Part 1: Introduction
1. Rationale
Nowadays, English is considered as an international language, which is spoken by millions of
people all over the world. In reality, large international companies often use English to
communicate between offices and subsidiaries. As for those people who are working, apart
from using the language as a tool for oral communications, they have the desire to use it for
their jobs. One of the desires is to present in English. As a matter of fact, giving an effective
presentation requires a mastery of a broad range of skills and techniques. To achieve the
objective of the presentation, the presenter is supposed to master techniques of identifying the
purpose, topic, theme, organization so that the audience can easily follow the talk. In addition
to that, the speaker’s use of intonation, articulation, stress, pacing, emphasis, etc., to get the
audience’s attention and concentration is considered essential to contribute to his/her success.
As for the intermediate and advanced Vietnamese students of English, spoken English in
general and presenting in English in particular is extremely important because they expect to
use it frequently for their future work. Unfortunately, for many years, they have been good at
recognizing the correct use of grammar and they can speak English but can hardly present in
English. When many make oral presentations, they seem to pay more attention to lexis and
grammatical structures than presentation style and presentation skills. This leads to the fact that
not few learners of English after a long time learning English find themselves unable to deliver
a presentation successfully.
Being a teacher who has taught English for more than seven years, I realize that my students,
especially the second-year English-major ones, who as part of their studies have to make oral
presentations, also share the same mandate. Many students seem to lack the skills and
confidence to make effective presentations. They know the topics and the ideas are written
down, but their presentations do not go well. This time their fellow students appear
uninterested. Another time they might lose interest before the speakers have made half of the
presentations or sometimes the speakers seem to be confused and embarrassed with the
listeners’ questions.
The above-mentioned problems is the researcher’s primary concern and also the motivation for
doing the thesis. The choice of “A Study on Oral Presentation Difficulties of Second-Year
English-Majors of Phuong Dong University in the Speaking Lessons and Solutions” as the

Part 1, introduction, presents the rationale for the study, the aims, scope, methods and
organization of the thesis.
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Part 2, development, consists of the following chapters:
Chapter 1, Literature Review, presents the theoretical background: the theories and
concepts related to speaking skills and oral presentations in English.
Chapter 2, namely “The study” describes the current situation of teaching speaking at
English Department, Phuong Dong University and reports the survey research which
was carried out at the beginning of the fourth term of the 2006-2007 academic year at
Phuong Dong University. The report includes the following information:
• Research questions
• Informants
• Questionnaire and procedure
• Data analysis and findings
• Suggested solutions
Chapter 3, implications and suggestions, offers pedagogical suggestions for teachers of
English at Phuong Dong University.
Part 3, conclusion and recommendations, summarize the study and suggest some
ideas for further study.
development
Chapter I: Literature review
In the investigation into ways to develop students’ speaking ability in general and oral
presentation skills in particular, it is believed that the study needs to present the previous and
current literature on oral presentations. Besides, it should show the relation between knowledge
and skills and then define and explore the nature of speaking, types of classroom speaking, and
some aspects of oral presentations. These issues are the focus of the chapter.
1.1. Introductory Remarks
In language teaching, a great importance has been attached to strategies of improving and
developing students' oral communication skills and enhancing their oral competence. That is
why a growing number of linguists and institutions like the University of Canberra, Ball State

Bygate begins by pointing out the fact that in order to speak a language, it is necessary for
learners to know a certain amount of grammar and vocabulary and how to assemble sentences.
However, he emphasizes, the knowledge of the language is never sufficient. It is skill that is
“the most realisable” in a speaking class and in an oral exam: “ to test whether learners can
speak, it is necessary to get them to actually say something. To do this they must act on the
knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. By giving learners “speaking practice” and “oral
exams” we recognize that there is a difference between knowledge about a foreign language,
and skill in using it”. (1987: 3). He then points out that the language teachers are supposed to
understand the difference and the interrelation among knowledge and skill. To illustrate his
point of view, he presents the example of a car driver, which I find the most convincing:
4
What knowledge does a car driver need? Clearly he or she needs to know the names of the
controls; where they are; what they do and how they are operated (you move the pedals with
your feet, not with your hands). However, the driver also needs the skill to be able to use the
controls to guide the car along a road without hitting the various objects that tend to get in the
way; you have to be able to do this at a normal speed ; you have to drive smoothly and without
getting too close to any dangerous obstacles. And is not enough to drive in a straight line: the
driver also has to be able to manage the variations in road conditions safely.
Bygate gives further examples. The first one is a one-week course of cooking is conducted to a
group of five learners. On the sixth day, only two cooking apprentices are graded to be good
cooks. We do not think that the other three do not know many recipes. The second example is
that when a learner of English omits the “s” sound at the end of English words in his flow of
speech, we are not convinced that he/she does not master the rule. In fact, he knows it but as he
speaks, he fails to do something about that. Knowledge is then defined by Bygate (1991: 4) as
“what they conceive and memorize”. But what makes the three cooks in the example above
“not good” at cooking and the learner leaves the “s” sound? The answer to this question, as
Bygate argues, is a skill, that is a special ability to do something well. This is acquired only
when a lot of imitation and practice are done. For example, in the case of the learner who does
not pronounce the third person-s on the verbs, the best solution is practice. It is good to practice
because this phenomenon does not reveal that he is not rendered with that aspect of grammar.

fashionable in language teaching to pay a particular attention to the forms and functions of short
turns It must surely be clear that students who are only capable of producing short turns are
going to experience a lot of frustration when try to speak a foreign language.
(Brown and Yule, 1983: 19-20)
Another author examining the nature of speaking is Bygate (1987). He shows that in order to be
able to speak a foreign language, learners not only need to have micro-linguistic skills, that is,
to understand some grammar, vocabulary and the rules governing how words are put together to
form sentences but also interaction skills, which involve using knowledge and basic micro-
linguistic skills or motor-perception skills in deciding what to say and how to say it. The
reason, as he puts it, is that the motor-perception skills are not sufficient since while producing
sentences, people often have to adapt to circumstances to maintain the intended relations with
others. He then discusses the two interactional sub-skills that the speaker uses when he/she
speaks: the routine skills and negotiation skills. Routine skills are “conventional ways of
presenting information” (1987: 23). There are two kinds of routines: “information routines”
and “interactional routines”. Information routines frequently recur types of information
structures such as descriptions of people and places, comparisons, instructions, telling stories.
Interaction routines are “routines based not so much on sequences of kinds of terms occurring
in typical kinds of interactions. Routines thus can be characterized in broad terms to include the
kinds of turns typically occurring in given situations, and the order in which the components
are likely to occur” (1987: 25). So interactional routines can be found in interactions in
different specific situations like telephone conversations, or television interviews, discussions.
6
Another issue concerning the ability to speak is that of fluency and accuracy. “Accuracy is the
extent to which students’ speech matches what people actually say when they use the target
language. Fluency is the extent to which speakers use the language quickly and confidently,
with few hesitations or unnatural pauses, false starts, word searches, etc.” (Nunan, D, 2003:
55). Scarcella and Oxford (1992: 156) have seen many educators who believe that in a
communicative class, “it is not necessary to teach conversational features or push students to
communicate accurately” and that “fluency can be developed by simply providing students
with lots of conversational practice”. However, Richards (1990) points out that accuracy is

comprehension and involvement.
1.3.2. Types of Classroom Speaking Performance
According to Brown (1994: 266-268) there are six categories of oral production that students
are expected to carry out in the classroom. They are imitative, intensive, responsive,
transactional (dialogue), interpersonal (dialogue) and extensive (monologue).
To begin with, the imitative speaking performance is carried out in the form of imitation
drills when learners listen to the teacher, or a tape and repeat what is heard. The author
confirms that “drilling is a legitimate part of the communicative language classroom” (Brown,
1994: 266). The reasons, as he believes, are that “drills offer limited practice through repetition.
They allow one to focus on one element of language in a controlled activity. They can help to
establish certain psychomotor pattern and to associate selected grammatical forms with their
appropriate context” (Brown, 1994: 266).
The second type of speaking performance, intensive speaking. is one step beyond imitative
speaking. It includes any speaking performance that is designed to practise some phonological
or grammatical aspect of language.
Next, responsive performance is understood as short replies to the teacher’s or students’
questions or comments. For example, students’ responses “Pretty good, thanks, and you?” to
the teacher’s question “How are you today?”. According to Brown (1994: 267) these replies are
usually sufficient and do not extend to dialogues, so they can be meaningful and authentic.
The fourth type, transactional (dialogue), is an extended form of responsive language. It is
carried out for the purpose of conveying or exchanging information or message. Conversations
are considered to have more of a negotiative nature than merely responsive speech.
The next type, interpersonal speaking performance, is the other form of conversation. It is
carried out more for the purpose of maintaining social relationships than for the transmission of
facts and information. These conversations are a bit challenging for learners because they can
involve some or all of the factors, namely, colloquial language, slang, ellipsis, sarcasm.
The final speaking performance, extensive (monologue) is for learners at intermediate to
advanced levels. They are required to give extended monologues in the form of oral reports,
summaries or short speeches, which can be planned or delivered without preparation.
8

9
What is more, through the mastery of speech, individuals come to be fully effective in
organization, in the management and expression of ideas and arguments, especially when
theywrite a report or even write an essay. (Powell, 2003)
Finally, when people can speak clearly, concisely, and convincingly, they will gain enormous
confidence, which as Emden and Becker (2004: 2) put it “will result in an even better
presentation next time” and “the newfound confidence may affect other areas of your work”.
People are more ready to ask questions, respond to a challenge and organize themselves and
their work more effectively.
For all reasons, giving oral presentations is one of the necessary skills that students have to
acquire in learning a foreign language. In the context of Phuong Dong University, it seems to
be the most important skill to majors of English as it helps the students improve their own
academic performance, communicate, exchange information with their peers and thereby
develop personal confidence.
1.4.3. Oral Presentation Composition
According to the literature on oral presentations (see Comfort: 1995; Dwyer: 2000; Emden &
Becker: 2004, Paulson: 2000; etc.) an oral presentation consists of three main parts: the
introduction, body and conclusion.
The introduction aims to state the topic and get the audience’s attention. It gives the audience a
preview of the presentation, so it is important to stimulate their interest at this stage. Although a
well-crafted introduction should be succinct, it should provide the audience with several pieces
of information such as who you are and an accurate pronunciation of your name; background
information as needed; the purpose or goal of the presentation; a preview of the main points or
major ideas to be covered in the body. Next, comes the body of the presentation. The body is
the central part of the presentation in which the presenter informs, persuades or entertains the
audience. So the presenter can make the presentation lively and interesting by including
information, such as personal experiences, examples and illustrations, facts, and statistics. A
relevant personal story or example can make all the difference between a dry presentation and a
memorable one. Graphic illustrations and other visual aids not only help to clarify the message,
but also add color and credibility. After the body, comes the closing. To let the audience know

action. It is basically evaluative and prescriptive. A convincing persuasive presentation offers a
solution to a controversy, dispute, or problem. To succeed with a persuasive presentation, the
presenter must present sufficient logic, evidence, and emotion to sway the audience to his/her
viewpoint.
Finally, a decision-making presentation aims to move the audience to take the presenter’s
suggested action. A decision-making presentation presents ideas, suggestions, and arguments
strongly enough to persuade the audience to carry out the presenter’s requests. In a decision-
11
making presentation, he must tell the audience what to do and how to do it. He/she should also
let them know what will happen if they do not do what he/she asks.
In terms of manners of delivery, presentations can be impromptu, extemporaneous, written or
memorized. Dwyer (2000: 198-199) offers a thorough description of five presentational forms
or speeches, as he calls them. They are the impromptu speech, the manuscript speech, the
memorized speech, the briefing and team briefings.
The impromptu speech, firstly, is unexpected and delivered without preparation. As the
occasion for this kind of speech usually takes the speaker by surprise, it is important for
him/her to think clearly and speak briefly and to the point. The speaker is advised to follow the
PREP formula, in which P stands for the main point; R stands for the reason for the speech; E
stands for the example to illustrate the main point and P stands for restating the main point.
Secondly, the manuscript speech is structured and read. It is suited to longer, more difficult
presentations. An example could be presenting a paper at a technical meeting for a colleague
who might be ill. It is also suitable for legal presentation, a press release or a speech that will be
reported. In spite of reading the manuscript, it is still important to keep and maintain eye
contact with the audience by using wide margins, large type and double spacing
Thirdly, the memorised speech is learned and recalled. It is suited to short talk. To sound
relaxed and confident, the speaker should try to memorize the introduction carefully. If he/she
tries to memorize a long talk, he/she may lose his/her place and panic.
The next type of speech, the briefing, is a short oral summary or report of a plan, event or
operation. Its aim might be to inform, propose or justify solutions, or persuade the audience.
For this type of speech, the speaker is expected to:

learner’s job to conduct the whole activity without the intervention of the teacher. The
presentation may be taped either for marking or for subsequent classroom analysis.
Underhill adds that choosing topics is very important. The topics chosen by the learners should
be interesting, appropriate to their age and level to arouse learners’ interest and create an
enjoyable classroom atmosphere. In fact, topics are not difficult to find. The important thing is
their appropriateness. He suggests that topics should be consulted with the teacher who will
help assess the level of the difficulty of the given topics in relation to the learners’ ability.
Brown (2005: 42) also shares the view that students can be asked to choose a topic to talk
about. The idea is that they should choose topics which interest them on the assumption that
this criterion of choice will maximize their involvement and motivation
Concerning teaching oral presentations, Vo (1994: 276-277) offers the following procedure for
teachers to assign oral presentations as homework:
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1. At the beginning of the term, announce to the students that they all will have an opportunity
to speak in front of the group.
2 Put up a large calendar so that students can pick up the date they prefer
3 After the break of every class session, have one student come forward and speak about the
topic he or she chose.
4 During the speech, the teacher should sit in the audience.
5. Have each student speak for about five minutes.
6 Have the other class members hold their questions and comments until the speaker has
finished. (The teacher and other students can help the speaker answer very difficult questions.)
7. After each speech, give the speaker(s) some feedback. (Psychologically, compliments
should come before criticism so as to encourage the students)
Miller (1994: 280-281) shows the procedure for oral presentations carried out as class activity
as follows:
1. At the beginning of the semester, have students organize themselves into small groups.
2. Generate topics for discussion in one of three ways:
• Have the students suggest topics.
• Prepare and suggest topics to the class.

2.1.1. Introduction of English Department, Phuong Dong University
PDU, a multi-disciplinary institution, receives about 1,500 students annually, of whom 200
major in foreign languages. The English Department is the biggest section in the Faculty of
Foreign Languages, with an average of about 70 newly enrolled students each year.
With regard to the teaching staff, there are 15 teachers of English whose ages range from 22 to
56 working in the Department of English. All of them graduated from the English Department
of CFL, VNU or University of Foreign Language Studies. Five of them have got an M.A degree
and three are doing M.A. In general, the teaching staff is always eager for knowledge, energetic
and willing to apply better ways to upgrade their teaching quality.
Concerning the student population, the levels of English proficiency of the students of English
Department at PDU are generally various and not as high as those of their counterparts from
Vietnamese public universities of foreign languages. The problem results from several causes.
The first one is that their academic results at entrance examinations are lower. The second
cause is many students display a quite passive attitude in learning: they do not realize the
expectations for their learning behaviors as university students are different from those for
school pupils. Therefore, they go on adopting the pupil’s teacher-dependent learning style. In
addition, PDU majors of English are not very self-confident. This, firstly, results from their
status as being private university students with lower marks at entrance examinations; secondly,
their lack of confidence might be attributed to their place of domicile as most of them come
from rural areas with no favorable chances for learning English. For a long time they had only
focused on grammar exercises and vocabulary and they had hardly spoken English. As a result,
when they entered university, their learning strategies were not good enough to become
successful learners. The last problem here, as I believe, is the teacher-centered approach that we
have been adopting at PDU. As a matter of fact, we teachers have been confining ourselves to
15
the burden of pushing the students ahead merely with our own efforts. In so doing, we have
forgotten the decisive role of our students in their learning process and, consequently, created a
teacher-dependent learning environment for the students. This partly explains why at our
university, speaking lessons are not very effective. A variety of PDU students and teachers have
voiced their worries about the slow improvements in the learning and teaching speaking skills.

2.2.1. The Research Questions
In order to uncover the difficulties of the second-year English majors at PDU when making oral
presentations, it is necessary to answer the following questions:
1) What are the second-year English majors perceptions of the importance of oral’
presentation skills in their future work?
2) What are students evaluations of their own presentation skills?’
3) What are the second-year English majors perceived difficulties when giving oral’
presentations in the speaking lessons?
4) What do they perceive as the causes of their difficulties?
5) What do the students think should be done so that they can improve their oral
presentations?
2.2.2. The Informants
The research was undertaken with the participation of 62 students of two classes, of which 57
were female and 5 were male. The majority were aged twenty (Only two students were aged
twenty two as they had failed in the previous university entrance examinations). Most of the
informants came from the countryside (32 students) and from towns (19 students) while 11
were from big cities like Haiphong, Thanh Hoa, Nam Dinh or Hanoi. Their different places of
domicile somehow led to greatly various experience in their language learning.
The number of years they spent on English study ranged from three to eight years. 17 students
(28%) had been learning English for two years or more, but fewer than five years. About half
of them-41 students (66%)-had spent five years or more, but fewer than ten years studying this
language. Only 4 students (7%) had experienced ten years or more learning English and none
of them had studied English for one year or more, but fewer than two years.
The learners had been studying three semesters at university. Their average marks in speaking
in the third semester varied from 5 to 9, but just centred on between marks 6 and 7. 4 students
(6%) had marks 5. 26 of them (42%) had got mark 6, and 23 students (37%) got mark 7.
Meanwhile, 8 students (13%) got mark 8. And only one student (2%) had mark 9.
17
In terms of language proficiency in the second year, they are supposed to be at intermediate
level. These students had studied English for at least three years at high schools, where

gender, place of domicile, the number of years they had been learning English and their
average speaking marks in the third semester.
Part two was designed to elicit the students’ evaluations of the importance of oral presentation
skills in their future work and their evaluations of their presentation skills. It comprised three
questions, one of which was opened, and the other two were closed.
Part three focused on the students’ difficulties when giving presentations, the causes of their
difficulties and their suggested solutions.
The author was aware that the survey questionnaire could not cover the specific problems that
the students might encounter in different university periods, different courses, etc. Also, within
the scope of the study, the questionnaire did not address the question whether students from
other institutions would share the same mandate. Thus, the result is believed to be tentative and
suggestive. In addition, as the questionnaire is designed for students only, the evaluations of the
students’ performance might be limited and incomplete. Further research in which
questionnaires are designed to investigate both the teachers’ and students’ problems in learning
and teaching oral presentations seem to be of great usefulness.
2.2.3.2. The Procedure
The draft questionnaire was an adaptation of a variety of sources drawn from literature on the
field of problems of learning English as a second language (see Chandrasegaran, 1981; Bock,
2000; Thuy, 2000). First, the questionnaire was given to some teachers, who have expertise in
the area for judgment and comments. After getting their feedback, the questionnaire was
adapted: some examples were added because the students might find it hard to understand
them. Then the final version was established and it was piloted on some students. Finally, the
final questionnaire was delivered to 62 students by the researcher and they were asked to
return the questionnaire within one week. Before that, the researcher had asked the other
teacher for permission to have a personal contact with the study population in order to explain
the purpose, relevance and importance of the study, as well as to clarify any questions that the
learners had.
2.3. Data Analysis and Discussion of the Findings
2.3.1. Data Analysis
19

important. They help me more confident, active and well-adjusted or As far as I know, it is a” “
challenge for most people to deliver an oral presentation in front of a crowd. I think that being
20
able to present well means having confidence, courage and good knowledge . ” Secondly,
presentation skills could help improve and develop their logical thinking, speaking skill and
organization skill, which would be essential for their jobs. They wrote: “They [Presentation
skills] are very important to me because they improve my speaking skill”, “ In my opinion,
presentation skills play a vital role in my future job. They help me think logically and perfect
in organizing and presenting my ideas”, etc. Finally, presenting well could mean increasing
their employment options. Some of them wrote: “In the future, when I m good at giving’
presentations, I ll be very self-confident in my job and I ll be able to become a manager and’ ’
persuade my colleagues to follow my arguments” or ”Maybe I and my competitor have the
same qualifications and knowledge, but presentation skills give me competitive edge”, etc.
To sum up, all the second-year majors of English were totally aware of the importance of oral
presentation skills in their future work because these skills could develop their confidence,
flexibility, logical thinking, speaking skill and organization skill, which accordingly might
bring better career prospect.
2.3.2.2. The Students– Evaluations of their Own Presentation Skills
Research question 2: What are students evaluations of their presentation performance?’
It can be said that presenting in English is not something new to the second-year majors as
100% of them said Yes to question 3: “Have you ever made an oral presentation in the
speaking lesson?”. However, they tended to consider their success low and limited. Firstly, the
students’ rating of their own success ranged between 5 to 6 on the ten point scale with 1 being
the lowest and 10 being the highest. Details of the responses to the ten point scale are as
follows:
- Almost half of the informants-29 students (46%) thought they were 50% successful.
- 23 out of 62 informants (37%) stated that they were 60% successful.
- 6 students (9%) believed they were 70% successful.
- Only a small percentage of the informants-5 students (8%)-claimed that they were 80%
successful.

lack of criteria for self-evaluation. Preparation and organization, on the other hand, did not
cause the students so many difficulties. For instance, the average scores for items relating to
preparation just ranged from 2.3 to 2.5. Perhaps when the students were at home, they could
take the initiative, so preparing for the presentation was not a challenge to them. However,
when they had to deliver their presentation in front of the class, their anxiety and lack of
confidence prevented them from presenting effectively. Details of the ratings of the items in
each aspect are as follows:
A) Preparation
Table 1: The Students– Difficulties in Preparation
AREAS OF DIFFICULTIES VD D E VE TS AS
Preparation
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1. Choosing the right topic for the
presentation
2. Memorizing your speech word for word
3. Rehearsing your speech
4. Outlining the main points
5
3
1
2
22
21
17
34
38
44
1
0
0

3. Knowing how to build arguments, for example,
There are certain advantages for However, a
major drawback is
5
4
2
34
33
31
23
25
29
0
0
0
168
165
159
2.7
2.66
2.57
Notes: 3.6 - 4: Very Difficult, 2.6 – 3.5: Difficult, 1.6 – 2.5: Easy, 1 – 1.5: Very Easy
23
Overall, the first noticeable things about this aspect is three items (Knowing how to highlight
the development of the presentation, Knowing how to signpost the presentation and Knowing
how to build arguments) as more or less difficult. Second, the average scores (2.7, 2.66 and
2.57 respectively) show that organization was pretty difficult.
For item 1, knowing how to highlight the development of the presentation, 34 students
considered this task “difficult” and 23 thought it was “easy’. Similarly, they rated item 2,
knowing how to signpost the presentation, as “difficult” with the average score of 2.66. Finally,

audience
2. Maintaining a friendly facial expression
3. Making appropriate body movements
4. Using appropriate hand gestures
0
9
2
4
42
32
2
2
4
1
3
7
4
4
13
42
21
24
19
28
10
27
2
39
21
32

216
135
155
16
6
4
169
159
164
167
2.11
2.97
2.3
2.61
3.66
3.48
2.18
2.5
2.73
2.56
2.64
2.69
Notes: 3.6 - 4: Very Difficult, 2.6 – 3.5: Difficult, 1.6 – 2.5: Easy, 1 – 1.5: Very Easy
Table 3: The Students– Difficulties in Delivery (continued)
AREAS OF DIFFICULTIES VD D E VE TS AS
25