Students’ difficulties towards learning english speaking in a rural area an investigation at xuan chau lower secondary school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

NGUYỄN THỊ HƢƠNG

STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES TOWARDS
LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING IN A RURAL AREA
AN INVESTIGATION AT XUAN CHAU
LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL
(KHÓ KHĂN VỀ VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH
Ở KHU VỰC NÔNG THÔN – NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC
CƠ SỞ XUÂN CHÂU – XUÂN TRƢỜNG – NAM ĐỊNH)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

Hanoi – 2017


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
------------------------

NGUYỄN THỊ HƢƠNG

STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES TOWARDS

LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING IN A RURAL AREA
AN INVESTIGATION AT XUAN CHAU
LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL
(KHÓ KHĂN VỀ VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH
Ở KHU VỰC NÔNG THÔN – NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI TRƢỜNG TRUNG HỌC
CƠ SỞ XUÂN CHÂU – XUÂN TRƢỜNG – NAM ĐỊNH)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã

Hanoi - 2017


DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled: “Students’ Difficulties towards
Learning English Speaking in a Rural Area - An Investigation at Xuan Chau
Lower Secondary School” is the result of my own work in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts of Faculty at Post-graduate Studies,
University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University of
Hanoi. The research has not been submitted to any other universities or institutions.

Hanoi, 2017

Nguyễn Thị Hương

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not be fulfilled without the help of many people, and I would like
to show my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has taught me, inspired me,
challenged me, and supported me throughout the realization of this thesis
I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, Dr. Vu Thi
Thanh Nha, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as profound
guidance she gave me while I was doing my research.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all my lecturers and
staffs at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, the University of Languages and
International Studies, Vietnam National University of Hanoi whose support and
consideration have enabled me to pursue the course.
I would also like to express my whole-heated thanks to teachers and all students of
Xuan Chau Lower Secondary School for their helps and their willingness to
participate in the research. Without their help, this thesis could not be fulfilled.
Last but not least, I owe my sincere thanks to my family and my kind-hearted
friends, who have always inspired and encouraged me to complete this study.

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ABSTRACT

Speaking is often considered as the most difficult skill of language learning. Many
students find it difficult to activate this knowledge in real time, and face-to-face
encounters. Hence, the study addressed the gap in our understanding of the
difficulties of secondary students, especially students in a rural area, encountered in
learning English speaking. Furthermore, the students’ opinions about the role of

speaking in their English course and the possible solutions to overcome the
difficulties were also covered in this study. With these aims, questionnaire as well
as semi-structured interview was constructed as collecting data instruments. Four
students were interviewed out of 67 students who responded to the questionnaire.
The highlighted difficulties were: lack of practice outside class, large class, and
limitation of class time; it also reported together with suggestions that might help
students overcome the difficulties. In addition, some pedagogical implications,
limitations and suggestions for further studies were included in this study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION .....................................................................................................10
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................ vii
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................1
1.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................1
1.2. Rationales ........................................................................................................1
1.3. Aims of the study ..............................................................................................2
1.4. Research questions ..........................................................................................2
1.5. Scope of the study ............................................................................................3
1.6. Significance of the study ..................................................................................3
1.7. Outline of the study ..........................................................................................3
1.8. Summary ..........................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................5
2.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................5

2.2. Speaking skill ...................................................................................................5
2.2.1. Definition of speaking skill ......................................................................5
2.2.2. The purposes of speaking .........................................................................6
2.2.3. The characteristics of speaking ................................................................8
2.2.4. The role of speaking in language teaching and learning ..........................9
2.2.5. Approaches to teaching speaking: A review ..........................................10
2.3. Students’ problems with speaking activities ..................................................11
2.4. Summary ........................................................................................................16

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .........................................................................17
3.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................17
3.2. Research questions ........................................................................................17
3.3. The research context ......................................................................................17
3.3.1. Research site ...........................................................................................17
3.3.2. Students ..................................................................................................18
3.3.3. Teachers ..................................................................................................18
3.3.4 English textbooks ....................................................................................18
3.3.5. The facilities ...........................................................................................20
3.4. Participants ....................................................................................................20
3.5. Methods of the study ......................................................................................20
3.6. Data collection procedures ............................................................................21
3.6.1. Questionnaire ..........................................................................................22
3.6.1.1. Aims of the questionnaire ...............................................................22
3.6.1.2. Students’ questionnaire ...................................................................22
3.6.2. Interview .................................................................................................24
3.6.2.1. Aims of the interview ......................................................................24
3.6.2.2. Students’ interview .........................................................................24

3.7. Data analysis .................................................................................................25
3.8. Summary ........................................................................................................26
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS ......................................................................................27
4.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................27
4.2. Findings from students’ questionnaire ..........................................................27
4.2.1. Students’ opinions on the role of speaking in their English course. ......27
4.2.2. Students’ difficulties in learning English speaking ................................30
4.2.3. Students’ suggestions to overcome the difficulties ................................34

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4.3. Findings from students’ interviews ................................................................38
4.3.1. Students’ opinions on the role of speaking in their English course .......39
4.3.2. Students’ difficulties in learning English speaking ................................41
4.3.3. Students’ suggestions to overcome the difficulties ................................41
4.4. Summary ........................................................................................................42
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION............................................43
5.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................43
5.2. Discussion of the main findings .....................................................................43
5.3. Pedagogical implications ..............................................................................45
5.3.1. For English teachers ...............................................................................45
5.3.2. For students ............................................................................................47
5.4. Limitations of the study ..................................................................................48
5.5. Suggestions for the further research..............................................................48
5.6. Conclusion .....................................................................................................49
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................50
APPENDIX 1: BẢNG CÂU HỎI DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH ................................. I
APPENDIX 2: CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH ................. IV
APPENDIX 3: SAMPLE LESSON PLAN ............................................................ V

APPENDIX 4: STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE ……………………………..IX

vi


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as a Foreign Language
ELT: English Language Teaching
ESL: English as a Second Language
L1: First language
TESOL: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

vii


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Three key features of learners’ speech .........................................................8
Table 2: Summary of the questions in part 2 of students’ questionnaire ..................23
Table 3: Students’ opinions in term of difficulty of four English skills ...................28
Table 4: Students’ opinions on the skill(s) they wanted to improve .........................29
Table 5: Students’ difficulties in learning English speaking ....................................31
Table 6: Students’ opinions on the speaking topics presented in the textbook ........34
Table 7: Students’ opinions on activities teachers organised in speaking lessons ...36
Figure 1: The overall mean of four main factors ......................................................32

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Introduction
This chapter will provide the overview of the study such as rationales, aims, scope,
research questions, significance, methods, and outline of the study.
1.2. Rationales
English is used more and more widely over the world, and becomes a common
language in anywhere. It plays a particular role in world’s globalization and in
international communication, and is chosen as an official language in many fields.
Therefore, the need of learning English has increased rapidly.
Speaking seems to be the most important skills of all the four skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) because people who know a language are usually
referred as speakers of that language (Ur, 1996). Speaking is the bridge to connect
people, it is certainly the most effective means of communication; it is the means
through which learners could communicate with others to achieve certain goals or
to express their opinions, intentions, hopes and viewpoints. It is a truism in TESOL
that speaking is one of the most fundamental skills in the acquisition of English as
an additional language, and in many “social ecologies of learning” (Leather & van
Dam, 2002, p.9), but it is among the most difficult and most problematic skills for
most of students to master.
In Vietnam, English is chosen as the major foreign language and a compulsory
subject in nearly all schools at all levels; hence, English has received a lot of
attention from many people like students, their families, and educators.
Understanding the necessity of English, everyone wants to be competent in English.
To master English, the students need to grasp all the four skills that are closely
related to one another: listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, in many
schools, students exclusively focus on learning to read English-language documents,
and to prepare English language essays and letters, with little attention to the skills

1

of conversation. Essentially, learning English is seen as learning a scholarly skill for
the purposes of reading and writing, not as learning a living language of use.
Students give more special attention to writing and reading tasks that are similar to
exam items, and give less attention to speaking tasks in the textbooks because
speaking is completely excluded from the exams. After learning English in many
years, students are incompetent in language and unable to communicate the target
language. Students could be good at reading and writing skills, they may have a
good knowledge of grammar and a wide range of vocabulary without finding it
difficult to do grammatical exercises. However, they meet difficulties in speaking,
and find it difficult to speak English in the real-life situations.
In Xuan Chau Lower Secondary School, students also find it difficult in learning
English speaking. Furthermore, this school is located in a rural area, teaching and
learning English speaking meet more difficulties than schools in urban areas.
Therefore, it is essential to find out difficulties of students in learning speaking
skills. All of the above reasons have made me conduct the research on “Students’
Difficulties towards Learning English Speaking in a Rural Area - An Investigation
at Xuan Chau Lower Secondary School”.
1.3. Aims of the study
The study was conducted to find out difficulties that students in a rural area could
encounter in learning English speaking. In addition, the researcher also investigated
students’ opinions on the role of speaking in their English course. As a result, some
suggestions were proposed to help students overcome the difficulties.
1.4. Research questions
With these above aims, the study focused on three research questions below:
1. What do students think is the role of speaking in their English course?
2. What difficulties do students encounter in learning English speaking?
3. What solutions should be suggested to help the students overcome the difficulties?
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1.5. Scope of the study
The study was conducted at Xuan Chau Lower Secondary School, Nam Dinh
province. It only focused on learning English speaking of grade- 9 students in three
aspects: students’ opinions on the role of speaking, students’ difficulties in learning
speaking, and possible solutions for the difficulties.
1.6. Significance of the study
The significance of this study was that via the results, the researcher found out the
problems that students encountered in learning English speaking and proposed some
suitable solutions to help students overcome the difficulties. Based on findings of
this study, there is a possibility that it could be a reference for other teachers in
teaching speaking skill. It would be also a primitive road for further studies.
1.7. Outline of the study
The study consists of five chapters:
-

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter was a brief description of the research including the rationales for
conducting the research, the aims of the study, research questions, scope of the
study, significance of the study, and outline of the study.
-

Chapter 2: Literature review

This chapter introduced some concepts, theoretical frameworks and related studies.
-

Chapter 3: The methodology

This chapter introduced the research context and methodology of the study.
-

Chapter 4: Findings

This chapter presented the major findings from the students’ questionnaire and
interview to answer the research questions.

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-

Chapter 5: Discussions and conclusion

This chapter gave some concluding remarks, some limitations existing in this study,
implication for English teaching and learning, and suggestions for further studies.
1.8. Summary
In summary, this chapter provided the overview of the study including rationales of
the study, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, significance of
the study, and design of the study. The following chapter will present the theoretical
framework of the study.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
Chapter 1 presented the overview of the study, its aim and structure. To provide a
background of the study, this chapter will describe a theoretical framework for

designing and analyzing data. This chapter begins by reviewing theories of speaking
skill followed by theories relating to difficulties in learning English speaking.
2.2. Speaking skill
2.2.1. Definition of speaking skill
Speaking is a highly complex and difficult skill which involving the interaction of
multiple psychological as well as physiological processes. It is considered as one of
the most important skills when learning English. Speaking is the ability to express
oneself or the activity to report acts in precise words; it is also the ability to
converse or to express a sequence of ideas fluently. Based on Competence Based
Curriculum, speaking is one of the four basic competences that the students should
gain well; it plays a significant role in communication, and is one of the factors used
to evaluate your English proficient competence.
Speaking is defined as an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves
producing, receiving and processing information. Its form and meaning are
dependent on the participants, and the purposes of speaking, the context in which it
occurs (Burns & Joyce, 1997). It is the production of auditory signals designed to
produce differential verbal responses in a listener. It is considered as combining
sounds in a systematic way, according to language specific principles to form
meaningful utterances.
According to Byrne (1976, p.8), “speaking is a two-way process between the
speaker(s) and the listener(s) involving the productive skill of speaking and the
receptive skill of understanding”. It is considered as development of the relationship
between speaker and listener. Hence, it requires the ability to co-operate in the

5


management of speaking turns (Thornbury, 2005). In the nature of communication,
we can find the speaker, the listener, the message and the feedback. Speakers talk in
order to have some effect on their listeners. Both the listener and the speaker have a

positive function to perform: the speaker has to encode the message to be conveyed
in appropriate language, while the listener has to decode the message. The message
itself in normal speech usually contains information that the listener needs.
2.2.2. The purposes of speaking
Speaking is always produced for a purpose; in this sense, we can say “it is
functional as it has function of fulfill speakers’ everyday goals” (God & Burns,
2012, p.117)
Speaking can serve either of main functions: transactional (transfer of information)
and interactional (maintenance of social relationships) (Brown & Yule, 1983).
In transactional discourse, language is used primarily for communicating
information. Language serving this purpose is message oriented rather than listener
oriented (Nunan, 1989). Clearly, in this type of interaction, accurate and coherent
communication of the message is important, as well as confirmation that the
message has been understood. Examples of language being used primarily for a
transactional purpose are: news broadcasts, descriptions, narrations and instructions
(Richards, 1990). Speaking turns serving this purpose tend to be long and involve
some prior organization of content and use of linguistic devices to signal either the
organization or type of information that will be given.
On the other hand, some conversations are interactional with the purpose of
establishing or maintaining a relationship. This latter kind is sometimes called the
interpersonal use of language. It plays an important social role in oiling the wheels
of daily life. Examples of interactional uses of language are greetings, small talks,
and compliments. Apparently, the language used in the interactional mode is
listener oriented. Speakers’ talk in this type tends to be limited to quite short turns
(Richards, 1990).
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It was argued that the purpose of speaking could be either transactional or
interactional. However, in spite of the distinctions between the two types, in most

circumstances, interactional language is combined with transactional language. This
helps to ease the transactional tasks to be done by keeping good social relations
with others. Analyzing speaking purposes more precisely, Kingen (2000) combines
both the transactional and interpersonal purposes of speaking into an extensive list
of twelve categories as follows (see Halliday, 1975):
 Personal: express personal feelings, opinions, beliefs and ideas.
 Descriptive: describe someone or something, real or imagined.
 Narrative: create and tell stories or chronologically sequenced events.
 Instructive: give instructions or provide directions designed to produce an
outcome.
 Questioning: ask questions to obtain information.
 Comparative: compare two or more objects, people, ideas, or opinions to
make judgments about them.
 Imaginative: express mental images of people, places, events, and objects.
 Predictive: predict possible future events.
 Interpretative: explore meanings, create hypothetical deductions, and
consider inferences.
 Persuasive: change others’ opinions, attitudes, or points of view, or influence
the behavior of others in some way.
 Explanatory: explain, clarify, and support ideas and opinions.
 Informative: share information with others

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2.2.3. The characteristics of speaking
According to Burns and Goh (2012), when talking about the quality of the spoken
language, three characteristics were mentioned: fluency, accuracy, and complexity
(Bygate, 1998; Skehan, 1996)
Table 1: Three key features of learners’ speech

Definition
Fluency

Focus

Speech where the message is communicated coherently Meaning
with few pauses and hesitations, thus causing minimal
comprehension difficulties for the listeners.

Accuracy

Speech where the message is communicated using Form
correct grammar. The notion of accuracy can also be
expanded to include correct pronunciation according to
target language norms.

Complexity Speech where the message is communicated precisely. Meaning
More advanced grammatical forms are used, such as and form
subordination and clausal embedding, which are
appropriate for speech in relation to the social and
cultural context, as well as the roles of, and
relationships with, interlocutors.
(Goh & Burns, 2012, p.42-43)
Language learners may not have adequate cognitive resources to produce speech
that is both fluent and accurate. Under time pressure when speaking, language
learners experience limited cognitive capacity for processing meaning and linguistic
knowledge at the same time. Thus, even when they know the grammatical rules in
their heads, some language learners may not always use correct grammar when they
speak. Their first priority is to express meaning (Skehan, 1998a). Grappling with
8

limited capacity in their working memory, they will most likely sacrifice accuracy
when formulating their message. Their immediate aim is to get their meaning across,
using the linguistic resources that are available to them at that point in time. There
is not always enough time to retrieve rules or access extensively the vocabulary
stored in their memory
Beginning learners will not have even developed sufficient grammatical resources
to produce utterances that are morphologically or syntactically accurate. They may
initially only try to string content words together. As their knowledge of grammar
develops, words may be supported by greater use of grammatical forms for
inflecting verbs. However, when their attention is taxed in face-to-face
communication, grammatical accuracy may be compromised. The need to avoid
long pauses that might lead to a breakdown in communication or losing their turn
often means that learners may not attend to the form of the language adequately.
When some processes, such as lexical retrieval, are partially automatized, language
learners may be able to demonstrate language complexity by formulating longer and
more precise utterances. They use grammatical resources, such as subordination and
clausal embeddings, to increase the preciseness of what they are conveying and to
provide additional information. Increase in language complexity is a an important
milestone in speech in first language acquisition, and it is a measurement of second
language development
2.2.4. The role of speaking in language teaching and learning
When discussing the role of speaking, Bygate (1987) claims that speaking is the
vehicle of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional advancement and of
business. In language teaching and learning, speaking is a medium through which
much language is learnt, which is particularly useful. The ability to communicate in
a second language clearly and efficiently contributes to the success of the learners in
school and success later in every phase of life.

9


Developing speaking skills is vital importance in EFL/ESL programs. Nunan (1999)
argues that success in learning a language is measured in terms of the ability to
carry out a conversation in the (target) language. If the right speaking activities are
taught in the classroom, speaking can raise general learners’ motivation and make
the English language classroom be a fun and dynamic place (Nunan, 1999).
Speaking in a second or foreign language has viewed as the most demanding of the
four skills. On the other hand, speaking plays a vital role because it is one of the
factors that helps identify who knows or does not know a language.
2.2.5. Approaches to teaching speaking: A review
According to Burns (1998), approaches for teaching speaking can be divided into
those that focus directly on developing isolated speaking skill and those that focus
on the production of speech during communicative activities. She referred to these
approaches as direct/controlled and indirect/transfer respectively:
 A direct or controlled approach is concerned with structural accuracy and
emphasizes practice of language form, such as pronunciation of the sounds in
English. Such an approach also aims to raise learners’ awareness about the
grammar of the target language, as well as discourse structures and routines.
 An indirect or transfer approach, on the other hand, is concerned with
fluency of speech. It engages learners in functional language use by getting
them to talk with other students in class. Teachers typically plan activities to
fit common situations in which the learners need to use spoken English. The
assumption here is that learners will somehow transfer the speaking skills
developed through such communicative activities to real-life situations.
Thornbury (2005) advocated a general approach to skill development for the
teaching of second language speaking. The approach consists of three stages:
awareness raising, appropriation, and autonomy. Awareness – raising activities aim
at helping learners uncover gaps in their own knowledge about speaking.

Appropriation activities, Thornbury argues, go beyond controlled practice or

10


restructuring of knowledge. These activities aim to develop “practiced control,”
where learners demonstrate “progressive control” or “self-regulation” of a skill
(Thornbury, 2005, p.63). The third stage of general approach requires learners to
engage in activities that demonstrate a degree of autonomy in and outside the
classroom. This autonomy was partly due to the increased automaticity of the
language production, what he experienced as feeling fluent. As we have seen, the
ability to automatize the more mechanical of a task so as to free attention for higher
level activities is one characteristic of skilled performers.
2.3. Students’ problems with speaking activities
Despite of the fact that speaking is considered one of the most crucial language
skills, many students have major problems in mastering even the basics of this
important language skill. A significant percentage of learners in schools across the
globe, rural and urban, face obstacles in using oral language. This can hinder their
progress and exclude them gradually from the procedure of learning because they
fail in fulfilling the basic requirements of successful communication during the
English lessons.
A number of empirical studies have examined students’ concerns and difficulties
they face while participating in oral activities. Students’ problems which students
encounter in learning English speaking can summarize as following:
 Psychological factors
According to Juhana (2012), there are some kinds of psychological factors:
- Fear of mistake: Students often feel afraid of making mistake when they are
speaking English. In addition, this is also much influenced by the students fear
of being laughed by other students or being criticized by the teachers, they are
afraid of being negatively evaluated when making mistake, particularly in front

of their friends. Students are afraid of looking foolish in front of other people
(Kurtus, 2001). In some other cases, they also worry about how they will sound,
and are scared of sounding silly and so on.
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- Anxiety: Among other affective variables, anxiety stands out as one of the main
blocking factors for effective language learning. In other words, anxiety
influences students in learning language. One study investigated EFL learners’
communication obstacles in English language classrooms, and it reported that
anxiety during the English speaking process are considered one of the two
biggest obstacles for EFL learners. This study also revealed that students who
perceived their English as poor feel more anxious and more unwilling to
communicate in English classes than the other students perceiving their English
level as very good, good, and OK. Their low ability, in many cases, causes
anxious feeling among many students.
Lack of confidence: It is commonly understood that students’ lack of
confidence usually occurs when students realize that their conversation partners
do not understand them or when they do not understand other speakers. Many
students think that their English is bad and feel that they cannot speak English
well. He and Chen (2010) state the main cause of students’ confidence is their
low ability in speaking English. The other cause of students’ lack of confidence
also deals with the lack of encouragement.
Lack of motivation: Motivation is defined as the reason to do something;
motivation is rather important in learning English in general and speaking in
particular, if you have motivation, of course you will be willing to take part in
the lessons; but if you do not motivation, there is no reason for them to
participate in the lessons. Nunan (1999) adds that the causes of the students’
lack of motivation e.g. uninspired teaching, boredom, lack of perceived
relevance of materials and lack of knowledge about the goals of the

instructional program.

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 Linguistic factors
Juhana (2012) stated that there are some kinds of linguistic factors:
Lack of vocabulary: Huyen and Nga (2003) confirmed that in order to
communicate well in a foreign language like English, students should acquire
an adequate number of words and should also know how to use them accurately.
The difficulty supported by Hetrakul (1995, p.76) who states that “In speaking
English, students need to master a lot of vocabulary, because by mastering
many words, they would study way of speaking easily. Sometimes, students felt
difficult when they were learning because they had limited vocabulary”. Liu and
Jackson (2008) also claimed that lack of vocabulary was regarded as a main
obstacle for spoken communication by Chinese English learners.
Lack of grammatical patterns: Learning grammar cannot be separated in
learning a language, especially English. Therefore, it is obviously important to
understand grammar. However, due to the different grammar between the
mother tongue and foreign language, it is very often that students find this as an
obstacle in their learning English speaking. Hetrakul (1995, p.76) stated that
“Most students are very easy to get confused with English grammar, while
grammar is very needed to form a right sentence. If the students do not have
grammar mastery, of course they will not be able to produce sentences that
grammatically right. Realizing that the grammar students have is very weak, so
they feel embarrassed when they want to produce English sentences orally”.
Therefore, without a good understanding of grammar, the message or the idea
will not be sent effectively and clearly.
Incorrect pronunciation: Pronunciation is also important in English speaking
because a good and correct pronunciation makes the message in a conversation

easy to understand. In many cases, especially in EFL classes, most students do
not have self-confidence to speak because they do not know how to pronounce
a certain word well. The difficulty also supported by Hetrakul (1995, p.76):
13


“The problem which is often faced by the students is about pronunciation. They
felt difficult to pronounce certain words because in English, between
pronunciation and writing are different. Therefore, they did not recognize yet”.
Therefore, incorrect pronunciation can cause the students to be poorly perceived
and understood by others.
Lack of topical knowledge: According to Ur (1991), lack of topical knowledge
was also pointed out as one of four problems. Learners often complain that they
cannot think of anything to say and they have no idea to express themselves. It
is difficult for many students to respond when the teachers ask them to say
something in a foreign language because they might have little ideas about what
to say, which vocabulary to use, or how to use the grammar correctly (Baker &
Westrup, 2003).
Mother tongue: Ur (1991) also showed that students tend to use their mother
tongue instead of the foreign language. Harmer (1991) suggests some reasons
why students use mother tongue in class: when all or a number of learners share
the same mother tongue, they tend to use it because it is easier for them to
understand and exchange with other people; or when the students are asked to
have a discussion about a topic that they are incapable of, they will use their
own language. In addition, students often use the first language to explain
something to another if there is no encouragement from the teachers. If teachers
frequently use the students’ language, the students will feel comfortable to do it.
 Learning environment
In learning environment where the target language is not used as L1 in the
community, the only input is teachers’ or classmates’ talk. Learners in such

environment are exposed to the language only in the classroom where they spend
less time in contact with the language. According to Sawir (2005), most students
commented that they did not have enough opportunities to use English outside the
classroom. Teaching and learning English in non – English speaking environment

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such as rural areas; the learners do not have much chance to practice English
outside the class. Most students only speak English when they are in class. After
school time, they come back to their normal life in which they often use their first
language or mother tongue. Thus, it is difficult for them to practice English with
people who do not know English.
Al-Jamal and Al-Jamal (2013) explored the EFL undergraduate students’
difficulties in speaking English in Jordan. The findings of the study indicated they
met some difficulties such as large class, and lack of time. About large classes,
teachers in EFL settings often find classes of 40-50 students. It is difficult for
teachers to create and organize activities for many students, and guarantee that all
students can take part in the activities. Sometimes, teachers could not remember
whether this student take part in the activities or not. Large classes challenge even
well-trained and experienced teachers. Moreover, in a large group, each student will
have very little talking time; there is a tendency of some learners to dominate while
others speak very little or not at all. About limitation of class time, in one period,
teachers have many things to do such as checking homework and preparing for new
lessons, and with the rest of time it is not enough for speaking activities. It is also
due to limitation of time teachers must cut out the activities, and sometimes they
could not let students practice all activities carefully.
 Materials and facilities
When investigating some issues in learning English speaking in a foreign language
classroom, the insufficiency of materials and facilities, and the syllabus that did not

satisfy the learners’ communicative needs were the main reasons for learners’
speaking difficulties.

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