HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGLISH
  
GRADUATION THESIS
B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES
RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE
SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE FOURTH YEAR
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH
Supervisor : Nguyễn Thanh Bình, M.A
Student : Phạm Ngọc Phương
Date of birth : 11/07/1991
Course : K16A12 (2009 – 2013)
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
Hanoi - 2013
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
DECLARATION
Title: Recommendations to improve speaking skills in English for the
4
th
students of English.
(Graduation Paper submitted in Partial Fulfillment for B.A Degree in
English).
I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced
by me from any other person's work without acknowledgement and that report
is originally written by me under the strict guidance of my supervisor.
Date submitted: April 26

Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the fourth-year students at
Faculty of English (FOE), Hanoi Open University (HOU).
DECLARATION 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS 5
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 1
3. Scope of the study 2
4. Research questions 2
5. Methods of the study 2
6. Design of the study 2
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1 Definitions of speaking 4
1.2 Speaking English as a skill 5
1.3 Importance of speaking 5
1.3.1 The role of speaking inside and outside class 6
1.3.2 The relationship between speaking and other skills 6
1.4 Types of speaking skills 7
1.4.1 Interactive 8
1.4.2 Partially interactive 8
1.4.3 Non-interactive 8
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4

th
year students
7 18
12 18
12 18
13 18
32 18
3 18
13 18
15 18
16 18
7 18
22 18
14 18
15 18
23 18
19 18
3 18
15 18
23 18
13 18
6 18
18 18
2.3 The problems and limitations of the fourth-year students in Speaking English 19
2.3.1 The lack of vocabulary 19
2.3.2 The confusion of pronouncing and using grammar 19
2.3.3 The lack of self-confidence 20
2.3.4 The lack of background knowledge and culture 21
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4

th
year students
3.10 Summary of the chapter 39
PART C: CONCLUSION 40
APPENDIX 1
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 1
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Language is the tool of communication, while speaking is the most
important part of language communication and it is the basic path to understand
others. Listening is the activity of paying attention to and trying to get meaning
from something we hear. To speak successfully to spoken language, we need to
be able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in
particular ways on particular occasions and not simply to understand the words
themselves. Many students of English in Vietnam in general and ones at Faculty
of English, HOU in particular do badly in this field, they find it difficult to get
good marks in English speaking comprehension, especially in understanding the
implied meaning of conversation.
When learning English, people have to learn four skills: listening,
speaking, reading and writing. Among those, speaking skills are particularly
important. They are used the most regularly because speaking skills and human
being cannot be separated from each other. People use speaking skills to express
their ideas and to communicate.
However, speaking skills require a long process of practicing and are
affected by many factors. How to enhance English speaking skills promptly and
effectively is a hard question for any Vietnamese learners, especially for the

• What are the problems of the fourth-year students in speaking English?
• What have the fourth-year students done to improve speaking skills in
English?
5. Methods of the study
At the study involves in finding out problems faced by the fourth-year
students of English and to aid them develop speaking skills, the data collection
mainly focuses on:
 Survey questionnaire.
 Classroom observations.
Then the data will be synthesized and analyzed to help find out students’
problems and the tips for improving their weakness.
6. Design of the study
The graduation paper is divided into three parts and three chapters.
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
2
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
 Part A: Introduction
This part includes rational, aims, scope, research questions, methods and design
of the study.
 Part B: Development
This part contains three main parts:
 Chapter I : Literature review
 Chapter II : Problems encountered by the fourth-year students of
English in speaking English.
 Chapter III : Suggestions to improve English speaking skills for
the fourth-year students.
 Part C: Conclusion
This final part is to summarize or restate main points of the graduation paper.

participate in any part of the speaking process without implying the existence
and functioning of its other parts.
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
4
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
1.2 Speaking English as a skill
By gates, in his book also assumed that:
"Speaking is in many ways as undervalued skill. Perhaps this is because
we can almost all speak, and so take the skill for too much granted. However
speaking is a skill that deserves attention every bit as much as literary skill, in
both first and second languages". (1991, p.19).
Some people think that speaking is a very simple skill. He or she may
know grammar rules well, have a large vocabulary, and then he can speak
English fluently and smoothly without practicing much. This is an extremely
wrong idea.
Looking on the surface, speaking seems to be simple; however, as being
seriously considered, it becomes a complex skill that requires some factors: how
to use grammar and vocabulary properly while speaking, how to give right
response to each communication, how to get others' interest when you talk and
so on.
In other situations, when one has oral communication with a stranger,
speaking is the only skill that helps him to show the stranger his language
competence rather than other skills. For those reasons, everyday practice and
severe consideration of speaking should be done so that the fourth-year ones can
be effective speakers.
1.3 Importance of speaking
When considering why is communication important, the bottom line is: if
you’re a good communicator, you’ll have better chances of success. You’re able

should pay attention to combining them all the time.
1.3.2 The relationship between speaking and other skills.
In learning English, speaking and other skills are inseparable and tightly
interconnected together to create successful communication. When speaking
regularly, speaker can consolidate his grammar, remember words, structures
more clearly, or enlarge his vocabulary by brainstorming to get ideas or noting
the words he doesn't know, and then look up in a dictionary.
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
6
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
According to Raymond Zeuschner:
"There is a direct relationships between speaking and writing. You first
listened, then thought, then spoke and then wrote" (1997, p.86).
When one regularly does writing, it will give him an interesting ideas
then support his speaking. If simple sentences as well as complex ones in
writing are used regularly in speaking, this will much help speakers arrange
ideas and express their opinion. "Being skilled at one can help you to be skilled
at the other".
Unlike the productive skills like reading and writing, speaking is a
receptive skill. In the learning of speaking, one can enrich his vocabulary and
improve the fluency as well as accuracy in spelling, intonation for speaking.
When reading aloud, the response to English words and the skill of guessing
new words are bettered. Then students can apply new words in their speaking.
Similarly, when listening, we hear sounds, pay attention to them,
remember them, and finally imitate them. It is the same case in linguistics. In
fact, we cannot speak well if we cannot listen well and vice versa, we cannot
hear clearly if others pronounce badly. Thus, speaking and listening must be
practiced together in some ways, maybe by repeating what you have just

1.5 Process of speaking
The speaking process includes activities that occur prior to during, and
after the actual speaking event. For example, before speaking, the speaker might
determine the actual content of the message, how it should be presented, and
what kind of audience will be hearing the message. While speaking, the speaker
must attend to such things as presenting a clear message, tone of voice, suitable
vocabulary, possible response, the environment, and non-verbal gestures.
Following speaking, the speaker might accept comments, answer questions,
explain concepts not understood, and assess the process.
Normally, there are 4 types stages of speaking process and the branches
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
8
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
of the four stages speaking process.
1.5.1 Breathing stage
Breathing stage, this stage have an phrase and involved. The phases are
inhale and exhale while the involved are lungs and Diaphgram.
1.5.2 Phonation stage
The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the
subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by
which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration.
This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and
physiology and speech production in general. Other phoneticians, though, call
this process voicing, and they use the term phonation to refer to any oscillatory
state of any part of the larynx that modifies the airstream, of which voicing is just
one example. As such, voiceless and supra-glottal phonation are included under
this definition, which is common in the field of linguistic phonetics.
1.5.3 Resonation stage

with an extended holiday trip.
1.5.4 Articulation stage
The fourth stage or the last one is the articulation stage, this stage is
composed of two such as articulators and point of articulators. Those two have
branches, on the articulators the lower jaw, lower lip, velum, unvola and the last
tongue while the point of articulators the upper teeth, upperlip, upper alveolar
ridge, velum and lastly the hard pallet.
1.6 Factors affect the process of speaking
To speak English fluently, nicely and satisfactorily requires lots of
elements such as grammar, accuracy, fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, self-
confidence, etc. These factors play the very important roles in speaking as they
show the speakers' competence in English, their ability and profession of
speaking. It also contributes to the appreciation of listeners to the speakers'
level. For those reasons, I would like to carefully consider the factors of
grammar accuracy, fluency, pronunciation, and vocabulary as the main
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
10
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
requirements for speaking effectively.
1.6.1 Grammar accuracy
Speaking with grammar accuracy means speaking without errors of
grammar, and using the suitable words for specific situations. Some students
can get good marks in grammar tests but when speaking, they make very simple
mistakes like: "she don't go to school yesterday" instead of "she didn't go to
school yesterday" or say "sorry, can I help you?" to help others but not "Excuse
me, can I help you?".
When speaking is grammatically accurate, speakers can show their level
in English to others and make the listeners satisfied. Speaking with grammar

When speaking, students usually forget the pronunciation, stress, and
intonation, which make their speech not professional and limit them from
developing the speaking skills.
Pronunciation is very fundamental to the progress of speaking skills. If
students wish to speak English fluently and effectively, they need to practice the
right pronunciation for each word before they can speak the sentences naturally
and professionally.
1.6.4 Vocabulary
Vocabulary plays the vital role in speaking English as it is the main parts
to establish the sentences. Many people cannot write down or express their
thinking or emotion in English due to the lack of vocabulary, or simply they do
not know how to apply what they have learned in each situation.
Little wood affirms the appearance of words in spoken sentences:
“ There are a number of words and phrases used only mainly in spoken English.
So the amount of vocabulary is varied in sentences in speaking” (1981, p.34)
It means that spoken language, vocabulary is the main part to build up the
speech. Thus, vocabulary should be better and varied in order that students can
give a vivid speech.
1.7 Summary
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
12
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
In this chapter, a brief overview of the previous materials about speaking
was presented that include the definitions of speaking, the confirmation of its
importance; speaking and its relationship to three other skills; and some factors
affecting the development of speaking skills.
At the same time, I also express my own opinions about speaking as a
consideration. In the next chapter, I will provide my analysis of data collected

Classroom observation has many valid and important educational
purposes. The goals of this action is to gather additional information which is
believed to be a necessary contribution to make the analysis from data collected
by the survey questionnaire become more convincing and authentic.
2.1.3 Subject and setting
Phạm Ngọc Phương - K16 A12
14
Recommendations to improve speaking skills for the 4
th
year students
My survey questionnaire is handed out to 60 students at Faculty of English,
Hanoi Open University. The study is carried out to progress speaking skills for
English majors who are in the fourth-year level and very interested in speaking
English. At university, it requires practicing of all four English skills: listening,
speaking, reading, and writing. As a result, the fourth-year students feel strange to
the productive skills like speaking. Therefore, I decided to do my study of
developing speaking skills for the fourth-year students.
2.2 Data analysis
Questionnaire is divided into 3 groups:
Group 1: From question number 1-5. These questions are designed to
check the attitude towards speaking skills.
Group 2: From question number 6-10. These question are designed to
check the problems of the fourth year students in speaking English
Group 3: From question number 11-15. These question are designed to
check what the fourth-year students have done to improve speaking skills in
English.
2.2.1 This table will show the collected figures for group 1: questions 1-5, see
Appendix-page 63,64.
Table 1:
QUESTION ANSWER