VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ THẢO TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS FOR THE FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AT THAI
NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY : PROBLEMS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

(DẠY KỸ NĂNG NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG
KINH TẾ KỸ THUẬT THÁI NGUYÊN : CÁC VẤN ĐỀ VÀ GỢI Ý GIẢI QUYẾT)

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410


v

2.1.1. Overview of the English course and its objectives … … 14
2.1.2. Description of the students……………………………… …… 15
2.1.3. Description of the teachers………………………………………16
2.2. The research methods…………………………………… ………….17
2.3. Data analysis………………………… ………………………………18
2.3.1. Procedure of the survey……… …………………… 18
2.3.2. Presentation of the statistical results……… …………19
Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……………………27
3.1. Findings 27
3.1.1. Problems from the teachers…………………… ……27
3.1.2. Problems from the students…………………… ……29
3.1.3. Problems from other factors……………… ………32
3.2. Recommendations……………………………… …34
3.2.1. Overview………………………………………… …34
3.2.2. Suggested solutions for the situation at the college… ……35
3.2.3. Some teaching strategies for the teachers………………… 36
3.2.4. Some suggested activities in speaking lessons…………… 38
PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………… 41
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………… 42
APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………….I

1

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TNC-ET: Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Technology
GE: General English
PPP: Presentation, Practice and Production

compulsory component of education in many countries. This trend also applies in
Vietnam. At many schools and universities, English is chosen as a compulsory
subject for students as English is considered to be a useful tool to access the world
knowledge. It is considered as one of the most influencing factors while applying
for a job or sustaining in a particular work position under the condition of
advancing the language level. However, though the importance of English has been
recognized, how it is taught can often be questioned.
When we were students before, we learnt in traditional ways-teachers read,
explained grammar units and students copied, took notes. The teaching of oral
English was especially neglected with my former teachers. I had very little
emphasis in schools at secondary level on teaching oral English. In the upper
grades, even at my university, educators tended to particularly focus on reading,
writing, and academic content, and diminish the importance of helping students to
speak English better. And now we become teachers, standing in front of new
students and transmit a foreign language to them. We really want to make a better
effect. In my college, Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Technology (TNC-
ET), students accumulate 6 credits of English out of total credits for an
undergraduate degree. The proportion of English compared to other subjects, then,
is relatively small. The requirement, however, after they graduate, is equal to level
B in language education. These people are required to reach a sufficient level in a
foreign language in order to accomplish communication in their jobs. That means
the curriculums must emphasize on oral communication. How we can do it when it
3

is is surprising to learn that many of the students are incapable of using their
English to talk, even in class. We now mainly spend time talking with students
about a particular topic and making sure they know vocabulary words connected
with that topic as a preview to reading a passage or a story. We consider that is all
about teaching oral English. We have had numerous studies on this situation and
various solutions, recommendations and suggestions, including changing teaching

macro-skills, we have chosen to focus on difficulties in teaching speaking skills to
first-year students at TNC-ET for the fact that mastering speaking is so central to
language learning that when we refer to speaking a language, we often mean
knowing a language. In addition, some recommendations for the teachers of English
to decrease those difficulties are also proposed. Also, due to the researcher‟s limited
ability, time constraints and narrow-scaled study, this study only involves a small
number of TNC-ET non-English students in their first academic year (i.e., 50 first-
year students of 2
nd
semester).
5. Organization of the study
The study consists of three parts. Part A, Introduction, deals with general
rationales of the study, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, and the
outline of the study. Part B, Development, is composed of three chapters. Chapter One,
Theoretical Background, reviews the theoretical literature involving the difficulties in
teaching speaking skill to non-English major students in three relating areas: nature of
oral communication; the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking skills; and
the roles of speaking skills in the views of teachers and students. Chapter Two, Research
Methods, mentions the concrete reality of teaching and learning speaking skills at TNC-
ET, methods of the study and data analysis. Chapter Three, Findings and
Recommendations, presents and discusses the problems just found out in teaching the
skill of speaking to first-year students of English at TNC-ET including the difficulties
caused by teachers themselves, students and objective factors. It also gives the
recommendations and activities in reducing those difficulties suggested by the
participants of the study. The last part is the conclusion of the study, which presents the
overview of the study. Besides, the limitations of the thesis are pointed out and the areas
for further study are also proposed.
5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

1.1.2. Characteristics of speaking
According to Bygate (1987), speaking has the following characteristics:
Firstly, its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs,
including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical
environment, and the purposes for speaking. It is often spontaneous, open-ended,
and evolving.
Secondly, the learners must know how to produce specific points of language
such as grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary, but also they understand when,
why, and in what ways to produce language.
Thirdly, speech has its own features, structures, and conventions different
from written language.
Lastly, Bygate (1987) considers speaking as an undervalued skill in many
ways. The reason is that almost all people can speak, and so take speaking skill too
much for granted. Bygate also highly appreciates speaking skill by stating that
speaking is the medium through which much language is learnt.
To sum up, it is undeniable that speaking is the key to communication. By
considering what good speakers do, what speaking tasks can be used in class, and
what specific needs learners report, teachers can help learners improve their
speaking and overall oral competency.
1.1.3. Development approach in teaching speaking skills
Speaking in traditional methodologies usually meant repeating after the
teachers, memorizing a dialogue, or responding to drills.The emergence of
communication language teaching in the 1980s led to changed views of syllabuses
and methodology, which are continuing to shape approaches to teaching speaking
skills today. Grammar-based syllabuses were replaced by communicative ones built
around notions, functions, skills, tasks, and other non-grammatical units of
organization. Fluency became a goal for speaking courses and this could be
developed through the phases in teaching speaking skills that required learners to
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Students need a lot of practice in using the new language they have learnt in the
Presentation phase. The Practice phase is a main part of a lesson, which can also
include practice in listening, reading and writing. During the Practice phase of a
lesson, teacher will work with the students to practice speaking in different ways at
different stages:
 Controlled practice stage
 Guided or less controlled practice stage
At the beginning, the teacher controls everything students say and corrects the
pronunciation, sentence construction and use of the language. Later, students should
do activities with less help and control from the teacher. They practice the language
in pairs or groups, but now the teacher only guides the activities. The teacher still
monitor the work, walking quietly around the pairs or groups, listening, sometimes
correcting and making sure students know what they have to do. At the end,
students should be able to use the new language reasonably well, and to speak more
fluently using the language they have learnt.
Once students have had an opportunity to practice speaking during the Practice
phase, they should be ready to concentrate on speaking fluently with little direction
from the teacher. This is the Production phase of the lesson. During this phase,
students focus on becoming more fluent. The teacher‟s task is to prepare the
students well during the Presentation and Practice phases and to set up interesting
and motivating activities, followed by useful feedback and correction, for the
Production phase.
To build students„ confidence, the teacher can suggest that they can use their
first language for a group discussion about the activity. Then, they can tell the class
or other groups about their ideas in English. They can gather their ideas easily and
quickly in their first language, and then communicate them in English to the rest of
the class.
In short, during the Production phase, students will speak with little help from
the teacher, so the language they say and hear is more unpredictable. This is why

avoid the overuse of teacher talk, many scholars tend to maximize student talking time
(STT) and minimize teacher talking time (TTT).
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Teacher‟s corrections are sometimes unsuitable. Inevitably learners will make
mistakes in the process of learning. “A learner’s errors are significant in (that) they
provide to the researcher evidence of how language is learned or acquired, what
strategies or procedures the learner is employing in the discovery of the language”
(Brown, 2002: 205). It is a vital part of the teacher‟s role to point out students‟
mistakes and provide correction. Correction helps students to clarify their
understanding of meaning and construction of the language. However, if teachers do
it in an insensitive way, the students will feel upset and lose their confidence.
The next important thing is teacher and learner relationship. Sometimes
teacher does not build good relations with his learners as he thinks he need not care
about it. No student„s name in teacher‟s head and no talks outside classroom are
becoming common. The teacher does not know that neglection can cause problems
in teaching in general a lot, especially in speaking classes. In fact, the relationship
between the teacher and students plays a part in evoking problems in teaching
speaking skill. One of the possible ways of pursuing this aim is to talk with students
about their feelings and help them rationalize their anxiety about speaking, which
results in difficulties in teaching speaking skills (Tsui, 1996).
- Teachers’ deficiency in English communicative competence
This can be another constraint in teaching speaking skills which is related to
teachers‟ deficiency in English communicative competence. For many years,
language teaching was seen as helping learners to develop linguistic competence-
that is, helping students master the sounds, words, and grammar patterns of English.
The idea was that by studying bits and pieces of a language, students could
eventually put them all together and communicate.
From the Hedge‟s description of communicative competence, to teach
teaching speaking skill, teachers might have been required to have language

meaning in the target language. From the fact that a large number of teachers are
limited in English proficiency, they cannot provide enough curricculum
emphasizing on speaking skills. Furthermore, examination system does not
emphasize oral skills, too. A low motivation level, timidity or anxiety in class,
negative social experiences, and culture shock are ranked among possible affective
factors. In other words, the reasons for students„ poor speaking skills determining
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learners‟ hesitancy to speak in class are: students’ fear of making mistakes and
losing face in front of their peers, students’ low opinion of their own proficiency
level, limited opportunities outside of class to practice, uneven participationand
incomprehensible input.
1.2.3. Difficulties from external factors
The external factors like large and multilevel classes, time constraint, class
condition and text book also result in the difficulties in teaching speaking skills.
Large and multilevel classes are very common in Vietnam. Multilevel classes
can present challenges to teachers, as it is very difficult to design or organize
speaking activities for many learners with different levels and interests. Even
though they may be common, large classes challenge even well-trained and
experienced teachers. The task of teaching oral skills in large classes can be
daunting.
Many Vietnamese teachers feel that their circumstances oppose to attempts
to use communicative practices. For example, they have to prepare students for a
grammar-based examination, and have to finish certain content in the textbook in a
certain amount of time. They may have classes of 60 students, many of whom are
more concerned about the immediate goal – to pass exams, to get a degree, rather
than the long term goal – to develop communicative competence. Moreover,
textbooks with the allocated syllabus in the time allowed are also the obstacle to the
implementation of the communicative approach. If teachers are committed to
communicative methods, pre-determined syllabus worries them all the time.

verbally in English. To be fair, it is not the teachers' fault but the fault of syllabus
designers. They are not aware of the significance of speaking skills, about which an
English teacher states: "Speaking … is extremely important: it's a voice into pupils'
writing, it helps them to develop and make sense of their reading, and it also does
wonders for their self esteem, building confidence for the outside world" (Howe,
2003, p. 12). If assessment is based on four skills equally, the situation may be
different. However, it costs a lot of money and time to organize oral exams, which,
according to many education managers, are not economical. Their point of view is
being challenged by the current development of English within the country and in a
world where technology develops rapidly, reducing global divides. With the
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development of technology as well as English as global language, humans across
the world now can communicate easily with one another.
It is widely accepted that one of the main purposes of studying English is to use it
for communications; speaking skill is labeled oral production and is one of the skills
students are to learn in their language development. Although teachers often find it
a skill that is hard to develop, they are always enthusiastic to go about promoting
this development.
1.3.2. Learning speaking skills in Vietnam
In general, it is said that English is very difficult to learn, of which, the oral
skill is the hardest skill to obtain. Although the ability to converse is highly valued
by students, they find it hard to go ahead because they often feel a great deal of
anxiety around speaking. However, because of the need of English communication
nowadays, learners‟ thinking is changing towards active way. They want to learn
more, to achieve improvement with obvious objectives.
For the students taking in-service English courses, they try to do various
activities to have a better command of English. Each one„s aim is to do something
different from the other students. It is because of their understanding of learning
English. Now students are eager to learn and they always wonder everything about

which presents each unit with a topic and all grammar items it is about, activities for
speaking skills, for example, are not emphasized and sometimes their contents
appear unrelated to the main topic. To be more detailed, main activities and topics
or drills designed by English teachers group in terms of speaking skills in the course
book are presented as the following.

Unit
Speaking activities; Content
Topics
1
Pair work; Greetings
Countries
2
Pair work; Prices
Family
3
None; Work
Work
4
Answering questions; Liking
Leisure
activities
5
None; Furniture
House
6
Discussion; Ability
Geniuses
 The capability to communicate in English in common situations.
2.1.2. Description of the students
Students of TNC-ET come from 3 main faculties: the Faculty of Economics
and Business Administration, the Faculty of Industrial Technology and the Faculty
of Agriculture and Forestry. New students of TNC-ET do not have the same level of
English language proficiency. Some of them have learned English for 7 years at
junior and senior high schools; some have only learned English for 3 years while a
few have never learned English because nearly one fourth of the students are
minorities from high provinces. Although some of them study English rather well,
17

they are only good at grammar, not speaking. They are likely to do grammatical
exercises quite quickly and well at their level but they cannot speak some sentences
about some common topics, and most of them do not feel confident or even a bit
frightened in communicating in English. Moreover, motivation to learning English
in these non-English language classes is generally low since English, for most of the
students, is only understood as an obligatory subject in the college curriculum.
Hence, it is very important that the staff at the English session of TNC-ET find out
effective ways to help these students overcome their difficulties in speaking classes.
2.1.3. Description of the teachers
Obviously, if students are the most important factor in the learning process,
teachers are the most significant factor in the teaching process. In TNC-ET, there
are seven teachers of English aged from 27 to 35 but none of them have ever been
to any English-speaking countries. Of seven teachers, one was trained at Hanoi
College of Foreign Languages - Vietnam National University, one was from Hue
Univesity and other five were trained from Thai Nguyen College of Education. At
present, over half of the teaching staff at the Division of Foreign Languages in
TNC-ET has been taking MA courses in Hanoi College of Foreign Languages-
Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Foreign Studies and some
foreign organizations of education and training in Hanoi. Six out of seven teachers

teaching at different colleges and universities such as Hanoi College of Foreign
Languages, Thai Nguyen College of Education. The teachers always try to improve
their own expertise by firstly taking English MA courses and now the number of
postgraduates is five.
The second questionnaire was administered to 50 students at TNC-ET. They
are male and female students who were randomly chosen from the total number of
500 non-English major students. They are all from northern mountainous provinces.
Their time length of learning English is different from each other. Some of them
started learning English at grade 6, some started at grade 10 and some had never
learnt this foreign language. Because a large number of students are minorities, they
do not have an equal cultural standard. Most of them are from 18 to 20 years old and
19

they are first-year students. Only first-year students of 2
nd
term were chosen because
they were learning English at the time of delivering questionnaires. I delivered the
questionnaire to those students in order to investigate the problems facing them in
learning English speaking skills.
The first questionnaire was designed for the students with four questions:
Question 1: Why are you learning English?
Question 2: How is speaking skill important to you?
Question 3: What makes you reluctant to speak in English class?
Question 4: Do you often find your speaking lessons interesting?
The second questionnaire is designed for the teachers and consists of thee questions.
Question 1: How confident do you feel about teaching speaking?
Question 2: According to you, what are the reasons for ineffective speaking
lessons?
Question 3: What do you do to motivate students to speak in class?
50 copies of the questionnaire delivered to the students and 07 copies of the

English?
I like English.
20
Because English is an international
language.
20
To learn something about the target
culture.
30
To get a good job.
32
To communicate with foreign people.
9
Speaking English has prestige.
9
Have to learn.
82

2. How is speaking skill
important to you?
Very
81
Quite
15
Little
2
Not at all
2
Table 2: Students’ opinion on learning English



Topics are not familiar and interesting.
60
I can‟t find exact words to express my ideas.
59
I‟m not in the habit of speaking English in class.
39

I‟m afraid that my classmates will laugh at me if I make
mistakes.
35
My teacher often corrects my mistakes when I‟m
speaking.
31
It‟s ok if I don‟t speak. The teacher never complains
about that.
28
My teacher hardly ever pays attention to me.
56
My teacher and other students speak almost all the time.
56
22

My teacher never explains requirements in Vietnamese
so I don‟t understand what she/he is talking about.
53
Table 3: The reasons that make students unwilling to speak in English class

Statistics provided in Table 3 prove to be well-matched with those in Table
2. It seems that many students share the same reasons for their being uninterested in