Factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of 10th grade students at Doson High school and some possible solutions

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

--------------------0o0---------------------

TRẦN THỊ THẢO

FACTORS AFFECTING THE PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING
ACTIVITIES OF 10TH GRADE STUDENTS AT DOSON HIGH
SCHOOL AND SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS.

NHÂN TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN SỰ THAM GIA VÀO HOẠT ĐỘNG
NÓI CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRƯỜNG THPT ĐỒ SƠN
VÀ MỘT SỐ GIẢI PHÁP KHẮC PHỤC.

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410

Hanoi, September 2010.


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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

--------------------0o0---------------------

TRẦN THỊ THẢO

FACTORS AFFECTING THE PARTICIPATION IN SPEAKING ACTIVITIES OF
10TH GRADE STUDENTS AT DOSON HIGH SCHOOL AND SOME POSSIBLE
SOLUTIONS.

NHÂN TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN SỰ THAM GIA VÀO HOẠT ĐỘNG NÓI CỦA
HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRƯỜNG THPT ĐỒ SƠN
VÀ MỘT SỐ GIẢI PHÁP KHẮC PHỤC.

M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410

SUPERVISOR: PHẠM MINH HIỀN, M.A

Hanoi, September 2010.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents

Page

DECLARATION ............................................................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENT ..................................................................................................iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ vii
LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS .............................................................................viii
PART A: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1
1. Rationales of the study .......................................................................................... 1
2. Aims of the study ..................................................................................................1
3. Research questions ................................................................................................ 2
4. Methods of the study............................................................................................. 2
5. Scope of the study .................................................................................................2
6. Significance of the study....................................................................................... 3
7. Design of the study ............................................................................................... 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................ 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 4
1.1 Theoretical background of speaking in second language learning and teaching
1.1.1 Definitions of speaking ..............................................................................4
1.1.2 Importance of speaking ..............................................................................4
1.1.3 Approaches to the teaching of speaking .................................................... 4
1.2 CLT and teaching speaking ..............................................................................6
1.2.1 Concept of CLT ......................................................................................... 6
1.2.2 Characteristics of CLT ...............................................................................6
1.2.3 Communicative activities ..........................................................................7
1.2.4 Students‟ participation in speaking activities ...........................................7
1.3 Factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities ..................... 7
1.3.1 Students‟ factors ........................................................................................ 7
1.3.1.1 Students‟ learning styles .................................................................7


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1. 3.1.2 Students‟ language levels............................................................... 8
1.3.1.3 Students‟ attitude and motivation .................................................. 9
1.3.1.4 Students‟ anxiety............................................................................10
1.3.2 Teachers‟ factors ........................................................................................ 12
1.3.2.1 Teacher‟s roles ...............................................................................12
1.3.2.2 Teacher‟s characteristics .................................................................14
1.3.2.3 Teacher‟s methodology...................................................................15
1.3.3 Classroom factors ...................................................................................... 16
1.3.3.1 Classroom atmosphere ....................................................................16
1.3.3.2 Classroom size ................................................................................ 17
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY....................................................................................... 18
2.1 Research setting .................................................................................................18
2.1.1 An overview of Doson High School .......................................................... 18
2.1.2 The teachers ............................................................................................... 18
2.1.3 The students ............................................................................................... 18
2.1.4 The materials and syllabus .........................................................................18
2.2 Methodology ........................................................................................................19
2.2.1 Research questions ..................................................................................... 19
2.2.2 Participants.................................................................................................19
2.2.3 Data collection instruments .......................................................................19
2.2.3.1 Questionnaires ................................................................................ 19
2.2.3.2 Interviews........................................................................................ 20
2.2.3.3 Class observations...........................................................................20
2.2.4 Data collection procedures .........................................................................20
2.2.5 Data analysis .............................................................................................. 21
2.2.5.1 Results from students‟ questionnaire ..............................................21
2.2.5.2 Results from teachers‟ questionnaire ..............................................29
2.2.5.3 Results from class observations and interviews ............................. 33
CHAPTER 3: MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1 Major findings and discussions .........................................................................35
3.1.1 Students‟ level of participation in class oral activities .............................. 35
3.1.2 Factors affecting students‟ participation .................................................... 35


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3.1.3 Students‟ attitudes towards the applied teaching techniques ..................... 36
3.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................... 37
3.2.1 For teachers ................................................................................................ 37
3.2.1.1 Varying speaking activities ............................................................. 37
3.2.1.2 Personalizing speaking topics ......................................................... 37
3.2.1.3 Using group work to good effect .................................................... 37
3.2.1.4 Managing speaking turns ................................................................ 38
3.2.1.5 Building cooperative atmosphere ................................................... 38
3.2.1.6 Establishing good rapport with students .........................................39
3.2.1.7 Combining the textbook with other relevant materials ................... 39
3.2.1.8 Managing speaking time appropriately...........................................40
3.2.2 For students ................................................................................................ 40
3.2.2.1 Cooperating with students .............................................................. 40
3.2.2.2 Cooperating with teachers .............................................................. 40
3.2.2.3 Taking risks..................................................................................... 40
PART C: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 41
1. Summary of the study ......................................................................................... 41
2. Limitations and suggestions for further study .................................................... 42
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................43
APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................I
APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire for students .....................................................................I
APPENDIX 2: Questionnaire for teachers .....................................................................IV
APPENDIX 3: Pre – treatment interview questions ....................................................... VII

APPENDIX 4: Post – treatment interview questions ..................................................... VIII
APPENDIX 5: Classroom observation checklist............................................................ IX


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CLT: Communicative Language Teaching


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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
*. Tables

Page

Table 1: Students‟ learning styles ................................................................................... 23
Table 2: Students‟ motivation ......................................................................................... 24
Table 3: Students‟ anxiety .............................................................................................. 24
Table 4: Students‟ language levels ................................................................................. 25
Table 5: Teachers‟ talking time ...................................................................................... 26
Table 6: Teachers‟ techniques of encouraging students ................................................. 27
Table 7: Students‟ evaluation on speaking lessons ......................................................... 27
Table 8: Factors affecting students‟ participation........................................................... 28
Table 9: Students‟ suggested techniques to increase their participation ........................ 28
Table 10: Teachers‟ assessment and attitudes towards speaking skill............................ 29
Table 11: Teachers‟ opinions about teaching methods ................................................... 30
Table 12: Teachers‟ problems in teaching speaking skill ...............................................30
Table 13: Teachers‟ current teaching techniques and activities .....................................31

Table 14: Factors affecting students‟ participation......................................................... 32
Table 15: Teachers‟ suggested solutions to increase students‟ involvement.................. 33
Table 16: The level of students‟ participation before and after the treatment ................ 34
*. Charts
Pie – chart 1: Students‟ assessment of their speaking ability .........................................21
Pie – chart 2: Students‟ level of participation in speaking activities .............................. 22
Pie – chart 3: Students‟ attitudes towards speaking skill ................................................ 22
Pie – chart 4: Students‟ assessment of speaking activities in the class........................... 23
Pie – chart 5: Students‟ level of reluctance in speaking lessons .....................................25
Pie – chart 6: Students‟ assessment of the topics in the textbook TIENG ANH 10 .......26


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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationales of the study
In recent years, teaching and learning English is very popular in Vietnam. English
has become a crucial means of communication and it is widely used in different fields of
the society such as international commerce, science & technology, education and so on.
Therefore, the goal of learning English has verified: students study English not only to pass
the exam but also to get communication competence in order to find a good job in the
future or to study abroad. It is obvious that learning speaking skills is very important.
Together with new textbooks, new teaching approaches have been applied to
increase the effectiveness of teaching English at high schools. In the light of
communicative language teaching (CLT), students‟ participation in classroom activities
plays a crucial role in the success of the lesson. However, this is the concern of most
teachers as students‟ reluctance to speak in the class is the biggest challenge they are
facing.
Having been teaching English at Doson High School for six years, I have realized
that our students have the same problem, they are not active to participate in the speaking

activities. With the desire to identify the causes and solutions to this problem, I chose the
topic “Factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of 10th grade students at
Doson High School and some possible solutions” as the title of my thesis.
This study helps us have a deep understanding about the factors affecting students‟
participation in oral activities. In general, it can be affected by a variety of factors coming
from teachers‟ side, students‟ side and classroom condition. It will also examine the
techniques and activities applied by teachers and investigate some difficulties in teaching
speaking skills. Through this study, the researcher expects to find out some appropriate
solutions to increase students‟ participation in speaking activities.
2. Aims of the study
The study aims to investigate the factors affecting the participation in speaking
activities of 10th grade students at Doson High School and find out some possible solutions.
To be more specific, the major aims of the study are as follows:
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To identify factors affecting the participation in speaking activities of 10th grade
students at Doson High School


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To examine some techniques and activities applied by teachers and students‟
preference

-

To offer some suggestions for teachers to increase students‟ participation in
speaking activities.

3. Research questions
The study is implemented to answer the following questions:
1. How actively are the 10th grade students at Doson High School involved in oral
activities in the class?
2. What are the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities?
3. What are the possible solutions to increase students‟ participation in speaking
activities?
4. Methods of the study
To conduct the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. The data
was collected by means of:
-

Questionnaires

-

Classroom observations

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Interviews

Survey questionnaires, one for students and the other for teachers were mainly used
to gather information and evidence for the study.
To make the data more reliable, interviews and classroom observations were
conducted. All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion provided in the
thesis were based on the analysis of the study.
5. Scope of the study
Concerning the scope of the study, some of the following things should be taken

into consideration. First, the subject of the study are the 10th grade students who are full of
energy, desire and time to do the study. Second, the study only focuses on oral activities
because speaking skill is the most important skill for communication. Third, the study
concentrates to investigate factors affecting the participation in speaking activities
including teacher factors, student factors and classroom factors hindering students‟
involvement in oral activities and find out some solutions. Finally, both quantitative and
qualitative were used because of their convenience and high reliability.


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6. Significance of the study
The information of the factors affecting the participation in speaking activities is
helpful for students and teachers of English in general and teachers at Doson High School
in particular. The suggestions to increase students‟ involvement help the teachers
overcome the challenges and find the ways to have successful lessons. It can‟t be denied
that the study is of great value to both students and teachers of English.
7. Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts: the Introduction, the Development and the
Conclusion
Part A: Introduction- deals with the rationales, aims, methods, scope, significance and
design of the study.
Part B: Development – consists of three chapters
Chapter 1: Literature review – provides some theoretical background about speaking
skill and factors affecting students‟ participation in speaking activities.
Chapter 2: The study – presents the situation analysis, participants, data collection
instrument, data collection procedures and data analysis. The detailed results of the
research are focused.
Chapter 3: Major findings, discussion and recommendations – shows major findings,
discussion and some recommendations for teachers to increase students‟ participation

in speaking activities.
Part C: Conclusion- is a review of the study, suggestions for further research and
limitations of the study


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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Theoretical background of speaking in second language learning and teaching
1.1.1 Definitions of speaking
Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal
and non verbal symbols, in a variety contexts” (Chaney, 1998:13). Bailey (2005:2) shares
the same view that “ speaking is the productive, oral skill. It consists of producing
systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.”
In addition, Florez (1991:1) defines speaking as “an interactive process of
constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information”
(cited in Bailey, 2005:2).
According to Mackey (1965) “ oral expression involves not only the use of the
right sounds in the right patterns of rhythm and intonation, but also a choice of words and
inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning”, (cited in Bygate, 1987:5)
From the above definitions, it can be concluded that speaking is the productive skill
used to convey meaning.
1.1.2 Importance of speaking
From the teaching point of view, language skills consist of four macro skills:
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Those four skills have a supportive relationship.
Of those four skills, speaking plays the most important role since it is fundamental to
human communication (Ur 1996:120). It can not be denied that in our daily lives, people
spend more time on speaking rather than on writing.
In social contexts, speaking is particularly useful as it is key to communication.

Kayi (2006) and Bygate (1987) share the same view that the learners need to have ability
to speak confidently to carry their most basic transactions. In short, because of the
importance of oral skill in language teaching and learning, it is vital that speaking skill
should be paid great attention to.
1.1.3 Approaches to the teaching of speaking
- The Grammar – translation Method
In the Grammar – translation Method, students are taught to analyze grammar and
to translate (usually in writing) from one language to another. The main goal of this


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method has been for students to read the literature of a particular culture. This method does
not really prepare students to speak English, therefore, it is not entirely appropriate for
students to improve their speaking skills. In conclusion, the Grammar – translation Method
is not consistent with the goals of increasing English learners‟ fluency, oral production or
communicative competence.
- The Direct Method and Audio - lingualism
The Direct Method focused on “everyday vocabulary and sentences” (Richards and
Rodgers, 1986:9) and lessons were conducted entirely in the target language. More
importantly, the lesson presented new teaching points in speaking rather than in writing
and it was practiced “ in a carefully graded progression organized around question and
answer exchanges between teachers and students.” (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:10 as
cited in Bailey, 2005:17).
In Audiolingualism, speaking is taught by having students repeat sentences and
recite memorized dialogues from the textbook. According to Bygate (2001:15), “teaching
oral language was thought to require no more than engineering the repeated oral
production of structures” (cited in Bailey, 2005:17). In this method, the lesson emphasized
repetition drills in order to familiarize students with the sounds and structural patterns of
the language. In short, memorizing patterns did not lead to fluent and effective

communication in real – life situations.
- Communicative Language Teaching
At the end of the 1960s, the Audio – Lingual Method met a drastic attack from both
American sociolinguistics and British functional linguistics based on the study of language
from a wider prospective. Hymes (1972) put forward the term “communicative
competence” to refer to appropriate language performance in contrast to “ linguistic
competence”. At the same time, Brumfit and Johnson (1979) emphasized “the functional
and communicative potential of language. They saw the need to focus on communicative
proficiency rather than on mere mastery of structures” (Richards and Rodgers, 2001:153).
CLT features more interaction- based activities such as role plays, information gaps, pair
work and group work. In summary, among some approaches of the language teaching
methods, CLT is the most appropriate way for communication.


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1.2 CLT and teaching speaking
1.2.1 Concept of CLT
To define CLT, Nunan (1989:194) states:
“CLT views language as a system for the expression of meaning. Activities involve
oral communication, carrying out meaning tasks and using language, which is
meaningful to the learners. Objectives reflect the needs of the learners including
functional skills as well as linguistics objectives. The learner’s role is a negotiator
and integrator. The teacher’s role is a facilitator of the communication progress.”
In brief, CLT emphasizes communication in a foreign language and improves the
learners‟ competence through communicative activities.
1.2.2 Characteristics of CLT
According to Richards and Rogers (2001:161), CLT has a rich theoretical base and
some of the characteristics of the communicative view of language are:
-

Language is a system for the expression of meaning

-

The primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication

-

The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative use

-

The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural
features but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in
discourse.

In Brumfits‟s view (1984:91-93), CLT‟s characteristics can be summarized as follows:
-

Teaching is leaner – centered and responsive to learners‟ needs and interests

-

The target language is acquired through interactive communicative use that
encourages the negotiation of meaning

-

Genuinely meaningful language use is emphasized , along with unpredictability,

risk-taking and choice-making

-

There is exposure to examples of authentic language from the target language
community

-

There is a whole language approach in which the four traditional language skills
(speaking, listening, reading and writing) are integrated.
In brief, CLT is characterized with communicative competence, leaner‟s –

centeredness and four skills integration. These characteristics will be the principles for


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teachers to choose appropriate techniques as well as activities in the classroom to improve
students‟ communicative competence.
1.2.3 Communicative activities
Communicative activities, defined by Harmer (1999) are those that give students
who are somehow involved in both the desire to communicate and a purpose involving
them in a varied use of language. Those activities play an important role in a language
classroom as students can do their best to use the language effectively, arriving at a degree
of language autonomy.
Richards and Rogers (2001:165) discuss that the range of exercise types and
activities with a communicative approach is unlimited, provided that such exercises and
activities enable learners to attain the communicative objectives of the curriculum, engage
learners in communication.

1.2.4 Students’ participation in speaking activities
Students‟ participation can be understood as students‟ involvement in classroom
activities and in this case, oral activities. It consists of interaction between students and
students and students and the teacher. The interaction between students themselves arises
in pair work and group work. When they work together, students‟ participation can be
measured by their sense of responsibility and cooperation.
As for the interaction with the teacher, students express themselves in class
discussion or show their ability to answer the question raised by teacher or share their
knowledge or personal experiences.
In order to have a successful lesson, students‟ participation must be active and even.
However, students‟ participation in classroom oral activities can be affected by a variety of
factors such as from students, teachers and classroom.
1.3 Factors affecting students’ participation in speaking activities
1.3.1 Students’ factors
1.3.1.1 Students’ learning styles
Individual„s learning style in an educational context indicates the different way
he/she approaches new information. Keefe (1979) defines learning style as “cognitive,
affective and physiological traits that are relatively stable indicators of how learners
perceive, interact with and respond to the learning environment” (as cited in Brown, H.D.


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2007:120). Although we share similar learning patterns, preferences and even approaches,
everyone learns and processes information in their own way.
Willing (1987, as cited in Bailey 2005:169-170) divides learners into four groups
based on their behaviors:
-

concrete learners are interested in social aspects of language learning.

-

analytical learners would rather work individually on reading and grammar.

-

communicative learners are willing to communicate with other speakers.

-

authority – oriented learners tend to be independent and prefer to work in non –
communicative classroom.
As can be seen from Willing‟s classification, if the majority of students in one class

belong to concrete and authority – oriented groups, the degree of participation in oral
activities of this class will be low.
According to Brown (1994) the contrast between reflectivity and impulsivity
dimension is one factor affecting students‟ participation in speaking lesson. Reflective
learners are slower, more careful and often weigh all the considerations before speaking
out in the class, on the other hand, impulsive learners are quicker at making decision and
make gambles before a solution is achieved. So in speaking lesson, impulsive learners are
faster but less accurate speaker than reflective ones.
As claimed by Ellis (1985:120), extroverted learners are more willing to interact
with others than the introverted, and therefore they are more successful in oral
communication.
Sharing the same view with Ellis, Lightbown and Spada list a number of
personality characteristics that have a great influence on the success of second language
learners: extroversion, inhibition, self – esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness and
responsiveness (1995:54-55).

We can conclude with certainty that if the teacher neglects these differences among
students, only some of them can benefit from the classroom activities. It is understandable
that not all students participate actively in the activities.
1.3.1.2 Students’ language levels
In Tsui‟s research (1996) in HongKong, she found out five principal factors
affecting the reluctance of students‟ participation in class speaking lesson:
-

students‟ perceived low proficiency in English


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students‟ fear of mistakes and derision

-

teacher‟s intolerance of silence

-

uneven allocation of turns

-

incomprehensible input

(as cited in Nunan 1999:234)

Is it the common problem for Vietnamese high school students? Lack of vocabulary,
structures and expressions make students unwilling to speak. Therefore, in the classroom
many students just sit in silence and do not participate in the classroom activities.
In Burns and Joyce‟s view, students have difficulties in pronunciation such as
sounds, rhythms and stress patterns of English, lack of social and cultural knowledge, low
proficiency of grammar patterns and problems in transferring from the native language into
the target language. All of these linguistics factors result in break – down in processing
language and communication.
It is understandable that with limited knowledge students can not confidently speak
out much about anything. In brief, the limitations in the students‟ language levels can
directly affect their participation however much they like the activities. We, therefore,
should choose the topics as well as the kinds of activities of their levels to encourage their
participation
1.3.1.3 Students’ attitudes and motivation
Harmer (1999:51) defines motivation as “some kind of internal drive which pushes
someone to do things in order to achieve something”. According to Lightbown and Spada
“motivation in second language learning is a complex phenomenon which can be defined
in terms of two factors: learners‟ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the
second language community”. It can be understood that if learners have favorable attitudes
and desire to speak the second language for communication, they will be motivated to
acquire the language proficiency.
Harmer (1999:51) divides motivation into two types intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation is possessed by people having personal interest in doing
something. On the contrary, extrinsic motivation is caused by such outside factors, not for
their own sake, as the need to pass an exam or the hope of financial reward.


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If all the students just learn English in order to pass the written exams, they think

that participating in speaking activities is not necessary. In this case, a big question for the
language teachers is how to inspire students‟ personal interests in the speaking lessons?
In order to do so, we have to understand the sources of motivation as “without
knowing where the roots of motivation lie, how can teachers water those roots?” (Oxford
& Shearin, 1994:15). Fisher (1990) points to three major sources of motivation in learning:
-

The learners‟ natural interests (intrinsic satisfaction)

-

The teacher/ employment…etc (extrinsic reward)

-

Success in the task (combining satisfaction and reward)
Harmer (1999:51) also mentions that the sources of motivation are diversified.

They may derive from the society we live in, significant others like the attitude of parents
or old siblings, the teacher and the method. The responsibility of the teachers is to increase
and direct students‟ motivation through setting clear goals, learning environment and
interesting classes, which can directly influence students‟ participation.
Besides Harmer, Downs (2000) points out some conditions that help increase
students‟ motivation. He says that motivation increases when students feel acknowledged
and understood, when students are confident and they can succeed, when language has a
communicative purpose, and when students take responsibility for their own learning.
Lightbown and Spada (1999:57) reconfirm that if we can make the classroom places where
students enjoy coming because of interesting content, challenging but manageable and
clear goals, supportive and non-threatening

atmosphere, we can make a positive

contribution to students‟ motivation.
It is clear that motivation plays an important part in the success of language
learning. We may not know exactly how much motivation factor accounts for students‟
participation but it can be concluded that the degree of motivation is directly proportional
to the level of involvement in oral activities. It is true that, the more motivated students are,
the more actively they are involved in speaking tasks.
1.3.1.4 Students’ anxiety
Anxiety, simply speaking, is a kind of troubled feeling in the mind. Spielberger
(1983:1) defines anxiety as ”the subjective feeling of tension, apprehension, nervousness,
and worry associated with an arousal of the automatic nervous system” (as cited in Brown
(2007:161). More simply, it is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-


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doubt, apprehension or worry (Scovel, 1978:134). Anxiety is classified into trait anxiety,
state anxiety and situation-specific anxiety. Trait anxiety, as Scovel (1978) noted, refers to
“a more permanent predisposition to be anxious” while state and situation-specific anxiety
are usually experienced in relation to some particular event or situation (Brown, 2007).
Through the research of Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986), they found out three main
causes of language anxiety: communication apprehension, text anxiety and fear of negative
evaluation. Through their study with 97 college students, they came to a conclusion that
the students with language anxiety found it more difficult to give their own opinions than
the relaxed learners. They also mentioned that the more anxious the students were, the
worse they performed in speaking.
Clearly, anxiety and speaking performance are closely related. If the students are
afraid of losing face as making mistakes or being laughed at by other students, they are
certain to keep quiet and wait until they are required to speak in oral English lessons. Tsui

(1996) reconfirmed that students‟ fear of making mistakes and derision was one of the
causes of reluctance in speaking lessons.
In Zhang Xiuqin„s research (2006), he found out that anxiety was the main negative
factor which prevented students from participating in classroom speaking activities. High
anxiety learners tended to withdraw from voluntary participation and reluctant to take risks.
He identified some main causes of language anxiety:
1. Less proficient English
2. Students‟ fear of mistakes and derision
3. Large class size
4. Unwilling to take risks
5. Low tolerance of ambiguity
6. Competitiveness
In short, anxiety is obviously an important factor in the second language acquisition
in general and in students‟ participation in speaking activities in particular. Therefore,
language educators should strive to promote a non – threatening environment and have
techniques to reduce students‟ anxiety like: creating a relaxed and safe atmosphere for
students, avoiding negative evaluation of students in classrooms and comment on students‟
behaviors with more encouragement and taking some measures to relax students‟ attention
to exams or evaluation.


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1.3.2 Teacher’s factors
1.3.2.1 Teacher’s roles
With an increasing concern about the CLT approach in foreign language teaching
and learning, in which learners are the centre of the lesson, the roles of a teacher are
different from those in the other different teaching methods. Harmer (1999:57-62) listed
the roles of a teacher as follows:
-

Controller: When teachers act as controllers, they are in charge of the class and of

the activity taking place in the class. Indeed, the role of a controller really makes sense in
many educational contexts like when announcement need to be made, when orders has to
be restored, when explanations are given, or when the teacher is leading a question and
answer session. However, if a teacher abuses the role, it will affect students‟ practice and
opportunities to join oral activities.
-

Organizer: Organizing students to do various activities is one of the most important

roles that teachers have to perform. This involves giving students information, telling them
how to do the activity, putting them into pairs or groups and ending the activities. If a
teacher does this role successfully, it will encourage students to involve in the class oral
activities.
-

Assessor: The role of a teacher as an assessor is of great importance. It can be

understandable that any student after performing an activity wants to know whether he/she
has practiced the right English or not. So, a teacher has to offer feedback, evaluation,
correction or grade students in various ways, but with sensitivity fairness and support.
Teachers should be fair and tactful towards students‟ reaction, otherwise they can
demotivate students from participating in classroom activities.
-

Prompter: During oral practice, students sometimes have difficulty expressing ideas

due to their lack of vocabulary, so they can not proceed the activities. In such situations,

teachers can provide them with words or phrases or give discretion suggestion to help them
continue their tasks, however, it should be done sensitively and encouragingly.
-

Participant: According to Harmer, a teacher is not only a person who stands back

from students‟ activity, lets them get on with their own discussion or just gives feedback or
mistake correction, but also a participant in students‟ activity. As a result, it can help
strengthen the relationship between students and teachers, but it sometimes dominates the
proceedings due to the knowledge and experience of teachers.


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-

Resource: During the discussion or presentation, students might want to know the

meaning of a phrase or a word, or further information about the topic. What the teacher
should do is to offer students guidance to look for that information and encourage them to
use resource material for themselves, but not spoon- feed the students otherwise they will
be over – reliant on the teacher.
-

Tutor: When students are working on longer projects, such as pieces of writing or

preparation for a talk or a debate, we can act as a tutor to work with individuals or small
groups. The teacher can go around the class, stay with a particular group or individual, or
offer the general guidance. In that case, students feel more supported and helped, as a
result the class atmosphere is greatly enhanced.

-

Observer: We want to observe what students do during their oral communicative

activities, therefore we can give them appropriate feedback. It is useful to take note on
students‟ performance either in their use of actual language or in their use of
conversational strategies.

Observing students can help us judge the success of the

materials and activities used in the class.
Unlike Harmer, Byrner(1986:2) stated the roles of the teacher according to the
stages of teaching speaking: the presentation stage, the practice stage and the production
one. At the first stage, the teacher acts as an informant. He/she prepares the materials and
presents the language as clearly as possible and the students listen and try to understand.
However, teacher‟s spending time should be sensible, otherwise students do not have
enough time for their practice.
At the practice stage, it is time for students to do most of the talking and the teacher
devises and provides the maximum amount of practice. The teacher‟s role is like the skilful
conductor of an orchestra, giving each of the performers a chance to participate and
monitoring the performance.
At the final stage, the production one, the teacher takes on the role of manager and
guide. Students need to be given regular and frequent opportunities to use language freely,
even if they sometimes make mistakes. The most important thing is students have chances
to express their own ideas personally and are encouraged to go on learning.
Above all, the most important role of the teacher through stages of speaking lesson
is a motivator. Whatever you are doing in the classroom, your ability to motivate the
students, to arouse their interests and to involve what they are doing will be crucial.

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Based on the theory about teacher‟s roles, we can see that teacher‟s roles may
affect students‟ participation, therefore in order to encourage students‟ involvement we
should implement appropriate roles.
1.3.2.2 Teacher’s characteristics
Though “the perfect set of personal qualities and characteristics for an effective
teacher has not been found” (Barry, 1993:94), it would be true to say that in order to
involve students in classroom‟s activities, teacher firstly should be one that students
respect and lay their trust on. The teacher‟s prestige will make students feel safe in the
lesson and willing to participate in the activities. To support this point, Barry (1993)
mentions some characteristics that a teacher should have:
- Being natural: The teacher should present himself as real person such as the feeling of
happiness, sympathy, annoyance or humorous. Therefore, the relationship between
students and teacher will be closer, which helps increase students‟ involvement and cooperation in the process of teaching and learning.
- Being warm: The teacher regards students as his fellow people, respects their personal
characteristics and is happy to have them around.
- Being pleasant: The teacher‟s attitude towards students expresses his relaxation,
friendliness in the relationship with his students. Besides, being pleasant also means being
enthusiastic towards the job of teaching.
- Being approachable: An approachable teacher is the one who makes students feel
good about being with him and the one that students can come to see if they have problems.
- Being tolerant: In learning a foreign language, students‟ mistakes are inevitable. The
teacher needs to be tolerant with those mistakes instead of criticizing them tactlessly.
To establish a good relationship, it is vital that teachers should be cordial, acceptant
and tolerant, otherwise it can make students scared and afraid of speaking in the class. Tsui
(1996) found out that teachers‟ intolerance of silence is one of five principal factors
affecting students‟ reluctance in speaking (cited in Nunan, 1999:234). Further more, in his
investigation, Oxford (1998) also stated that the teacher‟s relationship with the students,
the teacher‟s attitude or the style conflicts between them are major factors demotivating

students‟ participation (cited in Dornyei, 2001:146).
It should be noted that not every teacher can have all the above characteristics, but
it can help improve a good rapport between the teacher and students. With such good


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interaction during the lesson, it both creates a positive environment for learning and
enhances students‟ participation in the activities.
1.3.2.3 Teacher’s methodology
The teacher‟s methodology refers to the approach or method and the teaching
techniques he uses in the classroom. Through the history we have experienced the
existence and development of many teaching methods that can be divided into two types:
teacher – centered and learner – centered methods. Traditional methods such as the
Grammar Translation Method, the Direct Method are teacher – centered ones which mostly
focus on grammatical and phonological accuracy. These techniques are choral repetition,
drilling substitution, content explanation and narrative presentation seem so mechanical
and simple that they will result in learners‟ passiveness and limit their participation in
learning. In recent time, in the light of Communicative Language Teaching, teacher‟s
technique turn from teacher – centered method into learner – centered method. The
teaching technique consist of role-play, problem solving, games, pair work, group work,
interview and discussion, etc.
However, no teaching method is the best one as each one has its own advantages
and disadvantages. In order to apply a suitable teaching method, the teacher should take
some of the following factors into consideration including learners‟ level, interests and
purposes. Applying the appropriate method can have positive effects on students‟ learning
and participation in classroom‟s activities.
In conclusion, students‟ participation can be affected by teacher‟s factors including
teacher‟ role, characteristics and methodology. Teaching method may play a decisive part
in obtaining teaching goals, and in this case, increasing students‟ involvement in oral

activities. In addition, teacher‟ characteristics and teacher‟s roles in the classroom activities
play an important role in students‟ participation. Therefore, in order to reach this goal,
teachers should improve themselves in methodology, knowledge and personality to
motivate students.
1.3.3 Classroom factors
1.3.3.1 Classroom atmosphere
It is certain that classroom atmosphere affects students‟ success in language
learning. According to Underwood (1987:34-44), both students and teachers take the


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responsibility for creating a good teaching and learning environment with the following
points:
-

Giving a sense of purpose: All the students are provided opportunities to talk and

listen to each other and they have clear objectives to achieve in and after the lesson.
-

Ensuring that English is spoken: It is important to use English as the classroom

language right from the beginning and make sure that you want to conduct the lesson in
English. Therefore, students will form the habit of speaking English in the class. There is
no doubt that the teacher‟s command of using the target language can have great influence
on the students‟ willingness to speak. By doing so, the teacher wants to set the best
example and provides a good model for his classes.
-

Balancing fluency and accuracy: The teacher should balance the encouragement of

fluency with the need for accuracy. If he focuses too much on accuracy, weaker students
will be shy and reticent to speak. Then, they will lose the confidence in speaking , and the
gap between the weak and other fellow students become bigger.
-

Using appropriate language: Classroom expressions are highly appreciated to be

used regularly in the class. However, the language should be clear, understandable and it
matches students‟ level.
-

Giving encouragement: When students are trying their best to reach the goals, the

teacher should give an appropriate comment to encourage them. A comment like “Good”,
“Well done”, “That‟s right” can make students feel more confident and motivated, and
more importantly they are eager to speak more often.
-

Involving all the students: In large classes, it is very easy to miss some students out

when doing oral practice. Underwood suggests some ways of endeavoring to include all
the students such as using the class register list, setting speaking rules and games to
encourage all students to participate in the activities.
-

The place of examination and tests: Students are often nervous and anxious about

the exams and tests. Thus, the teacher shouldn‟t put too much weight on giving marks or

tests.
-

Extra-curricular activities: Extra-curriculum activities conducted outside lesson

times can make a significant contribution to maintaining a good atmosphere in the
classroom. If students have more interesting activities, they will take a more positive
attitude towards their studies.


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In short, we have mentioned some suggestions for establishing and maintaining a
purposeful and happy class atmosphere. This is an important work as it requires both the
teacher and students to create an encouraging learning environment.
1.3.3.2 Classroom size
According to Le Phuoc Ky (Teacher‟s Edition, 2002), in a language class in which
students‟ participation contributes greatly to the success of the lesson, the number of
students should be kept small so that interaction between teachers and students and
between one student and another can be maximized. On the contrary, in large classes
students are different in learning styles, preferences and levels of English proficiency.
Teachers can not pay equal attention to all students. The lesson would never be finished
and uninvolved students would get bored and start to do something else.
Moreover, Ur (1993:303) shares the same view that teachers of large classes also
face with the problem of discipline, creating effective learning for all, choosing suitable
materials and activating students, especially silent ones. As a result, students‟ opportunities
to practice are lessened and only a few good students improve their English, while many
average or weak ones make little progress or fall further behind.
In brief, large classes cause problems not only for teachers but also for students and
their learning process. The main issue is how to involve all learners to participate in the

learning process and shorten the gap between their differences.
Summary
In conclusion, chapter 1 has presented some theoretical background knowledge
related to the topic of the study. It has discussed some definitions about speaking skills, an
overview of Communicative Language Teaching and theories of participation. Besides, it
also discussed factors affecting students‟ participation in speaking activities including
students, teacher and classroom factors. The following chapter will display the detailed
description of the methodology, the procedure and the results of the study under the light
of the above discussed theories.


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CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
This chapter consists of two parts: research setting and research methodology. In
the first part, an overview of Doson High School, the teachers of English, the students and
the materials are mentioned. In the second part, there will be a description of the research
questions, participants, data collections from the survey questionnaires, interviews and
class observation as well as the method of data analysis.
2.1 Research setting
2.1.1. An overview of Doson High School
Doson High School, the research site, situated in Doson District, twenty kilometers
far from Haiphong city, was founded in 1969. With 40 years of establishment and
development, Doson High School is becoming a reliable address for students and their
parents in Doson District. The school currently has 26 classes with nearly 1200 students
ranged from grade 10 to grade 12. The teaching staff composes of 80 teachers, of whom
one – third are young and enthusiastic.
2.1.2. The teachers
There are six teachers of English currently working at Doson High School. Among
them, six are female and one is male, and their age ranks from 25 to 40. All of them have

got the University Bachelor‟s Degree in English, two of them graduated from Vietnam
National University, Hanoi – University of Languages and International Studies and the
others graduated from Haiphong University. They are helpful, enthusiastic and willing to
make some renovations in teaching methodology. However, the age of the teachers also
reveals that they are young and have little experience of teaching.
2.1.3 The students
Although all students started learning English from grade six, their English
proficiency is very low. They study English just to prepare for the tests and exams, so what
they need in learning English is to learn grammar lessons and to do exercises. It seems that
a lot of students can not communicate successfully despite knowing a lot about English
grammar patterns. Besides, the majority of Doson students focus on group A for the
Entrance Exam to University, therefore they have no motivation to study English,
especially speaking skill.
2.1.4 The materials and syllabus