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

MAI THỊ LAN

HOW TO MOTIVATE THE 10 GRADE STUDENTS
IN SPEAKING SKILL:
AT HOA LU A HIGH SCHOOL, NINH BÌNH

CÁCH TẠO ĐỘNG LỰC CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TRONG GIỜ
HỌC NÓI TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT HOA LƯ A, NINH BÌNH.

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Hanoi – 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
*********
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Students’attitude towards speaking skills
Table 2: Types of motivation
Table 3.1 and Table 3.2: Factors affecting motivation in learning speaking English
Table 4.1 and Table 4.2: Current methods and techniques applied to teach speaking
skill
Table 5: Students’interest and desires for speaking activities
Table 6: Teachers’opinion on students’motivation in speaking English

1. Rationale…………………………………………………………… ….1
2. Aims of the study………………………………………………….… …2
3. Research questions……………………………………………………….2
4. Methods of the study……………………………………………… … 2
5. Scope of the study……………………………………………………… 2
6. Design of the study………………………………………………………3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………… …… 4
CHAPTER I: Theoretical Background……………………… ……………….4
I. Motivation in second language learning………………………………………4
I.1. Definition of motivation……………………………………………… 4
I.2. Types of motivation…………………………………………………….5
I.2.1. Intergrative and Instrumental motivation…………………… 5
I.2.2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation…………………………….6
I.2.3. Global motivation………………………………….………….8
I.2.4. Situational motivation……………………………………… 8
I.2.5. Task motivation…………………………………………….…8
I.2.6. Resultate motivation……………………………………….….8
I.3. Factors affecting learners’motivation in language learning………… 8
I.3.1. Learners’factors…………………………………………… 9
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I.3.1.a. Intelligence……………………………………… …9
I.3.1.b. Aptitude………………………………………… …9
I.3.1.c. Personality……………………………… ………….9
I.3.1.d. Learning strategies……………………… …………9
I.3.1.e. Learners’belief…………………………….……… 10
I.3.1.f. Age of acquisition………………………….……….10
I.3.2. Teachers’factors……………………………………….…….10
I.3.2. a. Enthusiasm……………………………………… 10
I.3.2. b. Commitment to the students’progress…………… 11

Form…………… ………… 23
II. Methodology…………………………………………………….……………23
II. 1. The participants…………………………………………………… 24
II. 1. 1. The students………………………………………….……24
II. 1. 2. The teachers…………………………………………….…24
II. 2. The data collection instruments………………………………… …24
II. 2. 1. The questionnaire…………………………………………24
II. 2. 2. Informal interview……………………………………… 25
II.3. Data collection procedure and data analysis ……………………… 25
II.3. 1. Data collection procedure……………………………… 25
II.3. 2. Data analysis………………………………………………26
III. Concluding remark…………………………………………………………26
CHAPTER III: Major findings and discussion……………………………….27
I. Questionnaires for students………………………….………………………27
I.1. Students’attitude towards speaking skill…………………….……… 27
I. 2. Students’motivation in learning speaking English………………… 28
I. 3. Factors affecting students’motivation in learning speaking English…30
I. 4. Current methods and techniques applied to teach speaking skill…….32
I. 5. Students’interest and desires for speaking activities…………………34
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II. Questionnaires for teachers…………………………………………………37
II. 1. Teachers’opinion on students’motivation in speaking English…… 37
II. 2. Teachers’attitude towards unwilling speakers and mistake makers 38
II. 3. Difficulties teachers have encountered in teaching speaking at
Hoa Lu A high school……………………………………………… ……39
II. 4. Activities and techniques used by the teachers to motivate
students to speak………………………………………………… ………40
CHAPTER IV: Recommemdations for the teachers…………………………44
1. Identify students’types of motivation…………………….…………….44

skills that students must be taught as separately and equally as the others. However,
due to some differently objective and subjective reasons, teaching and learning this
skill is often integrated with other skills such as listening skill, or is even neglected. It
leads to the cause that students do not often enjoy speaking period as well as find it
difficult to participate in speaking activities.
Besides, at Hoa Lu A high school, like at many other high schools in Vietnam.
English has been a compulsory subject in secondary curriculum for many years. The
fact is that, due to the demand of high school and university entrance examinations, the
students’focus is on grammar and vocabulary, which means little attention has been
paid to speaking skill.
With 6 years of experience in teaching English at high school, I have realized
that there are many factors affecting the success of language learners such as aptitude,
age, personality, motivation and so on, among which motivation plays an important
role. For teaching and learning speaking skill, the impact of motivation is not an
exception. It is undeniable that if the students are motivated, especially from the warm
- up stage, their speaking will be completed more successful and their difficulties in
speaking will no longer exist.
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All the above mentioned reasons have inspired the writer to conduct a research
title “How to motivate the 10 grade students in the speaking skill at Hoa Lu A high
school”.
2. Aims of the study
The aims of the study are:
- To investigate the current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill in
grade 10 at Hoa Lu A high school.
- To identify types of the motivation and factors affecting students’ motivation
in learning speaking skill.
- To suggest speaking teaching techniques used to motivate students to take part
in speaking activities.

methods, scope, design of the study.
Part B: Development - consists of four chapters
Chapter I - Theoretical Background - is intended to give some theoretical
background related to motivation and speaking.
Chapter II - Methodology - presents the Research site, Methodology (including
the participants, instruments, data collection and analysis procedure).
Chapter III - Major findings, discussions - shows major findings and
discussions.
Chapter IV – Recommendations - offers some recommendations for teachers
to motivate students to speak more in speaking lesson.
Part C: Conclusion - conclusion, limitations of the study, suggestions for
further research.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHARTER I: Theoretical Background
As a way of start, I will first provide the theoretical background about
Motivation consisting of its definition, types and factors affecting learners’motivation.
Then I will provide the theoretical background about Speaking including its definition,
importance in language teaching and learning, and approaches to the teaching of
speaking. The end of this chapter is to reexamine different types of stimulating
activities that the English teacher often uses to teach a speaking class.
I. Motivation in second language learning
I.1. Definition of motivation
In almost all fields of learning and teaching, especially language education,
motivation has always been considered an essential factor contributing to success. In

I.2.1. Integrative and instrumental motivation
Gardner and Lambert (1972: 10) distinguished integrative and instrumental as
two types of motivation.
Integrative motivation: Motivation has been identified as the learner's
orientation with regard to the goal of learning a second language (Crookes and Schmidt
1991). It is thought that students who are most successful when learning a target
language are those who like the people that speak the language, admire the culture and
have a desire to become familiar with or even integrate into the society in which the
language is used (Falk 1978). This form of motivation is known as integrative
motivation. When someone becomes a resident in a new community that uses the target
language in its social interactions, integrative motivation is a key component in
assisting the learner to develop some level of proficiency in the language. It becomes a
necessity, in order to operate socially in the community and become one of its
members. It is also theorised that "integrative motivation typically underlies successful
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acquisition of a wide range of registers and a nativelike pronunciation" (Finegan
1999:568).
Instrumental motivation: In contrast to integrative motivation is the form of
motivation referred to as instrumental motivation. It is something which concerns “the
practical value and advantages of learning a new language ” (Lambert 1974: 98 - cited
in Ellis, 1997) and which is characterized by “the wish to learn the language for
purposes of study or career promotion” (Ur, 1996: 276) and the desire to obtain
something practical or concrete from the study of a second language (Hudson 2000).
With instrumental motivation the purpose of language acquisition is more utilitarian,
such as meeting the requirements for school or university graduation, applying for a
job, requesting higher pay based on language ability, reading technical material,
translation work or achieving higher social status. Instrumental motivation is often
characteristic of second language acquisition, where little or no social integration of the
learner into a community using the target language takes place, or in some instances is

teacher’s praise or parental confrontation).
+ Introjected regulation involves externally imposed rules that the students
accept as norms to be followed in order not to feel guilty (e.g. rules against playing
truant from class).
+ Identified regulation occurs when the person engages in an activity because
he/ she highly values and identifies with the behavior, and sees its usefulness (e.g.
learning a language which is necessary to pursue one’s hobbies or interests).
+ Integrated regulation is the most developmentally advanced form of extrinsic
motivation, involving choiceful behavior that is fully assimilated with the individual’s
other values, needs, and identity (e.g. learning English because its proficiency is an
educated cosmopolitan culture one has adopted).
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Most scholars agree that intrinsic and extrinsic motivations interact with each
other and both play an important role in language learning and teaching. As a result,
learners can be either motivated by internal or external factors depending on the
circumstances and conditions under which the learning activity is being performed.
I.2.3. Global motivation: Brown (1994) definies global motivation as a general
orientation to the goal of an L2 learning which may be affected by such factors as
previous education, social factors as well as the teachers’attitudes.
I.2.4. Situational motivation: refers to the learning context: classroom, total
environment assumed to be influenced by teacher action. Brown (1994) distinguishes
the difference in situational motivation according to the situation in which learning
takes place. Thus the motivation in the classroom setting differs from that in natural
setting.
I.2.5. Task motivation: This motivation occurs when learners are performing some
particular tasks in learning performance. An attractive task designed by the teacher in
class may encourage learners to invest their effort and energy in.
I.2.6. Resultative motivation: In some cases, motivation is the result of learning.
Hermann (1980) stated that “it is success that contributes to motivation rather than vice

a number of personality characteristics that have a great influence on the success of
second language learners: extroversion, inhibition, self-esteem, empathy, dominance,
talkativeness and responsiveness (1999:54-55).
I 3.1.d. Learning strategies: Learners’learning strategies can affect their mood to make
them participate actively or passively in learning activities. 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). Learning strategies are really helpful to
students as they assist them to improve their learning proficiency and efficiency as well
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as their academic achievements. Moreover, appropriate strategies do help students
process the lesson actively and connect what they are learning with what they have
already known. However, learners must be flexible in employing learning strategies;
otherwise, their learning expectations cannot fulfilled. In addition, it is true that more
highly motivated learners use a greater range of proper strategies than less motivated
learners. It is advisable that the teachers teach the learners appropriate strategies and
assist them in practicing using these in their learning.
I.3.1.e. Leaners’ belief: Most learners have strong belief about how languages are
learnt, how their instruction should be delivered. “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)
I.3.1.f. Age of acquisition: Age is another characteristic of learners which affects
learners’success in L2 learning. It is believed that children are better than adults in
acquiring a L2 in general and in speaking a new language with native - like fluency in
particular. Some researchers conclude that younger learners have great chance of
attaining native - like proficiency in the L2, older learners may show faster progress at
the beginning, but are probably surpassed by the young ones in the end.
I.3.2. Teachers’factors
Based on Dornyei (2001), teachers' factors and appropriate behaviors are
mentioned as follows:

(Good & Brophy, 1994).
I.3.2.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.
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- 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
(Woldkowski, 2008: 28).
Following are several gestures which can convey personal attention by Burden (1995):
+ Greet students and remember their names
+ Smile at them
+ Notice interesting features of their appearance
+ Ask them about their lives outside school
+ Show interest in their hobbies
+ Move around in class
+ Send notes to absent students
I.3.3. Teaching and learning conditions
I.3.3.a. Physical conditions: Physical conditions in the classroom refer to the classroom
size, chairs, desks, tables, boards and even bulletin boards. Jeremy Harmer (1991)
confirmed that such physical condition had great impact on students' learning as well
as their attitude towards the subject matter. These affect students' motivation either
positively or negatively.
L2 teachers should be reminded that the classroom is not only a psychological
but also physical environment. The decoration: posters, flowers, funny objects
influence strongly the atmosphere. More importantly, teachers should create the
ownership of the class among students as "Personalizing the classroom can be seen as
students exercising increasing control over their environment" (Dornyei, 2001: 42).
I.3.3.b. A pleasant and supportive atmosphere in the classroom

helps to identify who knows or does not know a language. Pattison (1992) confirms
that when people know or learn a language, they mean being able to speak the
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language. More than this, Ur, P (1996) shows that people who knows a language are
referred to as “speaker” of that language as if speaking included all other kinds of
knowing.
Moreover, oral English can be very useful for development of reading and
writing skills. Rivers points out: “ when we read and write, we call upon what we know
of the language orally”. (Rivers, 1968: 20) He goes on to say that there must be a
connection between reading and speaking. If the students are reading, and then they are
using their oral English, too. If a student has poor English, his reading ability may also
be poor. Similarly, Rivers (1968) argues that writing involves oral ability as well.
II.3. Approaches to the teaching of speaking.
II.3.a. The Grammar - translation Method
In the Grammar - translation Method, students are taught to analyze grammar
and to translate from one language to another. The Grammar translation method,
therefore, does not really prepare students to speak English, and it is not entirely
appropriate for students to improve their speaking skill. In conclusion, the Grammar -
translation Method is not consistent with the goals of increasing English learners’
fluency, oral production or communicative competence.
II.3.b. The Direct Method and Audio - lingual Method:
The Direct Method focused on “everyday vocabulary and sentences” (Richards
and Rodgers, 1986:9) and lessons were conducted entirely in the target language. This
Method emphasized in that “new teaching points were introduced orally rather in
writing. Also, lessons emphasized speaking and listening, which were practiced in a
carefully graded progression organized around question and answer exchanges between
teachers and students.” (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:10 as cited in Bailey, 2005:17).
In Audio - lingual Method, speaking is taught by having students repeat
sentences and recite memorized dialogues from the textbook. In this method, the lesson

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their shyness. As Maxwell (1997) pointed out the problems of those English teaching
methods, and argued that there is a need to develop more
diverse English teaching
methods or activities. Role -play is one of the main teaching
methods to help
students improve their L2 learning in three aspects. First, role -play might help develop
students’speaking ability. Second, role-play might meliorate students’ attitudes/
motivation toward learning L2. Third, role -play might help students overcome their
shyness. The purpose of role-play is “to improve students’ verbal and nonverbal
communication skills and to link and use previously built schemas, in both
structured and improvised situations ” (Maxwell, 1997, p.1). Teachers use role -play
as one of the teaching methods to force students to speak in public.The common
weakness of Vietnamese students is their speaking ability. They seldom have the
chance to practice conversation, even in the second language classroom.
III.3. Simulations
Simulations are very similar to role-plays but what makes simulations different
than role plays is that they are more elaborate. The most common view of simulations
is that they provide a way of creating a rich communicative environment (a
representation of reality) where students actively become a part of some real-world
system and function according to predetermined roles as members of that group. More
important, however, is the notion that a simulation becomes reality and the "feeling of
representivity fades" (Crookall & Oxford, 1990, p. 15).
III.4. Games
Games are one of the useful activities to motivate students in speaking.
According to Carrier (1980:6) “Games stimulate students’participation and give them
confidence”. Hadfield (1987) also classifies language games into many more categories
as follows: Sorting, ordering or arranging games; Information gap game; Guessing
games; Matching games; Labeling games; Puzzle-solving games.