Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Rationale for the study
We are living in the global world in which English language has rapidly become an
international language. To meet this requirement, English has been taught almost
everywhere in Vietnam, especially in schools, colleges, universities, English is a
compulsory subject.
However, how to speak English well is a problem for many learners of English,
especially for the students of colleges and universities. Despite the fact that most of the
students have been learning English since they were at secondary or high school, they are
deficient in English speaking.
As a teacher of Tourism & Foreign language Department, Sao Do College of
Industry SCI, HaiDuong, from our observation and our own teaching experience, we see
that during the speaking lesson classroom interaction is restricted. Only some students get
involved in the activities conducted by the teacher while others keep silence or do other
things. Thus, one of the challenges to the teacher is to find out the answer to the question
“Why don’t many students of English get involved actively in speaking lesson?”
To find the answer to this question it is necessary to investigate what motivates and
de-motivates students in English learning in general and in speaking in particular. Many
teachers and researchers now believe that motivation is one of the most important factors
that determine the rate and success of L2 attainment: it provides the primary impetus to
initiate learning the L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious
learning process. Without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable
abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals, and there are no appropriate curricula and
good teaching to ensure student achievement.
For the mentioned reasons, we would like to conduct a study on “Motivation in
Learning English Speaking of the Second Year Tourism-Major Students at Tourism
and Foreign Language Department, Sao Do College of Industry”. The study is to
investigate what motivates and de-motivates students in English speaking learning. We do
hope that this study will help the teacher of speaking in some ways to find appropriate
methods to motivate their students.
1

directions for future research are also provided in the last chapter.
2
Chapter 2: Literature review
This chapter is concerned with the conceptions of motivation, motivation in foreign
language learning, and the theoretical backgrounds of speaking skills.
2.1 Theoretical background of motivation
2.1.1 Conceptions of motivation
Many researches have been undertaken and there is much in the research literature
regarding the definition of motivation. All the motivation theories in general want to
explain the fundamental question of why humans behave as they do, and therefore we
cannot assume any simple and straightforward answer.
Motivation is described as the impetus to create and sustain intentions and goal
seeking acts (Ames & Ames, 1989).
Burden, (1997:119) assumed that “from a cognitive perspective, motivation is
concerned with such issues as why people decide to act in certain ways and what factors
influence the choice they make. It also involves decisions as to the amount of effect people
are prepared to expand in attempting to achieve their goals. The role of the teacher thus
becomes one of helping and enabling learners to make suitable decisions”
Dornei (2001:613) defined motivation as “a general ways of referring to the
antecedents (i.e. the causes and the origins”. He also stated that “motivation explains why
people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are
willing to sustain the activities” (2001:7). The author mentioned two dimensions of human
behavior: direction and magnitude (intensity) which motivation concerns.
Motivation, “the process whereby goal-directed activity is instigated and sustained”
(Pintrich& Schunk, 2002).
From the above, it can be deduced that motivation is a psychological trait which
leads people to achieve a goal. Motivation is what drives you to “behave” in a certain way
or to take a particular action. Simply, it can be understood that motivation is your “WHY”.
3
2.1.2 Motivation in foreign language learning

+ Casual attributions
+ Self-efficacy
Learning situation level
Course specific motivational
components Interest (in the course)
Relevant (of the course to one’s needs)
Expectancy (of success)
Satisfaction (one has in the outcome)
Teacher specific motivational
components Affiliative motive
Authority type
Direct socialization of student motivation
- Modeling
- Task presentation
- Feedback
Group specific motivational
components
Goal-orientedness
Norm and reward system
Group cohesion
Classroom goal structure
Another comprehensive attempt to summarize the motivational components that are
relevant to L2 instruction has been made by Marion and Bob Burden (1997) as a part of a
larger overview of psychology for language teachers. The motivational components
summarized consist of internal factors and external factors. The components of these
factors are displayed in the framework below.
Table 2: William and Burden’s (1997) framework of L2 motivation
5
(Adapted from Dornyei, 2001)
Internal factors External factors

Mastery
- feelings of competence
- awareness of developing skills and
mastery in a chosen area
- self efficacy
The broader context
- wider family networks
- the local education system
- conflicting interests
- cultural norms
- societal expectations and attitudes
Self-concept
- realistic awareness of personal strengths
and weaknesses in skills required
- personal definitions and judgments of
success and failure
- self-worth concern
-learned helplessness
Attitudes
- to language learning in general
- to the target language
- to the target community and culture
Other affective states
- confidence
- anxiety, fear
Developmental age and stage
Gender
In conclusion, motivation is one variable, which, combined with other factors,
influences a learner’s success.
2.1.3 Types of motivation in foreign language learning

instance passing an exam or getting a degree. A student’s opinion of a given language is
significantly shaped by its perceived usefulness and relevance to future career goals
(Chambers, 1999).
7
2.1.4. Main de-motivating factors affecting motivation in learning foreign language
2.1.4.1 Conceptions of de-motivation
Dornyei (2005: 143) defined de-motivation as “specific external forces that reduce
or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention or an ongoing action”.
Deci and Ryan (1985) used a similar term “a-motivation”, which means “the
relative absence of motivation that is not caused by a lack of initial interest but rather by
the individual’s experiencing feelings of incompetence and helplessness when faced with
the activity.”
Dornyei pointed out that de-motivation does not mean that all the positive
influences that originally made up the motivational basis of a behavior have been got rid
of. It only means that a strong negative factor restrains the present motivation with some
other positive motives still remain ready to be activated.
2.1.4.2 De-motivating factors affecting motivation in learning foreign language.
According to Dornyei, factors de-motivating students’ learning are as follows.
1. The teacher (personality, commitment, competence, teaching method);
2. Inadequate school facilities (group is too big or not the right level, frequent change
of teachers);
3. Reduced self-confidence (experience of failure or lack of success);
4. Negative attitude towards the L2;
5. Compulsory nature of L2 study;
6. Interference of another foreign language being studied;
7. Negative attitude towards L2 community;
8. Attitudes of group members;
9. Course-book
Basing on Dornyei’s study, factors affecting students’ motivation can be classified
into learner’s factors, teacher’s factors, environment factors, and teaching and learning

1986).
d. Learning strategies
As in all school topics, learning strategies are a factor of second language learning.
One definition of learning strategies is: “Steps or actions taken by learners to improve the
development of their language skills” (Gass et al 1993: 265). Different learning strategies
work best for different people when learning a second language. For example, one student
may learn vocabulary through writing and practicing the vocabulary using cue cards,
whereas another student may only read the vocabulary and learn that way.
e. Leaners’ belief
9
Most learners have strong belief about how languages are learnt, how their
instruction should be divided. “These beliefs are usually based on previous learning
experiences and the assumption (right or wrong) that a particular type of instruction is the
best way for them to learn. ( Lightbrown, 1999:59)
f. Age of acquisition
Age is another characteristic of learners which affects learners’ success in second
language learning. It is believed that children are better than adults at acquiring a second
language. It is also often claimed that there is a critical period for second language
acquisition ends around puberty or even earlier.
g. Confidence, Anxiety
Learner's motivation can vary tremendously according to their confidence and
anxiety they have toward the language they are learning and the environment they are in.
Not only is anxiety related to motivation, but it is also related to proficiency and
more so to communication proficiency, as suggested by Clement, Dornyei and Noels
(1994).
2.1.4.2.2 Factors related to learning environment
Learning environment involves physical conditions and classroom atmosphere. The
former refers to the classroom size, chairs, desk, tables, lights, boards and even bulletin
boards. Harmer, J. (1992), replicated by Nguyen Mai Nhung (2003), confirms that such
conditions had great influence on students’ learning as well as their attitudes toward the

+ correct tests and papers promptly
+ send learners copies of relevant interesting articles
+ arrange extra-curricular instructional programs
+ encourage extra- assignments and offer to assist with these
+ Show concern when things are not going on
+ allow students to call at home when they have a problem
+ be available for overtime
Furthermore, if teachers treat their students "as if they already are eager learners,
they are likely to become eager learners" (Brophy, 1998: 170).
c.Teachers' expectations
In an experiment in educational psychology, an intelligence test to primary school
children, Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) came to a conclusion that if teachers had high
expectations about how well students could study, their students would probably be able to
reach high level of achievement.
11
Students tend to perform at a level which is consistent with the teacher's
expectations. Particularly, when the teacher sets high expectations, they are likely to
perform better at the subject matter and even feel more competent (Good & Brophy, 1987).
d. Good relationship with the students
- Acceptance: three linchpins of the humanistic psychology; namely; acceptance,
empathy and congruence, are of great influence in the development of student-centered
teaching.
- Ability to listen and pay attention to students: listening to a person is the single
most powerful transaction that occurs between ourselves and another person (Wlodkowski,
1986: 28).
Following are several gestures which can convey personal attention by Burden
(1995) and Paffini (1996):
+ Greet students and remember their names
+ Smile at them
+ Notice interesting features of their appearance

sense that the students shed emotional baggage at the doorway. This is an emotional safe
zone."
2.1.5. Characteristics of motivated learners
Ellis (1985: 122) replicated findings from studies by Rubin (1975) and Naiman et
al. (1978), and drew on a number of characteristics and the qualities of the good language
learners. According to them, a good language learner would:
- be able to respond to the group dynamics of the learning situation so as to
develop negative anxiety and inhibition.
- seek out all opportunities to use the target language.
- make maximum use of the opportunities afforded to him and to others.
- supplement the learning that derives from direct contact with speakers of the L2
with
- Learning derived from the use of study techniques.
- be an adolescent or an adult.
- possess sufficient analytic skills to perceive, categorize, and store the linguistic
features of the L2.
- possess a strong reason for learning the L2.
- be prepared to experiment by taking risks.
- be capable of adapting to different learning conditions.
13
Naiman et al. (1978) also mentioned certain typical characteristics associated with
motivation, which are displayed by successful learners, namely;
- Positive task orientation
- Ego-involment
- Need for achievement
- High aspirations
- Goal orientation
- Perseverance
- Tolerance of ambiguity
In short, motivation which is affected by a number of factors on both the part of the

features and if they are to be Effie -communicators.
Compensating language: effective speaking benefits from the language of
negotiation that we use to seek clarification and to show the structure of what we are
saying.
Language processing: effective speakers need to be able to process language in
their own heads and put it into coherent order so that it comes out in forms that are not
only comprehensible but also convey the meaning that are intended. One of the main
reasons for including speaking activities in language lessons is to help students develop
habits of rapid language processing in English.
Interacting with others: most speaking involves interaction with one or more
participants. This means that effective speaking involves a good deal of listening and
understanding of how the other participants are feeling and a knowledge of how
linguistically to take turns or allow others to do so.
Real item information processing: the ability to process the information others tell
us the moment we get it. The longer it takes, the less efficient we are.
Sociolinguistic knowledge: knowledge of language alone does not adequately
prepare learners for effective and appropriate use of the target language. Learners must
have competence which involves knowing what is expected socially and culturally by users
of the target language. Understanding the sociolinguistic side of language helps learners
know what comments are appropriate, know how to ask questions during interaction, and
know how to respond nonverbally according to the purpose of the talk.
2.2.2 Communicative language teaching (CLT) approach
Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching of second
and foreign languages that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal
of learning a language. It is also referred to as “Communicative approach to the teaching of
15
foreign languages” or simply the “Communicative Approach”. As an extension of the
notional-functional syllabus, CLT also places great emphasis on helping students use the
target language in a variety of contexts and places great emphasis on learning language
functions. Unlike the ALM, its primary focus is on helping learners create meaning rather

2.2.3.1 Teaching interactional skills
In the light of CLT approach, the goal of language study is to communicate
competently in that language. Richard, Platt and Weber (1985), (replicated in Nuna., 1999)
characterize four dimensions of communicative competences as follows:
- Knowledge of the Grammar and Vocabulary of the language
- Knowledge of the rules of speaking (e.g. knowing how to begin and end
conversations, knowing what topics can be talked about in different types of speech events,
knowing which address forms should be used with different persons one speak to and in
different situations;
- Knowing how to use and respond to different types of speech acts such as
requests, apologies, thanks, and invitations;
- Knowing how to use language appropriately.
Nunan, D., 1999, p.226
Accordingly, in the speaking class, teachers need provide their students with
interactional skill, for example, how to open and close conversations, how to make turns
and interrupt, and how to respond appropriately, ect.
2.2.3.2 Integrating pronunciation teaching
For many teachers and students, pronunciation is one of the most difficult areas
because of mother tongue interfere and feelings of awkwardness, inhibition,
embarrassment, fear or losing face. Hedge, T. (2000) claims that it is teachers’
responsibility to decide when to focus on pronunciation, and on which aspects. It is now
agreed that in CLT class, pronunciation can be integrated into speaking lessons, either
through activities which prepare for speaking tasks or through follow-up activities.
Individual sounds, words stress, sentence stress, and various types of linking can be drawn
out of many classroom activities. Likewise, intonation can be picked out from dialogues in
textbook materials to show students its importance in indicating attitudes and emotion in
conversation.
17
2.2.3.3 Accuracy and fluency
According to Hedge, T. (2000:261), “as communicative approaches have

Output and input: when students produce a piece of language, feedback from their
interlocutor will act as input based on that they modify their output. Such input can come
from the teacher as feedback or prompters.
Texts: texts offer students a model to follow, especially when they are working on
specific functions of language like agreeing, apologizing, refusing, and so on. Texts can
also act as stimuli as a lot of language production grows out of texts that we see or hear. A
controversial reading passage may be the springboard for a discussion. (Listening to a tape
in which speakers tell a story or opinion may provide necessary I stimuli for students to
respond based on their own experience.
Reception as part of production: in many situations, production can only continue
in combination with the practice of receptive skills. Thus conversation between two people
is a blend of listening and speaking; comprehension of what is said is necessary for what
the participant says next.
Production enables reception: when students try to speak in certain situations or
within certain genres, they are better attuned to understanding other people speaking in the
same context. In this case, oral production works in a way that helps students with their
listening comprehension. (Harmer, 2001)
To motivate students in English speaking lessons, it is suggested that the below
principles should be apllied.
- Give students practice with both fluency and accuracy:
Communicating effectively in a language requires both the knowledge of the
language as well as the ability to use tine language in real time interaction. Thus, the
teacher should provide students with form-focused speaking, meaning-focused I speaking
and activities that aim at fluency development. (Brown & Nation, 1997)
- Plan communicative tasks that are based on the concept of information gap
In all too many English classes, teacher pupil exchanges have little communicative
(value because there is no real information being exchanged. In a traditional, grammar
oriented class, for example, teachers often spend a large proportion of class time asking
questions for which they and the students already know the answers; thus, there is no
19

have to speak the target language in both interactional and transactional settings.
20
2.2.5. Classroom activities
2.2.5.1 Communicative drills
A communicative drill is "one in which the type of response is controlled but the
student provides his or her own content or information" (Richard, Plart, and Platt, 1992,
p.223). In communicative drills the teacher controls the learners' speech primarily by
ensuring that they produce short utterances. Here are three suggestions:
1. Practical situations: Students can practice requesting and providing information
such as asking for directions in a city and ordering meals in a restaurant.
2. Guessing games: Students can do guessing games in pairs or groups. There are
many variations. For example, one student chooses a famous person, and the others ask
yes-no questions until the identity of the person is determined. Or, one student draws a
picture of a fruit or object and turns it over on the desk; the partner guesses what the item
is by asking, "Do you have a ?" until the correct answer is found. ‘Another variation is for
the teacher to provide a short, incomplete story plot for students to discuss and guess’s the
way it ends.
3. Information gathering activity involves conducting surveys, interviews and
searches in which students were required to use their language to collect information.
Students can practice a set of structures and language repeatedly but in a meaningful way.
4. Jigsaw activity: in a jigsaw activity, each partner lias one or a few pieces of the
"puzzle," and the partners must cooperate to fill all the pieces into a whole picture.
2.2.5.2 Communicative activities
In real life, conversation takes place before people have some information that they
want to get across. Speaking activities in classroom that aim at communicative therefore
should satisfy the following criteria (Harmer, ibid):
- Speaker should have a desire to communicate.
- Speakers should have a purpose to communicate.
- They should attend to content not form.
- They should use a variety of language structures.

and in many way rehearse the language to express the ideas before they are asked to speak
in public.
3. An Opinion sharing activity involves identifying and articulating a personal end,
feeling, or attitude. The activity may require using factual information, nulating arguments,
and justifying one's opinions. For some topics, there may be 3 right or wrong responses
and no reason to expect the same answers or responses (different individuals or different
groups. For example, the teacher divides the students into several groups that will discuss
22
or describe a common object from different activities. After all groups finish, the teacher
asks the groups to report to the rest of the class.
4. A reasoning gap activity involves deriving some new information from given
information through the process of inference or deduction and the perception of
relationships or patterns. The activities necessarily involve comprehending and eying
information. For example, working out a teacher's time table on the basis of given class
timetables. '
5. Prepared talks: a popular kind of activity in which students make a presentation
on the topic of their own choice with or without agreement with the teacher. Such talks are
not designed for spontaneous conversation and more "writing-like". Prepared talks
represent a defined and useful genre of speaking and if properly organized, can be
interesting for both listeners and speakers.
2.3 Summary
In summary, the chapter has reviewed different view points on motivation in
general and particularly focused on foreign language learning motivation. The two main
types of motivation in foreign language learning motivation which are integrative and
instrumental are investigated.
The chapter has also reviewed the main de-motivating factors affecting students’
motivation in learning process as well as the characteristics of motivated learners. Besides,
the characteristics of the teaching of speaking, its principles and classroom activities are
presented.
The following chapter intends to display the methodology of the study.

3. What are the factors de-motivating their students in learning speaking?
4. What motivational strategies and techniques can be applied to speaking lessons?
3.3 The research approach
24
To find answers to the research questions, the study collects data from survey
questionnaires, classroom observation and interview.
3.4. Participants
67 students (55.83% of the population) were selected at random to take part in the
research. The ratio of boy student to girl student is 15/67 (The percentage of boy student to
girl student is 22.38% of the student population). Almost of them came from Northern
provinces of Vietnam. The majority of the population is from the countryside.
The average score of English they got in the entrnace exam ranges from 5 to 7.
These students had at least 3 years of learning English at high schools where the extensive
vocabulary and grammatical structures are the main focus. During the fist year at SCI they
finished 90 periods of General English which focuses on developing 4 skills: listening,
speaking, writing, and reading. Thus, they are supposed to have an intermediate level of
proficiency in English, they have sound knowledge of Grammar, and to some extent are
able to speak in English.
Six teachers (31.50 % of the population) who had been teaching English speaking
skills (using the text book ESP designed by the teachers of English Division in Tourism
and foreign languages Department, SCI) at least for one year were invited to join in the
research. Their average age is 26. These are the six teachers who are teaching English
speaking in the school year 2008-2009 when the study was being carried out.
3.5 Instruments: The study employed 4 main instruments below:
1. The questionnaire for the students.
The questionnaire was adapted from the questionnaire designed by Rajit Kumar
(1996) in Research Methodology. It was conducted in Vietnamese.
The questionnaire was designed with 2 main parts.
Part 1 was to get students’ information about their gender, age, place of birth, the
duration they have learnt English.