Part one: introduction
I. Rationale of the study.
It is undeniable that English is an international language. English is considered as the
medium of communication in many different fields such as: science, technology, aviation,
international sport, diplomacy, and so on. English is also the official language of many
international organizations, such as: ASEAN, WTO, WHO, UN, etc. With the spread of
globalization and the rapid expansion of informational and technologies, there has been an
explosion in the demand for English worldwide.
In Vietnam, in recent years, the study of English has gained momentum. Because it is
partly the change in education policies of our government, and partly the people’s need.
English has been widely taught in schools, universities, companies as well as in organizations.
There are also many different English teaching programs available on radio, television and
internet.
It is widely accepted that one of the main purposes of studying English is to use it for
communications. Being able to speak English is an important criterion to assess a learner of
English. However, it is a common issue at my school that the students rarely speak English,
even in English classes, though they have been learning English since they started at the lower
secondary school.
Being a teacher of a high school, within my minor thesis, I would like to investigate the
reasons of the students’ inhibition and unwillingness to speak English, and I hope to be able to
make some recommendations that can help the students overcome their inhibition and
unwillingness, and thereby improve their speaking skills. This actually drives the researcher to
the study thesis, namely A study on improving English Speaking skills to 10“
th
-form minority
students at Gia Phu High School in the New Set of English Textbook”.
II. Aims of the study.
The study is aimed at:
• Investigating the current English speaking teaching and learning situations of grade
10 at Gia Phu High School.
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• The final part focuses on the summary of the findings, the limitations of the
study and future directions for further research are also mentioned in this part.
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Part two: development
Chapter I: literature review
Any study should have theories as its background. In my minor thesis, I base the study
on the theories which are the views from the famous linguists and methodologists on the
concepts concerning language and methodology.
I. Communicative Language Teaching.
The history of language teaching has shown a lot of changes in approaches and methods,
which reflects the recognition of changes in the sort of proficiency learners need. Teaching a
second language used to be aimed at enabling learners to read and appreciate class of literature.
Therefore, any teacher who was able to reach this aim was thought to be a good teacher (Le Van
Canh, 2004).
Most learners of English recently desire to be able to communicate with others in the
language they learn. Parallel with this change in the aim of learning English, methods of
teaching have been changed. For a long time, many language teaching methodologists have
constantly looked for the most appropriate way to teach English effectively. As a result, many
language teaching methods and approaches have come into being such as:
• Grammar-translation method
• The Direct method
• The Audio-lingual method
• The Audio-visual method
• Communicative Language Teaching.
Mackey (1965) remarks that most of the methods which have ever been developed still
continue to exist in one form or another as each method has its advantages and disadvantages.
For example, grammar-translation method is easy to implement and cheap to administer, which
makes it still be used in many classroom situations.
In this thesis, the author just focused on Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) as it

• An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.
• The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
• The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on
the learning process itself.
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• An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing
elements to classroom learning.
• An attempt to link classroom language with language activities outside the classroom.
All features above are claimed by practitioners of CLT to show that they are very
interested in the needs and desires of the learners as well as the connection between the
language as it is taught in their classroom and as it is used outside the classroom. Under this
broad umbrella definition, any teaching practice that helps students develop their
communicative competence in an authentic context is deemed an acceptable and beneficial form
of instruction. Thus, in the classroom CLT often takes the form of pair work and group work
requiring negotiation and cooperation among learners to develop their confidence, role plays in
which students practice and develop language functions as well as judicious use of grammar and
pronunciation focused activities.
3. Communicative Competence.
In the history of English language teaching, there have been two definitions of
communicative competence which is currently considered the primary goal of language
teaching.
Many teachers, methodologists and linguistics who work on foreign language teaching
tend to define communicative competence simply as interaction in the target language
( Sagvinon, 1983; Rivers, 1987). However, others who work in ESL tend to be in favor of
Hymens’ theory of communicative competence. In Hymes’s theory (adapted from Dash, B.K
1985), communicative competence includes not only the linguistic forms of the language but
also its social rules, the knowledge of when, how and to whom it is appropriate to use these
forms. It means that the socio-cultural rules for language use are also included in the teaching
process.
In fact, Hymes coined this term in order to contrast a communicative view of language

competence through using the language in real communication than in classroom practice.
According to Canale and Swain (1980), a learner can not have a satisfactory communicative
competence if not any of his knowledge of probability of occurrence of grammatical forms and
communicative functions is developed.
3.5. Communicative strategies
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According to Richard’s opinion (ELTJ V37 N2, 1983), communicative strategies include:
• Speaker’s repertoire of verbal and visual gestures which signal interest in what the
partner is saying.
• Speaker’s stock of topics and formulaic utterances which are produced at relevant points
in discourse such as a small talk which is required to make brief encounters with
acquaintances comfortable and positive.
• Awareness when to talk and what to talk in an appropriate use of turn-taking
conversations.
• Communicative strategies also include the ability to adapt when one’s message is not
taken, and to sustain communication by paraphrase, circumlocution, repetition,
hesitation, avoidance and shift in register and style.
The learner is expected to master not only the transactional skills but also interactional
skills, which are an important component of communicative competence.
II. Nature of language skills and oral communication
1. Nature of language skills
It has known that language communication involves some skills which consist of four
micro inter related skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. That is the reason why
learners of English are required to have an adequate mastery of the four skills. Nevertheless, the
degree of fluency of each skill, which is a learner requires, depend on the course purposes.
As for Byrne (1991), among the four skills, listening and reading are considered as the
receptive skills, speaking and writing as the productive skills. They are also divided according to
the manners by which they are formed. The skills in connection with manual script including
reading and writing are called literacy skills. The ones which are related to articulator organs
are called the oral skills consisting of listening and speaking. Of the four skills, speaking plays a

• Facilitation skills as opinion of Bygate (1991:15) suggested that the use of simple
structures, ellipsis, customary expressions and fillers or halting devices such as you know,
you see, ok.
• Compensation skills comprise self, correction, false start, recitation and rephrasing.
As stated above, these provide conditions to enable learners’ speaking ability. However,
to obtain a good speaking ability, according to Bygate, learners of English are required to have
background relevant to the on-going communication. They need to understand what they are
going to talk and also to master some particular grammar points and language skills. The
procedures that learners have to undergo to make themselves orally understood are the steps the
teachers can interfere to develop learners’ speaking ability.

III. Nature of speaking skills and development of teaching speaking skills.
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Speaking is in many ways an undervalued skill. Perhaps this is because we can almost
speak, and so take the skill a lot for granted. speaking is often thought of as a popular form of
expression which uses the unprestigious ‘colloquial’ register: literary skills are on the whole
more prized. This negative neglect may also facile, superficial, or glib. Could it be that the
negative aspects of behaviorist teaching techniques which focused largely on the teaching of
oral language have become associated with the skill itself.
Martin Bygate (1997:1) argues that speaking is a skill which deserves attention every bit
as much as literary skills in both first and second language. Our learners often need to be able to
speak with confidence to carry out many of their most basic transactions. It is the skills by
which they are most frequently judged and through which they may make friends or lose
friends. It is the vehicle par excellence of social solidarity, of social ranking, of professional
advancement and of business. It is also a medium through which much language is learned, and
which for many is particularly conductive for learning. Perhaps, then the teaching of speaking
merits more thought. to be the most vital skill of the four language skills. In order to find the
techniques to improve speaking skills we must be aware of nature of this skills.
One of the basic problems in foreign language teaching, as Martin Bygate’s (1997:3) is
to prepare students to be able to use the language. How this preparation is done, and how

carefully before giving a presentation. Therefore, as when we have conversations we work
interactively.
1.2. Characteristics of speaking
As for Martin Bygate (1997:12), in most speaking, the person to whom we are speaking
is in front of us and able to put us right if we make mistakes. He or she can also generally show
agreement and understanding, or incomprehension and disagreement. Unlike readers or writers,
speakers may need patience and imagination, too. While talking, speakers need to take notice of
the other and allow listeners chance to speak it. It means that we take turns to speak. Brown, G
(1983) and her colleagues point out that a listener helps a speaker improve his performance as a
speaker because being a listener gives learners models to utilize when acting a speaker. In
addition, being a hearer first helps the learner appreciate the difficulties inherent in the task. It is
clear that giving a speaker experience in a hearer’s role is more helpful than simple practice in
tasks in which a speaker is having real difficulties in appreciating what a particular task
required.
Martin Bygate (1997:24,25) suggested that conversation can be analyzed in term of
routines, which are conventional ways of presenting information. As far as we have known,
there are two kinds of routine: “ information routines” and “ interaction routines”.
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Information routines frequently recur information structures, including stories;
descriptions of places and people; presentation of facts, comparisons, instructions.
Interaction routines are the ones based not so much on sequences of kinds of terms occurring in
typical kinds of interactions. These routines thus can be characterized in broad terms including
the kinds of terms typically occurring in given situations, and the order in which the
components are likely to occur.
By and large, the students can be much more confident in speaking English with clear
understanding and governing these skills. The oral skills, however, are dependent on the
knowledge of language they learn such as grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. In addition,
students rely on common conventional expressions for communicating specific meanings,
particularly on the language environment. It is unedited that practice in classroom might not be
similar to oral communication outside classroom. In a foreign language classroom, practice is

• Allow learners to have a look at their books when necessary.
• Ask the learners to listen and repeat
• Ask learners to pick up difficulties (good chance for learners to soak) and explain
difficulties.
• Ask them to practice( Role- play)
• Ask learners to dramatize the dialogue.
It has been known that this procedure is perfectly and logically arranged. However, it is
dependent on the learner’s competence so some steps can be left out. It is quite hard for
Vietnamese learners to conduct the step ten because they are generally shy and time is limited.
Nine other steps are used to present a prose.
Byrne (1991:26) suggested that teachers should use nine below steps to present a passage.
• Introduce the topic by asking learners to look at the picture or asking them about related
things.
• Introduce the text. New words and structures are given.
• provide relevant practice,
• Set the reading task: make questions.
• Ask the learners to read the passage in silence and find the answers,
• Ask learners to read again aloud and ask for the answer.
• Explain difficulties they still have
• Do silent reading again because the learners need to go on the step nine.
• Get the learners to talk about what they have to learner based on the previous answers.
1.3.2. The while-speaking
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Unlike the presentation phase, in this phase learners have to do most of the talking.
Teacher provides maximum amount of practice. Practice is usually in the form of activities or
exercises to improve fluency of speaking. Pair work or group work are used in this phase.
1.3.3. The post-speaking
Learners need chances to speak English freely at this phase. A real chance to speak
English takes place when the learners are able to use English naturally for themselves, not for
their teacher. Group work plays an important part in making learners practice speaking. By

Oral language development in schools does not mean teaching children to speak so
much as providing them with the skills and opportunities to communicate more effectively.
Speech involves thinking, knowledge and skills. Effective communication is developed through
practice and training.
While oral language acquisition is a natural process, it does not mean that all children
will automatically acquire effective communication skills. Attention and constant practice are
necessary for optimum development in communication. Holbrook (1983) specifies three criteria
for oral language competence: fluency, clarity and sensitivity
(cited by Gillian Bertram, 2002. Oral language). The responsibility of the teachers lies in
helping students to develop these levels of development.
There is no doubt that there is plenty of oral language used in the classroom. However,
much of that “ talking” is done by the teacher, rather than by the students in the course of
delivering the classroom program.
Gillian Bertram (2002) shows a claim in Berry (1985) and Grabell’s (1988) research
that the development of language has a close relationship to thinking abilities. He adds that
Stabb(1986) reminds us that literacy learning is on a continuum and that oral language, the
major learning instrument for children before they go to school, needs to continue to be
available while students are at school. Her warning is that in the process of covering the
“crowded curriculum” we should not forget “one of our most important goals, that of
stimulating thought.”
While research done by Stabb(1986) could be said to be dated, it nonetheless holds
relevant messages for classroom teachers today. Stabb reminds us of the relationship between
oral language development and the development of thinking abilities. There is no doubt that as
students develop oral communication skills, their critical thinking and reasoning abilities are
developed along the way. We see this reflected in the English curriculum document: Oral
language. Listening and speaking are said to be : “essential for language development, for
learning, for relating to others, for living successfully in society” and “as they develop their oral
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language through these language functions-listening and speaking, students will be using the
processes of exploring language, thinking critically and processing information”(English in the

to acquire effective listening and speaking skills.
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• opportunities to learn how to think critically about what they hear and to use oral
language to gather, process and present information.
Concomitant to the development of communication skills and facility there will be
growth in students’ confidence when communicating in a wide variety of social contexts to a
wide variety of audiences.
In addition, to be effective communicators, students need to be able to adapt and adopt
their oral language techniques and contents to whatever social context they find themselves in.
To ensure students develop these strategies, the skills and processes of listening and speaking
must be understood, modeled, taught and practiced within the classroom.
4. The role of the teacher as facilitator of oral language development.
The goal is not only to get students to speak and share thinking but also to have them
learn and develop through speech. As students’ language skills develop, classroom talk and
discussion can be directed toward the goals of exploring ideas and facts found in texts and in
the subsequent development of thought and deepening of knowledge.
Gillian Bertram (2002) claims that to act as facilitators of student learning, teachers should:
• Encourage students to bring their ideas and background knowledge into class learning
activities.
• Be a responsive listener to students’ talk.
• Nature an accepting environment where students will feel free to express themselves without
fear of censure by adult or fellow students.
• Raise questions concerning the activities or conversations held with students.
• Promote robust discussion and exposition amongst class members.
• Provide opportunities for speaking, discussion, and expression of ideas, experiences and
opinions across the whole curriculum. This will involve a range of experiences which the
size and type of audience, the situation and purpose will all vary.
• Present themselves as good models of oral language.
• Establish strategies to manage all form of communication to ensure all students have fair
and equitable opportunities to develop their interpersonal speaking and listening skills, e.g.

In order to get the data for the study, 120 students from three 10
th
-form classes and five
teachers of English teaching grade 10 at Gia Phu High School, Son La province have been
randomly selected for investigation.
The students all come from countryside. Most of them are at the age of 16, so they
belong to the same psychological age group. Their time length of learning English is also the
same. They all started learning English at grade 6. Most of students are minorities such as Thai,
Muong, H’Mong, and Dao. They all have a low cultural standard. Students at this school do not
have much time to learn, they spend all their time working on the farm so the time for students
study is limited.
The five teachers who were invited to join the study are all full-time teachers at the
school. One of them has been at work for eight years, the two other for five years, one for two
years, and the last one for one year. Three have taught grade 10 for two years, and the two
others for one year. Three of them are female, and they all have got University Bachelor’s of
English.
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3. The instruments.
Data for the study was obtained with two different instruments: questionnaire and interview.
a. The questionnaire
Two questionnaires were designed: one for students and the other for teachers. The
questionnaire for teachers is written in English. It consists of ten questions concerning four
aspects:
- Teachers’ opinion on CLT.
- Difficulties they usually encounter when teaching grade 10.
- Teachers’ opinion on reluctant speakers, the students keep making the same
mistakes and the way to correct them.
- Their recent techniques to motivate reluctant speakers.
The questionnaire for students is written in English, too. It consists of fourteen
questions concerning to some aspects, as follows:

that the students could choose their answer.
b. Data analysis.
The information collected from the two sources was first read through for a sense of
overall data. Then it was analyzed both descriptively and interpretatively. The information from
the questionnaires was displayed in the form of tables and figures, while the information from
the interviews was used as reflective notes and quotations.

5. Conclusion
This part presented the research questions, participants, instruments, and procedures of
data collection and analysis. In a best attempt to build a scientific methodology, the researcher
hopes to achieve a reliable and valid data for the study. Next, is the presentation of the data
analysis and discussion.
II. Data analysis and discussion

1. Questionnaires.
1.1. Questionnaire for teachers.
Questionnaire for teachers consisting of ten questions is designed to find out the
information concerning four aspects. The questions and responses to them are presented in the
headings below.
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a. Teachers opinion on CLT’
The five first questions are aimed at exploring whether the teachers have been trained in
CLT (question 1), what they know are the main properties of CLT (question 2), and whether
they apply CLT in their speaking teaching (question 3). All of the five teachers asked admit they
have been trained in CLT. Three of them are trained in English teaching-training courses and
two others in an English teaching workshop. They also admit they have applied CLT in their
speaking teaching but not others such as Audio-lingual. Grammar-Translation, etc because they
argue that CLT is the best teaching approach to improve students’ communicative competence.
However, being asked about the main properties of CLT, two out of the five teachers only tick
two of the four suggested options. According to these teachers, this teaching way is learner-

It is clear that some principles of CLT which have been applied by the teachers at this
school can keep such a calm attitude towards their students’ reluctance and mistakes, let
students to speak or ignore. It is known that impatience and intolerance in any situation,
especially in teaching bring out not good effect.
d. Teachers current techniques to motivate reluctant speaking learners at Gia Phu High’
School.
The information about this aspect is the aim of the questions 8, 9 and 10. Helping
students interested in a lesson is an art in teaching. Being asked about the techniques for it, three
out of five teachers say they usually praise their students, but two others answer that they
encourage them in many different ways depending on situations.
Making students interested in lessons by praising them is quite a good way but I myself
prefer the latter, that is teachers should have different ways to interest students in different
situations.
Students may feel unwilling to speak as they are afraid of their teachers. Making a close
relation with students to motivate them is thus something teachers should do. The finding shows
that to make students feel a close relation to the teachers, the teachers at this school avoid
remaining in the teacher’s seat or standing at the blackboard, but walk around the class and give
help.
Group - work and pair - work are two of the activities which the teachers here often use
to give chance to their students to practise speaking. The disadvantage of these two activities is
that students may chat in their mother tongue without the teacher’s good control. To prevent this
possibility, four out of the teachers move around the class and observe, while the only other
reminds his students of speaking English.
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In my own opinion, reminding students of speaking English is not a good way to prevent
students from speaking Vietnamese as students’ voluntaries is not always high; they may not
speak in the target language without the teacher’s observation. In addition to reminding them,
teachers need to go around and observe what students are doing.
In summary, it can be seen from the responses to the questionnaire for teachers that the
teachers teaching grade 10 at Gia Phu High School have all been trained in CLT. Although not

b. Students attitude towards speaking skills.’
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The questions 2, 3 and 4 are designed to discover students’ attitude towards speaking skills.
The specific questions and students’ responses are shown in table 2.
Options
Questions
A
(%)
B
(%)
C
(%)
D
(%)
Question 2
How is speaking skills important to you?
A. very important B. rather important
C. little important D. not important at all
80.3 16.7 1.5 1.5
Question 3
How much do you feel interested in speaking
English classes?
A. very interested B. rather interested
C. little interested D. not interested at all
22.9 35 33.1 9
Question 4
Do you feel reluctant to speak English in class?
A. Yes, often
B. Yes, sometimes
C. No, I like speaking very much