A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACED BY TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AT NHI CHIEU UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN KINH MON DISTRICT, HAI DUONG PROVINCE IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS AND SOLUTIONS

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

VŨ THỊ THUỲ

A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACED BY TEACHERS AND
STUDENTS AT NHI CHIEU UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL, IN
KINH MON DISTRICT, HAI DUONG PROVINCE IN TEACHING
AND LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL AND SOLUTIONS.
(NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG
T.H.P.T NHỊ CHIỂU, HUYỆN HINH MÔN, TỈNH HẢI DƯƠNG TRONG VIỆC DẠY
VÀ HỌC KĨ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CÙNG BIỆN PHÁP KHẮC PHỤC)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2014


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

VŨ THỊ THUỲ

A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACED BY TEACHERS AND

STUDENTS AT NHI CHIEU UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL, IN
KINH MON DISTRICT, HAI DUONG PROVINCE IN TEACHING
AND LEARNING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL AND SOLUTIONS.
(NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG
T.H.P.T NHỊ CHIỂU, HUYỆN HINH MÔN, TỈNH HẢI DƯƠNG TRONG VIỆC DẠY
VÀ HỌC KĨ NĂNG NÓI TIẾNG ANH CÙNG BIỆN PHÁP KHẮC PHỤC)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Assoc.Prof. Nguyễn Văn Độ

HANOI - 2014


DECLARATION
I hereby state that I, Vu Thi Thuy, being a candidate for the Degree of Master
of Arts (TEFL), accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention
and use of M.A Thesis deposited in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my thesis deposited in
the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in
accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan
or reproduction of the thesis.

Hanoi, October 2014

Vũ Thị Thuỳ

i

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Prof. Nguyen Van
Do, my supervisor, for thorough reading, critical comments, invaluable suggestions,
various sources of reference and precious corrections on my writing. Furthermore, I
am grateful to his close guidance and generous help, which have been great
encouragement to me during the process of writing up the thesis.
I, hereby, would like to express my sincere thanks to lecturers of Faculty of
Post Graduate Studies at University of Languages and International Studies of
Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lessons and suggestions, which
aroused the thesis for this study to be realized.
I also owe my sincere thanks to teachers of English at Nhi Chieu Upper
Secondary who have enthusiastically participated in my study.
Finally, my heart-felt thanks go to my beloved family who have encouraged
and supported me in every stage of this study.

ii


ABSTRACT

Speaking is considered one of the most important skills which language
learners should master. During the process of acquiring English language in the light
of communicative approach, speaking English fluently, accurately and naturally
seems to be the most challenging and difficult for teachers and learners at Nhi Chieu
Upper Secondary school. The present study primarily investigated the difficulties of
teaching and learning English speaking skills at Nhi Chieu Upper Secondary school.
Data was collected via survey questionnaire for 100 school pupils and for 5 teachers

of English. The findings revealed that both teachers and students at Nhi Chieu
Upper Secondary school are facing the problems in teaching and learning speaking
skills.. From the findings, some suggestions were given with the hope that they
might be a reliable source of reference for teachers of English at Nhi Chieu Upper
Secondary school to improve their teaching skills.

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ................................................................................................ ...i
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS .................................................................................. ..ii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................ .iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................... .iv
LIST OF CHARTS, TABLES............................................................................ ..vi
PART I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... ..1
1. Rationale ............................................................................................................. 1
2. Aims of the study ................................................................................................ 1
3. Research questions ............................................................................................. 2
4. Scope of the study ............................................................................................... 2
5. Design of the study .............................................................................................. 2
PART II: DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 4
1. Some major trends and approaches of language teaching ..................................... 4
2. CLT approach ..................................................................................................... 5
3. Speaking skills..................................................................................................... 8
3.1. Nature of language skills and oral communication ................................. 8
3.2. Types of speaking skills ....................................................................... 11
3.3. Characteristics of speaking................................................................... 12
4. Teaching and learning English speaking skills ................................................... 13

4.1. The role and status of speaking in language teaching and learning ....... 13
4.2. Stages of teaching and learning English speaking skills ....................... 14
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................... 18
2.1. Research context ........................................................................................................... 18
2.1.1. Textbook ........................................................................................... 18
2.1.2. Students ............................................................................................ 20
2.2. Method of the study ........................................................................................ 21
2.3. Data collection procedures .............................................................................. 22
2.4. Data analysis .................................................................................................. 23
iv


CHAPTER 3. DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 24
3.1. Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire .............................................. 24
3.2. data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire ............................................... 32
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS ............................................. 42
4.1 Finding ............................................................................................................ 42
4.1.1 Difficulties of teachers .......................................................................... 42
4.1.2. Difficulties of students ......................................................................... 43
4.1.3. Typical causes ...................................................................................... 44
4.2. Suggested solutions ........................................................................................ 45
4.2.1. Providing more intersting topic to encourage students’ participation ..... 45
4.2.2. Building a habit of speaking English for students in the class................ 45
4.2.3. Equipping teaching facilities ................................................................. 46
PART III: CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 48
1. Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 48
2. Limitations and suggestions for further research ................................................ 49
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 50
APPENDIX A .........................................................................................................I

v


LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Difficulties of teachers ........................................................................ 42
Chart 2: Difficulties of students ........................................................................ 43
Chart 3: Typical causes of the problems ............................................................ 44

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Description of teachers’ experience in teaching English ....................... 24
Table 2: Teachers’ attitudes towards speaking skills .......................................... 24
Table 3: Teachers’ CLT training background ..................................................... 25
Table 4. Teachers’ perception of CLT ................................................................ 26
Table 5. Number of teachers applying CLT in teaching speaking skills ............. 27
Table 6. Teachers’ difficulties in teaching English speaking skills ..................... 28
Table 7. Teachers’ attitudes towards reluctant speakers ..................................... 29
Table 8. Techniques to minimize the difficulties ................................................ 30
Table 9. Methods applied in teaching speaking ................................................. 31
Table 10. Students’ reasons for learning English ................................................ 33
Table 11. Students’ attitudes towards speaking skills ......................................... 34
Table 12. Students’ opinions on speaking topics ................................................ 35
Table 13. Factors that make students reluctant to speak ..................................... 36
Table 14. Teachers’ reaction to students’ mistakes ............................................. 38
Table 15. Students’ opportunities to speak English outside classroom ............... 39
Table 16. Teachers’ current techniques to encourage students to speak .............. 40

vi

PART I. INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Nowadays it is not daring to say that the ability to speak at least one foreign
language is a necessity. “Language is arguably the defining characteristic of the
human species and knowledge of language in general, as well as ability to use one’s
first and, at least one other language, should be one of the defining characteristics of
the educated individual” (Nunan, 1999: 71). Learning English is becoming a need
that most students are aware of and that the society demands, especially in the
process of industrialization and modernization in connection to the open door policy
of Viet Nam. We are living in the time of immense technological inventions where
communication among people has expanded way beyond their local speech
communities. Therefore learning a second language has become a means of keeping
up with the pace of the rapidly changing world.
Speaking seems to be the most important skill that should be paid attention to
in the process of teaching and learning. It is true for the students at Nhi Chieu High
School where learners are future citizens who learn English in order to be able to
communicate with the foreigners and to work as a good worker or staff. But in fact
there are a large number of students who find it difficult to speak in English. When
most of the students are required to talk in English, they often stand speechless or
they have to think for a long time about what they intend to say
This has given me the desire to conduct “A study on the problems faced by
teachers and students at Nhi Chieu Upper Secondary School in Kinh Mon district,
Hai Duong province in teaching and learning English speaking skills and
solutions”.
2. Aims of the study
The study is conducted to find out the most typical difficulties faced by
teachers and students at Nhi Chieu Upper Secondary School in teaching and
learning English speaking skills and some recommendations including coping

1

strategies and classroom techniques and activities for them to minimize those
difficulties. Specifically, this research tries to investigate the potential sources
causing the difficulties in teaching the skill of speaking and simultaneously identify
the specific problems of those sources respectively. Furthermore, some
recommendations are made with the anticipation of helping English Language
teachers improve the quality of their teaching the speaking skill.
3. Research questions
The above aims can be realized through the following research questions:
1. What are the difficulties of the teachers and students in teaching and
learning English speaking skills at Nhi Chieu Upper Secondary School?
2. What are the most typical causes of these problems?
3. What should be done to help teachers and students at Nhi Chieu upper
Secondary School to overcome the problems?
4. Scope of the study
Though problems in teaching speaking exist in the four macro-skills, the
researcher has chosen to focus on difficulties in teaching speaking skill to students
at for the fact that mastering speaking is so central to language learning that when
we refer to speaking a language, we often mean knowing a language . In addition,
some recommendations for the teachers of English at the school to decrease those
difficulties are also proposed.
The study of difficulties, recommendations of other skills to ameliorate the
quality of teaching English skills would be beyond the scope of the study. Also, due to
the researcher’s limited ability, time constraints and narrow-scaled study, this study
only involves the students and five teachers of English at Nhi Chieu Upper
Secondary School.
5. Design of the study
The study consists of three parts:

2


Part 1. Introduction (presents basic information such as : the rationale , the aims, the
research questions, the scope of the study..).
Part 2. Development (may consist of three chapters)
-

Chapter 1. (deal with literature review of English peaking skills together with
teaching and learning English speaking skills).

-

Chapter 2. ( deal with the methodology research of the study)

-

Chapter 3. (presents findings of the study and suggest some solutions to the
problems that have been found).

Part 3. Conclusion
-

Summarize the key issues

-

Limitation

3

PART II. DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW.
Language teaching in general and English language teaching in particular
have undergone a process of development for many centuries. And over the
centuries, this process has seen many changes as a result of various influences. The
evolution of second and foreign language teaching from the history until now has
marked so many ‘rise and fall’ of language theories proposed by researchers,
theorists and language teaching professionals. Those are continuous attempts to
renew language teaching.
Within the framework of this thesis, it is difficult to cover all aspects as well as
detailed theories during the history of language teaching. However, some major
approaches and methods will be overviewed in the following part. But first, some
terms in language teaching should be clarified.
1. Some major trends and approaches of language teaching
The Grammar Translation Method is considered as the oldest method of teaching
foreign language. Its focus was on grammatical rules, the memorization of
vocabulary and of various declensions, conjugations, translations of texts and
written exercises. Although this method is occasionally used by some language
teachers today, it is often looked upon as ineffective and old fashioned by most
linguistic and educational theorists because students who learn languages through
this method usually lack communicative competence in the target language.
The emergence and dying away of some language teaching approaches and methods
have been continued over many centuries with Direct Method, Audio-Lingual
Method, Situational Language Teaching, etc. And the latest method that has been
come along with the trend of developing the communicative competence is
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).

4

Unlike other approaches, the primary focus of CLT is on helping learners create
meaning rather than helping them develop perfectly grammatical structures or
acquire native-like pronunciation. This means that successfully learning a foreign
language is assessed in terms of how well learners have developed their
communicative competence. Despite such outstanding features, many writers such
as Michael Swan (1985) and more recently Bax (2003) have critiqued CLT for
paying insufficient attention to the context in which teaching and learning take
place. However, in a broad sense, CLT has been still the most influenced approach
and continued to be adopted worldwide.
From the brief history review of the teaching methodology, we may see that none of
the teaching approaches and methods is extremely perfect. Therefore, as
practitioners engaged in classroom teaching, we must not follow one method or
another. The decision of which method used in Vietnam should be considered in
many aspects such as sources of materials, teachers’ proficiency, learners’ needs,
and facilities for teaching and learning.
2. CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) approach.
2.1. Concept of CLT
There are varieties of definitions about CLT. Nunan (1989:194) overviews
the methods, which are adapted below, certain aspects that are common to many
definitions of CLT.
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; they
include functional skills as well as linguistic objectives. The learner’s role is as a
negotiator and integrator. The teacher’s role is as a facilitator of the
communication process. Materials promote communicative language use; they are
task-based and authentic.

5


Nunan also asserts that in communication process, learners are negotiators
and integrators whereas teachers are facilitators.
The definition above, as with any definition of the language teaching method,
represents a particular view of understanding and explaining language acquisition. It
is socially constructed and must be seen as a product of social, cultural, economic,
and political forces.
Canale and Swain (1980) expanded on the theoretical basis of CLT for both
teaching and testing. In their reaction against an over emphasis on function and a
lack of emphasis on grammatical complexity, they pointed out that externally
oriental communication is not necessarily more essential than other proposes of
language such as “self-expression, verbal thinking, problem solving, and creative
writing”.
2.2. Characteristics of CLT
Language is not simply a system of rules. It is now generally seen “as a
dynamic resource for the creation of meaning” ( Nunan, 1989). This point of view is
really supports CLT.
- CLT is aimed at (a) making communicative competence the goal of language
teaching and (b) developing procedures for the teaching of the four language skills
that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication. (Le Van
Canh, 2004).
- The goal of CLT is to create a realistic context for language acquisition in the
classroom to develop Hymes’ notion of communicative competence.
- CTL is also associated with learner-centered and experienced based tasks.
- The focus of CLT is on functional language usage and learners’ ability to express
themselves. In other words, for CLT, developing learners’ skills is more important
than the content of the teaching and learning ( Johnson, 1982).

6


- There are three major principles of CLT:
(1) communication principle: emphasizes activities that involve real
communication promote learning.
(2) task principle: purposes that activities in which is used for carrying out
meaningful tasks promote learning.
(3) meaningfulness principle: claims that language that is meaningful to the
learners supports the learning process. (Le Van Canh, 2004)
- In communicative classes, learners communicate with each other and learning
tasks are completed by means of interaction between learners. It is clear that
learners’ completing a task is fore-grounded and communicating with each other is
back-grounded. This may lead to considerable use of pair work, group work and
mingling activities.
- In ESL classes, teachers are facilitators and monitors, usually, without interruption
and then to provide feedback on the success.
2.3. Using CLT in Teaching Speaking Skills
When using communicative activities, it is important to make students feel
comfortable and confident, feel free to take risks and have opportunities to speak.
According to Pica, Young and Doughty (1987), there are two kinds of classroom
available to second language learners:
Input has been modified or simplified such as a traditional “teacher-fronted”
classroom; and authentic students-to-student interaction is emphasized. It provides
the learners more opportunities for speaking since the learners try to achieve mutual
understanding and modify their language according to the demand of the situation.
Objectives for speaking are often given by the particular program in which
the teacher must work. In some cases, the syllabus will consist of a list of grammar
structures to be taught. The teacher needs to be flexible in making best use of what
is available for teaching purpose. In other words, the teacher must have some

7


freedom in deciding what objectives to meet, what content to cover, and what
activities to use. In this case, the teacher can go beyond the more specific goals and
objectives of the particular program to the speaking needs that the students have in
the “real world”.
There are many speaking activities can be used in classroom such as
scrambled sentence, language games, role-plays, problem-solving, discussion, cued
story, picture story etc.
3. Speaking skills
3.1. Nature of language skills and oral communication.
3.1.1. Language skills
For the purpose of analysis and instruction, language has been divided into
different skill areas. These can be discussed in the framework of how we learned our
first language. A child first learns to practice language through the skill of listening.
Later, a child uses language by speaking combined with listening. Then, when
school begins, children learn the skills of reading and writing. The first two skills,
listening and speaking, are called the oral skills due to the manners by which they
are formed (they are related to articulator organs). The last two, reading and writing,
are called the literacy skills as they connect with manual script. All four are
represented in Figure 1. (Figure 1 is extracted from the book “Methodology
Handbook for English Teachers in Vietnam” by Forseth, R., Forseth, C., Tạ, T.H. &
Nguyễn, V.D. p.34)

8


THE FOUR

LANGUAGE
Oral

Receptive Skills

Productive Skills

LISTENING

SPEAKING

READING

WRITING

Skills
Literacy
Skills

As learners grow in their language ability and use, the different skills are most
often integrated with each other so that they are being used in coordination with
each other. In conversation, when one person is speaking another is listening. After
listening and understanding, the hearer responds by speaking. In an academic
setting, while students are listening, they may be also writing notes or reading a
handout. As a teacher, you will be reading your lesson plans and then speaking to
your students. All of the skill areas are related to each other and used in
coordination with each other.
However, for the purpose of teaching language, we may divide language into
the various skill areas and concentrate on one at a time. We are first interested in
speaking because second (or foreign) language learners often neglect or have

difficulty with oral production (speaking). Some learners have memorized hundreds
of words and many grammar rules, but they still can not speak well. Many learners
can read better than they speak. This is very much unlike a child who learns to listen
and speak long before learning to read or write.
So, we begin with speaking, because after learning to speak, it is easier to develop
reading and writing skills in the foreign language classroom. However, language
teachers have found it is difficult to develop their students’ speaking skills after
reading and writing.

9


3.1.2. Oral communication
It is obvious that speaking is the key to human communication. Though
speaking takes many definitions, following are some of the definitions by the most
famous researchers According to Byrne (1976:8), “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.” 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 a great deal of information that the listener
needs. And at the same time, the listener is helped by the speakers’ prosodic features
such as stress and intonation which accompany the spoken utterances and form part
of its meaning, and also by his facial and body movements.
Brown (1983) also states that “speaking is an interactive process of
constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing
information.” Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs,
including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical
environment, and the purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, open ended and
evolving. However, speech is not always unpredictable. Language functions that

tent to recur in certain discourse situations (declining and invitation, requesting time
off from work) can be identified and charted. Speaking requires not only that
learners know how to produce specific points of language, such as grammar,
pronunciation, vocabulary (linguistic competence), but also that they understand
when, why and in what way to produce language (sociolinguistic competence).
Scott (1978) reveals that “speaking can be typified as an activity involving
two or more people in which the participants are both hearers and speakers having
to react to what they hear and make their contribution.” Each has an intention or a
set of intentions that he wants to achieve in the interaction and an ability to interpret

10


what is said to him which he can not predict exactly either in terms of form or in
terms of meaning.
Chaney (1988:13) defined that “speaking is the process of building and
sharing meaning through the use verbal and non-verbal symbols in a variety of
contexts”.
Different researchers have different concepts of speaking but they all agree
with one very important feature of speaking, that is a two way process between the
speaker and listener.
3.2. Types of speaking skills
There are two major types of speaking: monologue and dialogue
3.2.1. Monologue
In Brown and Yule’s opinion (1983), a monologue involves the ability to
give an uninterrupted oral presentation such as when a broad caster reads news in
radio or television programs, a teacher or professor gives a formal lecture, an
announcer gives the instruction or changes in the airport, etc. This type corresponds
with non-reciprocal listening where the transfer of information is in one-direction
only from the speaker to the listener and is used like the written form with no

reaction and response from the listener. These types take place when the speaker
wants to talk with a large number of listeners about the same issue.
3.2.2. Dialogue
A dialogue, conversely, means interacting between two or more speakers for
transactional and interactional purpose. There are turn takings to change the roles of
speakers and listeners in this type. Idea exchanges occur directly and quickly as
well. Donne Byrne (1986) also says: “Dialogues seem to be best suited to the
teaching of the spoken language”. Using a dialogue to speak spoken English to nonmajor students of culture management is one of effective techniques which will be
discussed in this study.

11


3.3. Characteristics of speaking
Accuracy and fluency are very important aspects of speaking. If the learner
does not know the correct use of the language then he should be given enough
opportunity to improve his speaking proficiency. During students’ speaking, the
teacher should not interrupt them to point out an error. Because this may make
students anxious and affect fluency.
3.3.1. Accuracy
Accuracy means the correct use of the language in terms of grammar,
vocabulary and pronunciation. According to Harmer : “ accuracy involves the
correct use of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation” In speaking, accuracy is
very important and the teacher should make them clear about the correct use.
Teacher should encourage students for the correct use of the language. According to
Nunan : “ accuracy is the extent to which students’ speech matches what people
actually say when they use the target language”. However, teacher should not be too
focused on accuracy. Because, if they are very particular about producing correct
language from the beginning then students might never gain fluency of speech.
3.3.2. Fluency

Fluency if the capability of the speakers to use the language quickly,
spontaneously and confidently. Learners must be given opportunity to develop both
their fluency and accuracy. According to Nunan : “ fluency if the extent to which
speakers use the target language quickly and confidently with few hesitation or
unnatural pauses, false starts, word searches”. When students get used to the
language and learn to communicate properly then the fluency comes. We cannot
expect from the beginners to speak fluently. For improving fluency, the learners
should be give the chance to speak spontaneously without worrying much about
accuracy.

12


3.4. Characteristics of a good speaker
A good learner always organize his thoughts in a meaningful and logical
sequence and uses language as a means of expression. A good leaner should know
the use of right words in the right order with the correct pronunciation, different
language function

and social and cultural norms. “ Speakers must be able to

anticipate and then produce the expected patterns specific discourse situation. They
must also manage the discrete elements such as turn-taking, rephrasing, providing
feedback or redirecting” ( Burn and Joyce 1997). Learners have to take part in
communication and have to choose correct vocabulary, use facial expression so that
other people can easily understand what he or she is trying to say. According to
Brown, a good speaker does the following things:
- use the grammar structures accurately
- selecting vocabulary that is understandable and appropriate for the audience.
- using gestures and body language.

- paying attention the the success of the interaction and adjusting components of
speech such as vocabulary, rate of speech and complexity of grammar structures to
maximize the listeners comprehension and involvement.
4. Teaching and learning English speaking skills
4.1. The role and status of speaking in language teaching and learning.
The development of speaking skill, in terms of its importance in language
teaching, can be illustrated by the position ascribed to this skill in different
approaches to teaching. Presumably the most striking contrast would be revealed in
comparison of the recent view on speaking with the views held by advocates of
grammar-translation or audio-lingual method. In these approaches the skill of
speaking was rarely emphasized in connection to its purpose, i.e. the ability to use a
language in real-life situations, the ability to communicate. If it was addressed, then

13


it usually was only in terms of accuracy. That can be seen in the following quotation
by Mackey: “Oral expression involves not only [….] the use of the right sounds in
the right patterns of rhythm and intonation, but also the choice of words and
inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning” (Bygate: 5). The
quotation reflects the conception of speaking at that time. The emphasis on the
formal part, i.e. the correct sounds, the correct choice of words and inflections etc.,
led to the accuracy oriented practice. Types of activities such as oral drills, model
dialogue practice and pattern practice (“The Audio-lingual method”) were widely
used in teaching speaking. The result was that, although learners knew the patterns
and memorized the rules, they were not able to use their knowledge in practice.
They were not capable of exploiting the rules and patterns in real interaction. One of
the possible causes of their “inability” could be the lack of opportunities to use their
theoretical knowledge in purposeful communication. They were not exposed to
situations when they would be made to use whatever language they had at their

disposal to convey their message or to try to understand their interlocutor’s message.
There was not much prominence given to the fact that there was a difference
between “knowledge about a language” and “skill in using it” in communication
(Bygate: 3).
4.2. Stages of teaching English speaking skills
According to Methodology course 1- Teaching the skills (Ha Noi 2002: 4243) a speaking lesson should have three stages: pre-speaking, while- speaking, and
post- speaking. Obviously, each stage has it own characteristics.
4.2.2.1. The Pre-speaking stage
This stage plays an essential role in the whole process of a speaking lesson
because it is difficult to ask students to speak without preparation which involves
such activities as pre-speaking questions, brain storming, discussion tasks or
vocabulary tasks.... It is commonly found in every course book that oral materials
are written into different forms: dialogue and prose. Byrne introduced the procedure
in which the ten steps to present dialogue are included.

14


-

Establish the setting: Pictures are made use of and drawn if simple. Use
English as much as possible at this stage

-

Arouse students interests and experience related to the situation

-

Explain some selective words

-

Set a listening task by asking key questions of the dialogue

-

Ask the students to listen without looking at their books

-

Ask the students to look at their books while they are listening

-

Ask the students to listen and repeat

-

Deal with any difficulties in the dialogue

-

Ask the students to practice the dialogue

-

Ask the students to dramatize the dialogue
What’s more, the presentation of prose massage suggested by Byrne (1991:

26) includes the nine steps.
-

Introduce the topic by asking the students to have a quick look at the picture
or by asking them about a related book, film, or TV programme they have
seen.

-

Introduce the text including new words or new structures. However, there is
no need to explain all things in the text.

-

Provide relevant language practice, for example, train the students with
pronunciation drill so that they can speak English easily, fluently and also
help them remember the new words

-

Set the reading task by making questions

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Ask the students to read the silently

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Read the passage aloud

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Explain any difficulties faced by the students

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Do silent reading again

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Get the students to talk about what they have learned
The two above produces could be said that they are perfect for presenting a

dialogue and prose. However, depending on the students’ level and time allocation,

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some of the steps can be left out. In addition, before delivering activities for this
stage, the teacher needs to pay careful attention to the object of each lesson, the
situation of teaching and learning and the student’ needs as well.
4.2.2.2. The while- speaking stage
Unlike the pre-speaking stage, it is the student’s turn to do most of the talking.
The teacher, at this stage, lets students work with each other without interfering or
correcting any mistakes in order not to stop students from speaking fluently. The
teacher only gives assistance if necessary. The specific aim of the while- speaking
stage is to develop students’ speaking skill so the teacher does the minimum amount
of teaching and talking since the students will be working on the while- speaking
task by themselves, individually or in groups. Instead, the teacher will have to do a
lot of monitoring and assisting weaker students who have difficulty completing the

task.
4.2.2.3. The post- speaking stage
It is the last phase of a speaking lesson so it is the time for the students’
production. What they produce will reflect their speaking skill, interests or views. A
real show of English speaking takes place when the students are able to use English
for themselves. Also, when they reflect upon their performance, they can recognize
what they have done well and where they require improvement.
The post-speaking stage is like the follow up stages. After students have
practiced speaking skill in the while- speaking stage, they do an extension speaking
activity. This helps students take the information from other groups or whatever
they have produced in the while- speaking stage and do something meaningful with
it. Accordingly, getting the students to report their work and the whole class may be
invited to comment can be recommended to be the most effective at this stage. Thus,
the teacher in this stage must take on the role of a manager or a guide in order to
give feed back, correct serious mistakes, give students marks and set personal goals
for improving their speaking abilities.

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Byrne (1988:2) comes to a conclusion that to develop oral ability, the three
stages: pre-speaking, while- speaking and post- speaking should be followed
orderly. Nevertheless, due to time constraint, purposes of a speaking lesson, types of
students and materials in use, this sequence might not always be applied
mechanically on every occasion. However, teachers ought to pay attention to what
has been spoken by the students during the while and post speaking stages so that
they can see how far students improves their speaking ability, what mistakes they
might produce, what problems they encounter. Then appropriate techniques,
particularly technique to deal with students’ mistakes and problems would be
mapped out. These questions are explained clearly in the study.

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