VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
***  ***
ĐỖ HỮU TRƯỜNG HOW TO MOTIVATE THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT
HAIPHONG POLYTECHNICS COLLEGE IN
SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

(Phương pháp khuyến khích sinh viên năm thứ nhất tại trường
Cao đẳng nghề Bách Nghệ Hải Phòng trong các hoạt động nói) M.A. MINOR PROGAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.01.11

Hanoi – 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI


DECLARATION

To the best of my knowledge and belief, this minor thesis contains no
material which has previously been submitted and accepted for any other degree in
any university. The thesis is my own work and based on my own research. It
involves no material previously published or written by any other person, except
where due reference is acknowledged in the paper. Hanoi, 2014
Đỗ Hữu Trường
ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I wish to send my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Tran Thi
Thu Hien for her valuable guidance, helpful suggestions and critical feedback
throughout the research.

these results, some suggestions have been proposed to teachers, students and
college rector in order to motivate students in leaning speaking and to improve the
quality of teaching and learning speaking skill.

iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
HPC:
Haiphong Polytechnics College
ESP:
English for Specific Purposes
CLT:
Communicative Language Teaching
L2:
Second Language

LIST OF THE TABLES
Table 1: Types of motivation…………………………………………………………

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………….
ii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………….
iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ………………………………………………….
iv
LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………
vii
PART A: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….
1
1. Rationale……………………………………………………………………
1
2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………………….
2
3. Research questions………………………………………………………
2
4. Scope of the study……………………………………………………………
2
5. Methods of the study ………………………………………………………
3
6. Significance of the study……………………………………………………
3
7. Design of the study……………………………………………………… ….
3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………
5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………….
5

2.2. The research approach…………………………………………………
18
1. Questionnaire for the students………………………………………
18
2. Questionnaire for the teachers……………………………………….
18
3. Observation…………………………………………………………
19
2.3. Participants………………………………………………………………
19
2.4. Data collection procedures……………………………………………….
20
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS…………………
21
3.1. Results from students’ questionnaire……………………………………
21
3.1.1. Students‟ personal information…………………………………
21
3.1.2. Types of motivation………………………………………………
21
3.1.3. Demotivating factors in a speaking lesson……………………….
22
3.1.4. Activities used by teachers and students‟ preferences……………
23
3.1.5. Students‟ expectation on teachers‟ teaching……………………
24
3.2. Results from teachers’ questionnaire……………………………………
25
3.2.1. Teachers‟ personal information………………………………….
25

3.4.2. Suggestions for the students………………………………………
35
3.4.3. Suggestions for the college rector and academic department……
36
PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………
37
1. Conclusions…………………………………………………
37
2. Limitations of the study……………………………………………………
38
3. Suggestions for further study………………………………………………
38
REFERENCES
40
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………
I
APPENDIX 1…………………………………………………………………
I
APPENDIX 2…………………………………………………………………
IV
APPENDIX 3…………………………………………………………………
VII
HPC in particular and enhance other students‟ oral and communicative practice in
general.
2. Aims of the study
This study is an attempt to:
1. Investigate the current situation of teaching speaking skill to first-year
students at HPC.
2. Identify these students‟ demotivating factors in learning speaking skill.
3. Propose some suggestions to motivate first-year students in learning
speaking skill.
3. Research Questions
1. What is the current situation of teaching and learning speaking skill to
and of the first-year students at HPC?
2. What are possible methods to motivate students in speaking activities?
4. Scope of the study
This study only investigates methods of motivating first-year students at HPC in
learning speaking skill. Because of the limited time and within an M.A. minor
thesis, the researcher intends to make a brief view of the current situation of
teaching and learning English speaking skill for and of first-year students at HPC;
identifies factors affecting their speaking stimulation; examines techniques and
activities used by teachers and students‟ preferences and demands; suggests some
recommendations for teachers to encourage students to speak English and overcome
difficulties in teaching speaking.
5. Methods of the study
Quantitative and qualitative methods are used in the study. The data
collected for the study is from the students at beginning level and the teachers
teaching English at HPC.
3

Survey questionnaires are used as the main instrument to collect data and
evidence for the study.

future research are also provided in this part.

5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is concerned with the definitions of motivation, demotivation in
foreign language learning, and the theoretical backgrounds of teaching speaking
skill.
1.1. Motivation in foreign language learning
1.1.1. Definitions of motivation
There have been many researches in motivation and the research literature
regarding the definition of motivation is various. In general, all the motivation
theories want to explain the fundamental question of why humans behave as they
do, and therefore the answer is not simple and straightforward.

into the culture of the target language (English)
 Resultative motivation: is known as the cause of achievement. The fact
shows that learners who experience success in learning may become more
motivated to learn. In some cases, motivation is the result of learning.
Hermann (1980) stated that “it is success that contributes to motivation
rather than vice- versa”. Ellis (1997) also concluded that “the relationship
between motivation and achievement is an interactive one.”.
 Intrinsic motivation: plays an important role in most learners‟ success or
failure. For them, what happens in the classroom will be of great importance
in determining their attitudes to language and in supplying motivation.
Intrinsic motivation, generally, refers to the fact of doing an activity for
itself, pleasure and satisfaction derived from participation (Deci and Ryan,
1985).
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Contrary to intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation pertains to a wide
variety of behaviors that are engaged in as a means to an end and not for their own
sake (Deci and Ryan, 1985). Schulz (1991:18) said that the concept of extrinsic
motivation referred to the extent to which the learning environment (i.e. the teacher,
materials, curriculum, learning tasks etc.) contributed to or detracted from intrinsic
motivation of the learner to acquire a language.
According to Bo (2009), no matter how motivation has been classified, all
kinds of motivation work in the second language learning context, and each kind
contributes to the learners‟ progress in different ways and to different degree. It is
hard to say which is the most effective since they are sometimes overlapping with
one another.
1.1.3. Some conditions for effective motivation in speaking
In his research, Nunan (1999: 235) pointed out some preconditions for
effective motivation:
 Supportive environment: including orderly classroom, skilful teacher is

follows:
 The teacher (personality, commitment, competence, teaching method);
 Inadequate school facilities (group is too big or not the right level, frequent
change of teachers);
 Reduced self-confidence (experience of failure or lack of success);
 Negative attitude towards the L2;
 Compulsory nature of L2 study;
 Interference of another foreign language being studied;
 Negative attitude towards L2 community;
 Attitudes of group members;
 Course-book
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Basing on Dornyei‟s study (1998), factors affecting students‟ motivation can
be classified into student‟s factors, teacher‟s factors, and teaching and learning
conditions.
 Students’ factors
The first factors are students‟ intelligence and aptitude. Intelligence, according
to Lightbown and Spada (1999: 52), referred to “performance on certain kinds of
test” and aptitude is something which “involves both underlying language learning
capacity and a capacity to handle decontextualized language” (Ellis, 1997: 522).
Lightbown and Spada (1999: 53) also pointed out that language aptitude was
usually described as a combination of four factors: (1) the ability to identify and
memorize new sounds, (2) the ability to understand the function of particular words
in sentences, (3) the ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples
and (4) the ability to memorize new words.
The second is students‟ personality. In the eyes of many language teachers, the
students‟ personality constitutes a major factor contributing to success or failure in
language learning. Ellis (1997:523) has proved that extroverted learners are
advantageous in the development of the kind of language associated with basis

students‟ motivation in learning.
Dornyei (2001) pointed out some teacher‟s factors affecting students‟
motivation: teacher‟s appropriate behavior, teacher‟s enthusiasm, a good
relationship with the students and teacher‟s commitment to the students‟ academic
progress.
Firstly, teacher‟s suitable behavior in classroom is very important. It is
regarded as an effective “motivational tool”. Alison (1993) confirmed that teacher‟s
behavior could “persuade” or “attract” students to engage in on-task behaviors.
“The teacher should be a patient, encouraging person who supports students’
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learning efforts. Students should feel comfortable taking intellectual risks because
they know that they will not be embarrassed or criticized if they make a mistake.”
Good and Brophy (1994)
Secondly, teacher‟s good relationship with the student is also a key factor of
motivation in student learning. The teacher should create the relationship of mutual
trust and respect with students. This relationship also involves finding opportunities
to talk with them on a personal level and letting them know that teachers have
thought about them and that their individual effort is recognized. (Dornyei, 2001:
120).
The third factor is teacher‟s enthusiasm. Csikzentmihalyi (1997) said that
teachers needed to be “enthused and involved in the teaching process and in the
material they are teaching”. Csikzentmihalyi also pointed out that enthusiastic
teachers were the ones who loved what they were doing, who showed by their
dedication and their passion that make students willing to pursue knowledge.
The last factor is teacher‟s dedication to the students‟ academic progress.
Teachers should take care of what their students have learnt and succeeded
(Dornyei, 2001). They should also offer tangible assistant, responding immediately
when help is requested, correcting tests, arranging extra- assignments and so on.
Dornyei (2001) said that “teachers are the designated leaders of the class

climate was one of the most potent factors that undermined learning effectiveness
and L2 motivation.
Physical conditions are important, too. Physical conditions refer to something
in classroom such as classroom‟s size, classroom‟s facilities (chairs, desks, tables,
electric facilities…). Hammer (1992) affirmed that physical conditions had great
impact on students‟ learning as well as their attitude towards the subject matter.
Physical condition affects both teacher and students‟ motivation. The large class,
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the poor facilities will reduce the relationship between teacher and students, and as
a result, will reduce motivation.
Other researchers also pointed out other factors affecting students‟
motivation in learning speaking. Tsui (1996) found out five principal factors
affecting the reluctance of the student to speak up in class:
 students‟ perceived low proficiency in English
 students‟ fear of mistakes and derision
 teachers‟ intolerance of silence
 uneven allocation of turns
 incomprehensible input
In his investigation, Oxford (1998) listed some demotivating factors in
classroom:
 The teacher‟s personal relationship with the students, including a lack of
caring, general belligerence, hypercriticism and patronage
 The teacher‟s attitude towards the course or the material, including lack of
enthusiasm, sloppy management and close-mindedness
 Style conflicts between teachers and students, including multiple style
conflicts, conflicts about the amount of structure and conflicts about the
amount the degree of closure or „seriousness‟ of the class
 The nature of the classroom activities, including irrelevance, overload and
repetitiveness

 The direct method and audiolingualism
The direct method focused on “everyday vocabulary and sentences”
(Richards and Rodgers, 1986) and lessons were conducted entirely in the target
language. The Direct Method emphasized speaking in that “new teaching points
were introduced orally” rather in writing. Also, lessons emphasized speaking and
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listening, which were practiced “in a carefully graded progression organized
around question and answer exchanges between teachers and students”
The direct method strongly influenced the development of the Audiolingual
Method. Nunan (2003) pointed out that in Audiolingualism, speaking was taught
by having students repeat sentences and recite memorized dialogues from the
textbook. Repetition drills- a hallmark of the Audiolingual Method- are designed to
familiarize students with the sounds and structural patterns of the language. Lessons
followed the sequence of presentation, practice, and production.
 Communicative Language Teaching
Because the Grammar translation method, the Direct method and
Audiolingualism “did not lead to fluent and effective communication in real-life
situations” (Ellis, 1990:29), the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
evoked. The goal of language teaching in the light of CLT is to develop
communicative competence. In CLT classroom, learners are encouraged to
contribute as much as they gain, and learn in an independent way. CLT favors
interaction among small numbers of learners with a purpose to maximize the time
each learner learns and uses languages, shares information and negotiates meaning.
Though interaction learners‟ experience can be modified, many kinds of learning
strategies made aware and applied, and especially classrooms move away from
teacher-centeredness to learner-centeredness, which is an essential element to raise
learners‟ motivation in language learning. CLT features more interaction-based
activities, such as role-plays and information gap tasks. Pair work and group work
are typical organizational features of interaction-based lessons in CLT.

knowledge related to the topic of the study. It has discussed some concepts and
ideas concerning to the issue of motivation and demotivation. Besides, some
different aspects related to speaking were also discussed, especially some aspects
related to factors affecting students‟ speaking motivation. The following chapters
will display the detailed description of the methodology, the procedures and the
results of the study under the light of the above discussed theories.