what he says easily. However, to do that,
practice is a very important. Try to read English out loud every day for at least 30
minutes if you have the time. This will help get you used to pronouncing common
expressions and phrases. If you have a recording device, try recording yourself and
listen back to focus on the improvements you can make (San Diego Lasik).

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3.5. Confidence:

In the purest sense, confidence is known as what people are good at, the value they
provide, and the acting in a way that conveys that to others. Conversely, with the
arrogance which typically involves believing they are better in a particular area than
they are, or low self-esteem which involves believing they are less valuable than they
think. The closer of their self-assessment is to that reality in the middle. Besides, if
people behave accordingly, they will need to the healthy confidence.
Kelly Lin stated that (from the Sokai Gakkai Site), “self-confidence is very important.
If you have low self-esteem, you will not dream up goals because you will think that it
is impossible to reach them. Without goals, however, life would be meaningless and
boring. Having a goal is like putting an apple in front of a horse, to make it more
forward. Each time you reach your goal, your self-confidence grows stronger and you
are encouraged to set a new goal. Each time you accomplish something you set out to
do, you get a good feeling. This feeling cannot be taken away from you”

Actually, confidence is the factor which plays an important role in every aspect in life
such as business, education, communication, etc. Especially in learning foreign
languages, it will help learners improve their language abilities. In specific words,
confidence will improve learners’ speaking skill (one of the four main skills) because
they need to point out their own thinking to express their ideas. Moreover, they have to
make some questions to their teachers, friends and colleagues to develop their ideas.
Furthermore, self-confidence is more important than other factors such as skills,
knowledge, and experience. For example, if a person has all factors as well as skills,
but not confidence, it will become the biggest obstacle for his future job because on the
interview day, he will meet the interviewers. If he does not have enough confidence to
answer all of the questions of this company, how can he pass that job interview?

13


Almost all people state that confidence creates trust, and this trust will be the first step

in business or making friends. Therefore, a person can get others’ trustworthiness if he
knows how to trust himself as well as project his confidence by project others’
trustworthiness.

3.6. Speaking environment:
Speaking could be seen as the complicated skill of four main skills in English. Students
need to practice it for a long time to get a certain degree. A good speaking learner is the
one who can express ideas by many words in a short time. They should speak loudly
and fluently when communicating, and be confident when speaking. However, to
become good speakers, they should become people who could transmit the information
to the listeners quickly and clearly. That the reason why students should learn speaking
skill by listening to English news. In the news, MCs will present the information by
their native voice. It is very useful for students to learn because if they can speak like
native speakers their pronunciation and skills (listening and speaking) could be
improve and it also help them understand more about English language (about
grammar structures, idioms, slang words, choosing suitable words in specific context,
etc). Actually, it is advised to study English effectively. Since, they can listen to
English news everyday like a daily activity. After time, they are able to widen their
knowledge which is useful for their English studying.

On the other hand, Saharudin Setapa confirmed that environmental factors such as
noise, temperature and uncomfortable seating can cause us to focus our attention on
other factors besides what the speaker is saying. They should try to control
environment factors whenever possible, try adjusting the thermostat, find another seat,
or move to a quiet place to continue the conversation. It is hard to focus attention when
we are constantly distracted by outside forces.

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4. The effects of English news on speaking skill:
There are a variety of methods students can use to improve their English speaking skill,
including listening to the English news. Many students think that if they want to
improve their speaking skill, talking with the foreigners or native speakers is the best
choice. It is a great way. However, how could they convey their ideas when they do not
have enough background knowledge as well as vocabulary knowledge, listening
ability, etc? As a result, listening to the English news could be an effective method to
help them develop their abilities before practicing with other people.

4.1. Widening knowledge:
The news is the program transmitting the new information, hot news in the social life,
etc. Therefore, listening to the news brings the hearers a lot of types of knowledge in
many majors or factors in the world. Besides, when human listen to the news, they will
receive a lot of information that will become human’s knowledge. Since, the
information will be clarified to save the main information in human’s brain. It may
become useful knowledge if people could use it in some necessary cases. Actually,
Anthony Liew, Walden University (2007) claimed that “the key to understanding the
relationship between information and knowledge is to know where the information
resides. Recall that information is at its essence a message that is generated from
activities and situations. However, information resides in storage media (database,
print, video tapes, etc.) in the form of data, or in the human mind as knowledge (in its
simplest form of know-what or the higher forms of know-how and know-why). If this
is the case, then the overlap between data and information in relation to information
and knowledge becomes obvious, i.e. they occupy different spaces at the same time.
This also explains why many people can perceive data and information, as well as
information and knowledge as interchangeable.” Similarly, James T. Mangan stated
that “you have a pair of ears — use them! When the other man talks, give him a

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chance. Pay attention. If you listen you may hear something useful to you. If you listen
you may receive a warning that is worth following.”

The previous saying mentions the importance of listening. In every angle in life, human
can get many benefits or correct their mistakes. For example, in business, before doing
something, a staff must focus on the saying of the director who will steer exactly what
he needs to do. If he does not listen to the supervisor, the mission may not be
completed. On one hand, listening to the news is also like listening to the steer or
advice of other people. When human focus on the news, they can get some useful
knowledge that they have never known before. That knowledge will be accumulated
day by day. People could use it in some cases. Especially, it is useful in discussing,
expropriating and explaining their ideas in English speaking topics.

4.2. Enriching vocabulary:
Vocabulary is known as the important factor which helps human express what he or
she wants to say. However, it needs time to practice a lot to remember thousands of
words. They should also spend time in a long process to take note the meaning,
structure, word forms, etc. Nation (2001) said that “second language learners need to
know very large numbers of words. While this may be useful in the long term, it is not
an essential short term goal”. Besides, Stahl and Fairbanks (1986) confirmed that
“vocabulary knowledge has been identified as the most indicator of oral language
proficiency, which is particular important for comprehension of both spoken and
written language”.
Similarly, Beck and McKeown stated that “the goal for vocabulary development is to
ensure that students are able to apply their knowledge of words to appropriate situation
and are able to increase and enrich their knowledge through independent encounters

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with words”. These statements prove that vocabulary plays an important role in
learning a new language. Listening to the English news is one of many effective ways
since people focus on the saying of the program editors, their mind will receive a lot of
information in which including vocabulary.

4.3. Learning pronunciation:
Having prefect English pronunciation is the big wishes of most English students.
English is not an easy language to study. It includes many different sounds in the
spelling system. If students do not make some effort, how can they improve their
accent at learning English? They may write a grammatically correct letter, but the
listeners cannot hear and understand what words they spoke. To improve their accent,
spend time listening and carefully imitating words that are difficult to pronounce.
There are human’s general listening skills, like when they listen to someone tell them
about something or other. Their general listening skill of course depends upon their
own interests. If they are not really interested in something, then they are unlikely to
listen closely to a friend relating to his experiences about it. However, even if they
were interested, some of them would listen well to what is being related and would not
superimpose their own experiences as a filter over what they listen to. Then there are
those who do just that and end up being generally poor listeners. These general
listening skills are critical for language learning.
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When people talk to someone, they have to pronounce the sounds exactly to avoid the
misunderstanding of other people. The reason is that there are a lot of similar sounds in
English. Therefore, wrong pronunciation can cause the confusion in some cases. To
possess great pronunciation ability, learners should practice a lot. Before pronouncing a

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