5

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
SLEP: Students with low English proficiency
CFBA: College of Finance and Business Administration
L1: First language
L2: Second language
N: Number of cases
learning
Table 3: Students‘ strategies in English speaking skill learning
Table 4: Students‘ desires in English speaking skill learning
Table 5: Teachers‘ experience and opinion on SLEP and teaching speaking skill to SLEP
Table 6: Teachers‘ techniques in teaching English speaking skill to SLEP


Chapter 1 Literature Review …………………………………………………………… 4
1.1. Theoretical background of speaking skill in second language learning …………… 4
1.1.1. Definition of speaking ………………………………………………………………… 4
1.1.2. Approaches to the teaching of speaking ……………………………………………… 4
1.1.3. Factors affecting learners‘ speaking achievement ………………………………… 6
1.1.3.1. Teachers‘ roles ……………………………………………………………………… 7
1.1.3.2. Learners‘ roles ……………………………………………………………………… 8
Aptitudes …………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Motivation and attitude ……………………………………………………………………… 8
Learning strategies ………………………………………………………………………… 11
Learners‘ needs ……………………………………………………………………………….11
1.2. Students with low English proficiency (SLEP)……………………………………… 12
1.2.1. Definition of SLEP …………………………………………………………………….12
1.2.2. Ways to help SLEP …………………………………………………………………….12
Chapter 2 The study …………………………………………………………………… 15
2.1. The context …………………………………………………………………………… 15
2.2. The study ……………………………………………………………………………… 15
2.2.1. Participants ………………………………………………………………………… 15
2.2.2. Instruments and methodology ……………………………………………………….16
2.2.3. Data analysis … ………. ……………………………………………………………16
8
2.2.3.1. Questionnaire for students … 16
Methodology ………………………………………………………………………………… 16
Statistical result ……………………………………………………………………………… 17
- Students‘ English learning background …………………………………………… 17
- Students‘ attitude and motivation to English speaking skill and English speaking skill
learning ……………………………………………………………………………… 18
PART A INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
No one can deny the universality of English nowadays. Outside English-speaking countries,
English has become a compulsory component of education in many countries. This trend also
applies in Vietnam. At many schools and colleges, English is chosen as a compulsory subject
for students as English is considered to be a useful tool to access the world knowledge.
However, though the importance of English has been recognized, how it is taught can often be
questioned for several problems.
One of the problems is the existence of mixed-ability-student classes. Students in these classes
have different levels of ability. While some are successful in English language learning, others
are unsuccessful. The ones in the second group are less able in English when compared to their
peers. Their utterances are in words or short prefabricated phrases. Their grammar is mostly
inaccurate and their pronunciation requires concentrated listening. In class they are apparently
less motivated to learn. As a result, their ability can never improve (Littlejohn, 2001). For
this reason, they say goodbye to English as quickly as they can. Finding a balance in
communication with these groups of students during lectures is not an easy job for teachers. It
is also true at College of Finance and Business Administration (CFBA).
Yet, while many researchers have investigated how to teach English speaking skill to students
in general, few have introduced effective ways to teach this skill to students with low English
proficiency. This actually drives the researcher to her study, namely, “Teaching speaking skill
to students with low English proficiency: Difficulties and Suggested Solutions” for the purpose
of identifying the difficulties in teaching speaking skill to students with low English
proficiency (SLEP) and finding out some efficient techniques to help them at CFBA.
2. Aim of the study
The study is aimed at the following points:
- Investigating the current situation of learning and teaching of English speaking skill at
CFBA.
- Identifying the difficulties teachers of English at CFBA encounter in teaching speaking skill

participants, the instruments, and the data analysis.
3. Chapter three, Findings and recommendations, summarizes the difficulties and gives
some suggested solutions in teaching SLEP speaking skill at CFBA.
Part C, Conclusion, addresses the key issues in the study and gives some ideas for the
limitations and a further research. 11
PART B DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1 Literature Review
1.1. Theoretical background of speaking skill in second language learning
1.1.1. Definition of speaking
Bygate (1997) states that speaking is a skill which deserves attention every bit as much as
literary skills, in both first and second languages. In order to carry out many of their most
basic transactions, the learners often need to be able to speak with confidence.
He also explains that there are two basic ways in which something is done can be seen as a
skill. They are motor-perceptive skills which involve perceiving, recalling, and articulating in
the correct sounds and structures of the language, and interaction skills which involve making
decisions about communication, such as: what to say, how to say it, and whether to develop it,
in accordance with one‘s intentions, while maintaining the desired relations with others.
(Bygate, 1997: 5-6)
According to Byrne (1986), speaking skill is one of two ways of oral communication process,
and is the productive skill. The speaker has to encode the message he wishes to convey in
appropriate language, while the listener has to decode (or interpret) the message. The message,

Audio-Lingual Approach uses sentence pattern as the base of teaching and tries to avoid
mother tongue in class. When using this method in learning English, students should first
listen and then speak. After a long time practice, students can automatically express what they
had heard. Because this method relies on repetition and drills, the main limitation is that it
over emphasizes the mechanical practice and ignores students‘ English skills training and
learning flexibility.
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. Unlike the Audio-Lingual Approach, its primary focus is on helping learners
create meaning rather than helping them develop perfectly grammatical structures or acquire
native-like pronunciation. This means that successfully learning a foreign language is assessed
in terms of how well learners have developed their communicative competence, which can
loosely be defined as their ability to apply knowledge of both formal and sociolinguistic
aspects of a language with adequate proficiency to communicate.
One of the most recognized lists of general principles or features is the list of five features of
CLT by Nunan (1991):
- An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language
- The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation
- The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the
learning process itself
- An enhancement of the learner‘s own personal experiences as important contributing
elements to classroom learning
13
- An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside the
classroom
The features show that it focuses on students‘ active participation, the whole classroom is not
the teacher-centered, but students-centered one. The teacher should give students enough time
advantages in the early stage of teaching spoken language, so the teacher should make best use
of them according to the needs of learners (p. 22-32).
At the practice stage, the teacher serves as a conductor and monitor when the teacher has to
devise the maximum amount of practice, which must at the same time, be both meaningful and
memorable. The author suggests some ways for the teacher to conduct and monitor at this
stage such as chorus work technique, reading aloud technique, and mechanical drills including
substitution drills, transformation (or conversion) drills. Guessing drills, imaginary situations,
open-ended responses, practicing concepts, and expressing relationships are also suggested for
the teacher to give rapid whole class practice.
At the production stage, the teacher serves as a manager and a guide when the teacher gives
the students opportunities to work on their own. At this stage, the teacher‘s main task is to
provide the students with an environment within which they can communicate easily and
freely, and within which they can work together independently with only the minimum
amount of direction from the teacher. The solution lies in forming smaller units – or group
because it provides a richer climate for interaction.
Byrne finally comes to the conclusion that the teacher plays a key role in three stages of
learning, but there is other key role that cuts across these three stages, namely, motivator.
Whatever the teacher does in the classroom, the teacher‘s ability to motivate the students, to
arouse their interest and involve them in what they are doing will be crucial. Some key factors
will be the teacher‘s ‗performance‘ – the teacher‘s mastery of teaching skills, often dependent
on careful preparation; the teacher‘s selection and presentation of topics and activities and the
teacher‘s personality, which in language teaching must be flexible enough to allow the teacher
to be both authoritative and friendly at the same time (Byrne, 1986: 3).
1.1.3.2. Learners’ roles
Aptitudes
Caroll defines aptitude as the "capability of learning a task" (1981, cited by Ellis, 1994:494).
This capability is an additional advantage in language learning but it does not guarantee one's
achievement (Ellis, 1994). Nevertheless, to be able to discover learners' aptitude helps to

motivation is a response to needs that exist within the learner, such as curiosity, the need to
know, and feelings of competence or growth (Paul Eggen & Don Kauchak, 1994: 428). It
exists when someone works because of an inner desire to accomplish a task successfully,
whether it has some external value or not (Spaulding, 1992: 4). In contrast, extrinsic
motivation is as an outward force in the form of expectation, praise and rewards powers
students in English learning. It exists when individuals are motivated by an outcome that is
external or functionally unrelated to the activity in which they are engaged (Spaulding, 1992:
4). When students work hard to win their parents‘ favor, gain teachers‘ praise, or earn rewards
such as pocket money, we can rightly conclude that their motivation is primarily extrinsic,
their reason for work and study lie primarily outside themselves and the aim of learning is not
for the knowledge itself but the outward rewards in order to gain self-esteem. And the outward
praise and rewards encourage students to study more actively.
16
Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are important, inseparable and complementary to each
other in English learning. Intrinsic motivation is the type of inner drive that propels students
forward and onward with continuous energy fueled by its own curiosity and interest. However,
in the real world not all of the students are automatically energized to perform this or that task,
or to learn about this or that topic. Sometimes, a good grade, the threat of failing and praise
move students from an inactive to an active state. The use of rewards as extrinsic motivators
has sometimes been found to increase intrinsic motivation, especially when the rewards are
contingent on the quality of the performance rather than simply on participation. It is clear that
extrinsic motivators are sometimes necessary either to get students started in the first place, or
to start them down a track that they might not know exists (Hamachek, 1989: 267).
Students are more likely to want to learn when they appreciate the value of the classroom
activities, and when they believe that they will succeed if they apply reasonable effort. Hence,
"student motivation to learn is an acquired competence developed through general experiences
but stimulated most directly through modeling, communication of expectations, and direct

choice of strategies are distinguishing characteristics between successful and unsuccessful
students. Moreover, Holec (1981) claims language learning strategies not only enable learners
to learn an L2 effectively and efficiently but also help develop their abilities of independent
and autonomous learning which are believed to be another important factor leading to
successful learning. According to Oxford (1990) language learning strategies are divided into
two major classes of strategy: the direct class including three groups (memory, cognitive and
compensation) that directly contributes to L2 learning and the indirect class involving three
groups (metacognitive, affective and social) which indirectly contribute to L2 learning.
Memory strategies are used for memorizing more effectively; cognitive strategies for mental
processing of information; compensation strategies for making up for limited knowledge;
metacognitive strategies for planning, monitoring and evaluating one‘s learning; affective
strategies for regulating one‘s emotions; and social strategies for cooperating with others.
Learners’ needs
Wenden (1986) proposes that teachers should outline correct learner expectations and attitudes
about how languages are learned and also explain the reasoning behind classroom methods, in
order to reduce any gap between learner and teacher beliefs. Brindley (1984) elaborates on a
distinction drawn by Richterich (1972) and Chancerel (1978) between ―objective‖ needs and
―subjective‖ needs. The ―objective‖ needs are those that can be diagnosed by teachers on the
basis of the analysis of personal data about learners along with information about their
language proficiency and patterns of language use. ―Subjective‖ needs are often wants,
desires, expectations, or other psychological manifestation of a lack. ―Subjective‖ needs
should be diagnosed so that teachers may adapt learning activities to individual needs.
In short, each factor plays a specific role in the achievement of students‘ success in L2
learning. Thus, in order to attain good result in teaching, teachers should take these factors
carefully into careful consideration.
1.2. Students with low English proficiency (SLEP)
18

Theoretically, Hadley (2001: 94-105) proposed five hypotheses that would be conducive to the
achievement of language teaching goals, but only some of them seem applicable to slow
learners. The most important hypothesis that is really applicable to poor language learners is to
tailor a lesson that is responsive to the affective as well as the cognitive needs of students. The
19
students should be settled in a classroom environment that lowers their anxiety, increases their
confidence and encourages their willingness to communicate (Chan, 2002).
Balado (2001) and Lescano (1995) suggested the following practical ideas to help teachers
understand slow learners and work with them in a more effective way:
- Their weakest skills are writing and reading. Focus priority goals on oral expression
and listening skills and devote less time and effort to polishing grammar and detailed
reading.
- Use lots of praise and reinforcement. Also, slow learners need repetition.
- Limit the working time and have several short work periods rather than one long one.
- Add variety to the academic routine. Do active things and use educational games,
puzzles, and other techniques as much as possible.
- Work on material that is somewhat challenging but allows success. Work that is too
hard or too easy is a turn-off.
- Make learning fun and comfortable.
- Provide meaningful, concrete activities rather than abstract ones.
In conclusion, for some specific characteristics of SLEP, teaching English speaking to them is
a challenge to teachers of English. Aptitude seems somewhat that cannot be changed easily,
but other elements such as their motivation, strategies are things that teachers can make a
positive effect on. Therefore, investigating and understanding what they think, how they learn,
and what they really need or want is actually an essential job of teachers for the progress of
their learning achievement.


different classes and study every subject together. This fact forms multi-level classes. In
English classes, while some are good at English, others have much lower English proficiency.
Helping the second group to learn English in general, and English speaking skill in particular
is a really problematic issue for teachers of English at CFBA.
English department at CFBA consists of 12 teachers of English, aged from 16 to 48, and they
are all experienced in teaching English.
2.2. The study
2.2.1. Participants
In order to get information to fulfill the aims of the study, two survey questionnaires were
designed. The first questionnaire was administered to 50 randomly selected first-year students,
aged from 18 to 20, from different classes of different departments at college. They had got
bad results in English writing tests and speaking test, and had to retake the English exam in the
first term. The researcher chose them as the respondents because of two reasons. Firstly, they
had finished an English course for communication, so it is easy for them to evaluate what and
how they had learned in English speaking lessons. Secondly, based on their bad results in the
exams, it can be concluded that they are the ones that have very low English proficiency, so
they are suitable to the study.
21
The second questionnaire was administered to 6 teachers who teach English at CFBA. These
teachers include 2 males, and 4 females, aged from 26 to 34. Two of them were trained from
full-time training courses on English language and the rest were trained in English language
teaching at College of Foreign Languages.
2.2.2. Instruments and methodology
As mentioned above, the instruments of the study were two questionnaires: one administered
to 50 students and the other administered to 6 teachers. The two questionnaires were designed
for the aim of the research, and based on the knowledge studied in previous researches which
were mentioned briefly in the literature review. They were delivered to the participants first,

- Students’ English learning background
Question
Yes
No
N
%
N
%
1.
Did you learn English before college?
47
94
3
6
2.
If yes, how long did you learn English?

Less than 1 year
3
6

From 1 year to 3 years
34
68
From 4 years to 7 years
10
20
More than 7 years
0
0

to communicate with foreigners and improve knowledge
27
54
More ideas (specify):
23
- ‗to have a good certificate after college‘
- ‗to study or work abroad if I have a chance‘

4.
How is English speaking skill important to you?
Very important
32
64
Quite important
10
20
Normally important
8
16
A little important
0
0
Not important at all
0 Being afraid of losing face when making a mistake
24
48
Being not used to speaking
42
84
Feeling of being forgotten
40
80
Difficult topics introduced in the course book
5
10
Boring teaching
14
28
More ideas (specify):
- ‗I feel anxious because my teacher speaks so fast that I don‘t understand
what she says and don‘t know what to say.‘
- ‗I dare not speak because I don‘t remember words when I speak English.‘
- ‗I think my teacher seems not to be patient to listen to me because I usually
speak so slowly, so she/ he usually ignores me to save time, and it makes
24
me de-motivated.‘

Question 6 is aimed at finding out why they have such feelings as anxiety, boredom, and
unwillingness. It reveals that 84% of the respondents think that they feel bored, anxious, or
unwilling to speaking English in class because they are not used to speaking English. 80%
25
believe that it is due to the feeling of being forgotten in class. The number of respondents who
think that the reason is related to difficult topics introduced in the course book accounts only
10%, and 28 % of the students think it is the boring teaching that leads to such feelings. In
addition, being afraid of losing face also has a specific effect on the attitude and motivation of
the respondents with the colleted response-statistics of 48%. One of the SLEP gives more
details of why she feels anxious that her teacher often speaks so fast that she can‘t understand
and does not know what to say. Another one claims that because of the sudden disappearance
of vocabulary in her mind when speaking, she dare not speak. One student thinks that his
teacher often ignores him because she is not patient enough to listen to him, and it makes him
de-motivated. The last additional idea is about the much more speaking time of better peers. In
short, it can be inferred that the most popular elements affecting the feeling of the SLEP at
CFBA are their passive learning habit and the feeling of being forgotten which results from the
ignorance of teachers and the more prominent performance of better learners. The topics
introduced in the course book seem not to be a problem to them. There is one point that should
be noticed in this question is that although few SLEP think teaching affects them, the speaking
speech of teachers is one problem to these students.
In summary, table 2 provides some very useful information on motivation and attitude of the
SLEP at CFBA to English speaking skill and the learning of this skill. Firstly, it turns out that
they have extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic one when there is a largest number of
respondents choosing getting a good job in the future as a goal in their learning. Another
finding is the contrast between the SLEP‘s positive perception of speaking skill importance
and the de-motivated feeling they have in class mainly due to the passive habit of their
learning and the feeling of being invisible. The result reveals that it is the extrinsic motivation

‗I try to learn by heart new words.‘
41
82
‗I try to read, and write in English as much as possible to get the
ideas and practice how to express my ideas.‘
9
18
More ideas (specify):
‗I do nothing except for what my teacher asks me to do.‘

9.
How do you often speak English?

‗I try to avoid word-for-word translation.‘
10
20
‗In speaking, I first organize my ideas in Vietnamese, then
translate them into English.‘
40
80
More ideas (specify): no response

10.
How is your attitude towards English speaking learning?

‗I try to relax myself and then continue.‘
19
38
‗I try to stop and think that I can‘t continue.‘
31
62
27
More ideas (specify): no response

13.
What do you often do when you have difficulties in learning
English speaking?
‗I ask for help from teachers or higher proficiency-level
students.‘
16
32
‗I keep silent and do nothing.‘
34
68
More ideas (specify): no response


frequently causes them to have little progress in learning.
Apart from the language individual ability, it cannot be denied that attitude plays an important
role in language learning. If a student takes a positive attitude towards English and English
28
learning, he/she will get actively involved in the learning of the target language both inside
and outside the class. Active participation, in turn, enables students to learn better. However
the responses from question 10, 11 and 12 in table 3 show that 68% of the respondents don‘t
mind keeping a positive attitude or interests in English language learning, 66 % feel
disappointed but don‘t care when they don‘t perform well in English tests and 62% think that
they can‘t continue when they feel nervous while using English. One of the SPLEP admits that
she often has a positive attitude towards English speaking learning at first, but she cannot keep
it for a long time. Another one thinks that her bad speaking result comes from her in-born
ability which cannot be changed, so it is normal and there is no need for her to try. Also,
figures from questions 13 and 14 indicate that only 32% of the respondents ask for help from
teachers or higher proficiency-level students when they have difficulties in learning English
and only 22% of them actively participate in classroom activities. One student gives additional
information for question 14 that she usually speaks to her friends in Vietnamese instead of
English in classroom activities.
From the statistics collected, it can be concluded that a lot of the SLEP seem not to pay
attention to develop their interest and effort in English speaking learning and are ready to give
up when not having a good performance. It may be the reason why they are not confident and
willing to look foolish in front of others when having difficulties and just keep silent in
learning activities. Actually these strategies do not give them any advantages in their learning,
and may destroy their learning motivation instead.
In short, the data colleted from table 3 indicate a very specific overview of English speaking
learning strategies of SLEP at CFBA. Shallowness, negativeness, and passiveness are the
features used to describe these strategies, which may have very bad effects on the SLEP‘s

rather than one long one.
35
70
Have variety to the academic routine.
41
82
Do active things and use educational games, puzzles, and
other techniques as much as possible.
42
84
Experience something challenging but possible to succeed.
44
88
Have fun and comfortable learning
50
100
Have meaningful, concrete activities rather than abstract ones.
47
94
More ideas (specify):
- ‗I hope that my teacher is more enthusiastic in teaching.‘
- ‗I need more time to prepare for presentation.‘
- ‗I want to have more suggestions before speaking activities.‘
- ‗I want my teacher to slow down her/his speech, and use Vietnamese
sometimes to let me understand what she/ he says.‘
Table 4: Students’ desires in English speaking skill learning
There is one point that must be noticed from in table 4 that all of the respondents (100%) state
that they desire to have fun and comfortable learning, and 90% of the respondents want to be
trained more effective language learning strategies. Over 85% of the respondents want to have
a chance to experience success (88%), and receive praises and reinforcement from teachers