ABSTRACT
Speaking plays a great role in developing English proficiency. Therefore, students
should apply some effective methods to build this skill and one of them is listening to
English news. This method might have good effects on students speaking skill which
could link the factors of vocabulary, grammar, knowledge, confidence and other skills
all together. This study “An investigation into the effects of English news on speaking
skill of juniors majoring in English at Tay Do University” aimed to investigate the
effects of English news on speaking skill. Data were collected from 34 juniors
majoring in English course 7 at Tay Do University and 3 teachers teaching speaking at
the same school. The instruments of this research included questionnaire and interview.
The findings revealed that listening to English news resulted in positive influences on
developing students’ speaking ability. It showed the effects on students’ abilities such
as background knowledge, vocabulary, pronunciation, logically thinking and listening
skill which would help students improve their speaking skill.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my profoundly indebted to many teachers and students for their
help in my study.

Firstly, I sincerely thank to Tay Do University, particularly Faculty of Linguistics and
Literature, for giving chance to conduct my research.

Secondly, I am extremely grateful to Ms. Dang Thi Bao Dung for her guidance
throughout the project. She always gaves me instructions, corrections, comments and
provides me referent materials during the time I did my research. I would not have
been able to complete the study properly without her timely and helpful advice.

Then, I would like to gratefully thank 3 experienced teachers who spent priceless time

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………….………………….i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………..……….….……ii
COMMENTS…………….…………………………………………….…….…………iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………….…....iv
LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………...….….…...vii
LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………….viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1
1.Rationale: .................................................................................................................. 1
2.Research aims - Research questions: ........................................................................ 2
2.1.Research aim: .................................................................................................... 2
2.2.Research questions: ........................................................................................... 3
3.Significance: ............................................................................................................. 3
4.Organization: ............................................................................................................ 3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................... 4
1.Definitions of the term speaking: ............................................................................. 4
2.The importance of speaking skill: ............................................................................ 5
3.Factors affecting speaking: ....................................................................................... 6
3.1.Pronunciation:.................................................................................................... 7
3.2.Vocabulary: ....................................................................................................... 8

1.1.4.3.Grammatical structures: ................................................................. 31
1.1.4.4.Accent and interpretation: .............................................................. 32
1.1.4.5.Confidence:..................................................................................... 33
1.1.4.6.Environment: .................................................................................. 34
1.1.5.The awareness about the benefits of English news: .............................. 35
1.1.5.1.Widening knowledge: ..................................................................... 35
1.1.5.2.Enriching vocabulary: .................................................................... 37

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1.1.5.3.Learning pronunciation: ................................................................. 38
1.1.5.4.Thinking logically: ......................................................................... 40
1.1.5.5.Improving listening skill: ............................................................... 40
1.2.Result of the interview: ................................................................................... 42
1.2.1.Students’ interview: ............................................................................... 42
1.2.2.Teachers’ interview: .............................................................................. 43
2.Discussion: .............................................................................................................. 44
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................ 47
1.Conclusions: ........................................................................................................... 47
2.Limitations: ............................................................................................................. 48
3.Implications: ........................................................................................................... 48
4.Recommendations: ................................................................................................. 49
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………….….…….ix
APPENDIES……………………………………………………….……..…….…….xiii
APPENDIX 1…………………………………………………….……….…….….….xiii
APPENDIX 2……………………………………………………….…….………...…xxi
APPENDIX 3…………………………………………………….……….……...…..xxiii

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Figure 6 Participants’ problem in producing sounds

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Figure 7 Participants’ attitude toward English grammar in speaking English

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Figure 8 Participants’ thinking about the affection of environment

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LIST OF TABLES

Tables

Name

Page

Table 1

The amount of time students spend on practicing speaking everyday

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Table 2


34

Table 8

The effect of English news on widening knowledge

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Table 9

The effect of English news on enriching vocabulary

37

30, 31

Table 10 The effect of English news on learning pronunciation

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Table 11 The effect of English news on improving students’ thinking

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Table 12 The effect of English news on improving listening skill

41

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confidence in expressing ideas, mistakes in pronunciation, lack of knowledge and
vocabulary in speaking. In addition, when learning, students just keep silence and only
sit in their seats, they do not move around to exchange ideas or say anything. This
becomes the obstacles for them to find the words to say out. On one hand, a large
number of students who come from the countryside were familiar with the traditional
methods. From that, students become nervous about speaking when turning to
university for learning English major. Their speaking background knowledge is not
enough for them to receive other knowledge in the new environment. This is also the
problem for most of all students majoring in English at Tay Do University. They did
not have to stand in front of many people to talk about any topic, show their ideas, or
discuss and argue their thinking with other people. They will feel so hard with new
teaching methods at university.
Therefore, improving speaking skill as well as communication skill plays an important
role in English learning. However, how can students improve their speaking skill? And
who could help them practice it? From the viewpoint of the researcher, listening to the
news in English is a good way to improve their speaking skill. They need to focus on a
lot of things such as the interpretation, intonation, spelling, vocabulary, grammatical
structure when listening to English news. Through this study, the researcher would like
to make an investigation into the effects of English news which may help students
overcome difficulties in speaking and also develop their speaking ability. The
researcher hopes that the research will be useful with juniors majoring in English in
learning speaking and become a foundation for them to build their other skills as well.
2. Research aims - Research questions:
2.1. Research aim:
The research aimed at investigating the students' attitude toward the effects of news in
English on speaking. This study showed the relationship between listening to English

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter 2 is about the definitions of the term speaking. This section also mentions the
importance of speaking, the factors affecting speakers, effects of English news on
speaking skill.

1. Definitions of the term speaking:
Nowadays, English is known as the most popular language all over the world. People
use it to learn, communicate, exchange goods, etc. It is also an important subject at
school. Students were taught four main skills including speaking, listening, reading and
writing through the time of studying at school. In which, speaking is the skill which is
learned in the oral mode. This skill is not only the way of speaking words but also the
way of pressing idea.
According to Brown, 1994, Burns & Joyce, 1997, “speaking is an interactive process of
constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing
information.” 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.
Richards and Renandya (2002: 204) stated that “effective oral communication requires
the ability to use the language appropriately in social interactions that involves not only
verbal communication but also paralinguistic elements of speech such as pitch, stress,
and intonation.” Moreover, nonlinguistic elements such as gestures, body language,
and expressions are needed in conveying messages directly without any accompanying

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speech. Besides that, another definition of speaking is “the action of conveying
information or expressing one’s thought and feeling in spoken language” (Oxford
Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009). Similarly, in Oxford Learners’ Dictionary

Communication can only be considered effective if both aspects are achieved
successfully. Actually, every single day, people are given opportunities to speak. At
home, they interact with family members and neighbors. They ask for driving
directions from passersby or converse with the waitress at the local pub. At work,
people can talk to colleagues and superiors. They discuss business issues and concerns
during business meetings. They educate customers on products and services being
offered. Indeed, such skill is being utilized anywhere and everywhere.

Now imagine if a person does not possess good speaking skills. It would be very
difficult to express thoughts and ideas to others; it would be almost impossible to gain
understanding from these people if human cannot even convey their message clearly
and accurately. People with below average communication skills, particularly speaking
skills, will have difficulties in presentation over gatherings, whether social, personal, or
business-related. It is either that he does not know how to put his thoughts and ideas
into words or he simply does not have enough confidence to speak in the presence of
other people. Regardless of what may be the reason for this, it leads to one thing:
ineffective communication. And a person who cannot communicate effectively would
find it difficult to strike a good impression on others, especially on their superiors.

3. Factors affecting speaking:
English is a common language in the modern life. However, in our country, the
applying of this foreign language is still not spread widely. It limits the development of
English and other language as well. In learning a second language, students have

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already faced difficulties of communicating in a new language. The speakers’ perfect
speaking is affected by many different aspects such as pronunciation, vocabulary,
grammar, etc. In this study, the researcher presents some common factors that students

As these above reasons, the importance of speaking needs to concentrate much.
However, to develop pronunciation skill, people should spend a lot of time to learning
and practicing day by day because in some countries, learning a foreign language is not
easy. They do not have experience when listening to a foreigner’s language, of having
great difficulty in understanding what they are going to say. The main obstacle here is
the sounds which they produce seem peculiar and the voice rises and falls in
unexpected places, not because of their lack of knowledge of vocabulary or
grammatical structures. Therefore, foreign language learners should pay attention to
the significance of producing the sounds accurately and fluently.

3.2. Vocabulary:
In the way of learning a new language, learners have to learn vocabulary which will
help them to convey their messages or ideas. So, the more they study, the more easily
they can speak or write out the thinking because in the learning time, they will meet a
lot of types of words with a lot of meanings. Hence, vocabulary is very important when
learning a language. It needs time to develop and remember. In many cases, even
native speakers of the language could not know all of the words of their mother tongue.
Sometimes, students themselves may surprise because their vocabulary is not enough
for them to communicate with other people. This is the most difficult of learning
vocabulary that students have to face.
Stahl and Fairbanks (1986) said that “vocabulary knowledge has been identified as the
most indicator of oral language proficiency, which is particular important for
comprehension of both spoken and written language". Besides that, Loews et al (2004,

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p.127) confirmed that “you want your audience to understand you as easily as possible,
so always choose vocabulary you think they will know or explain specialist terms to
them when you use them”. In this point, he wants to mention that the speakers should

From that, grammar can be seen as one element that needs accuracy. To have a good
ability in using grammar structures, it needs time and diligence to develop because
even some native speakers usually find it hard to speak or write a sentence
grammatically. They sometimes make some mistakes which often cause the changing
of the meaning of sentences, especially in the paragraphs. Therefore, speakers may
sometimes create the misunderstandings in expressing their ideas or meanings.
According to Wikipedia website - the free encyclopedia, “English grammar is the body
of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the English language. This
includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences.” Anh and Hung (2012,
p.1) claimed that “grammar is a vital language component, without which
communication is impossible. Indeed, misuse of structures can obstruct the conveyance
of messages, which consequently leads to confusion and sometimes communication
breakdown. An advanced knowledge of grammar, however, may enable the
pronunciation of concise, witty and elegant utterances.” Additionally, grammar plays
an important role in foreign language teaching (Marianne - Celle Murcia, 1991). No
one can deny the importance of grammar in learning language. Thus, improving
grammar helps the students know how to use grammar structures exactly in speaking
English. It is the basic element that students have to acquired in speaking English
because when students are good at grammar, they will have more advantageous than
other who are not in learning speaking English. They could avoid from using wrong
grammatical functions to have appropriate sentences in speaking. It is a good idea for
learners to combine good grammar with suitable words, so it will affect directly
students’ communication as well as their speaking ability.

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In fact, Richards and Schimidt confirmed that spoken languages as “language that has
been spoken, as compared to written language” (2002, 41). In addition, Brown and
Yule (1983) pointed out that regarding sentence structures, spoken language is much

of the cultural and linguistic quirks of the languages they work with”. She means that
accent and interpretation could be arrived in the near-perfect if it is expressed by the
native speaker. The reason is the native speakers who have the time to practice with
that language when they were the children. So, they themselves accumulated their own
experiences, knowledge, vocabulary, etc for the accent and interpretation in
communication, presentation, and so far.

On the other hand, a researcher from the Hong Kong Institute of Education suggested
that students may do better learning a language from a teacher whose accent mirrors
their own – that is, not a native accent. It confirmed that learners did not need to mimic
like a native tongue. They just needed to study that second (or third or fourth) language
in the easy ways. Alison (2011) also stated that “striving for a “perfect accent” is a
little nonsensical anyway, unless you’re taking lessons from a newscaster - virtually
every language has a multitude of acceptable native accents”. It is an opposite idea in
her article. She pointed out that people should express their accent and interpretation in
the appropriate and comfortable way of them. Since, in a conversation, the expression
has the implication for other people to understand the meaning of the speaker.

Therefore, if a person can possess both good accent and good interpretation even the
native or near-native accent, they can communicate easily, express ideas and meaning
better. Especially, making other people know what he says easily. However, to do that,
practice is a very important. Try to read English out loud every day for at least 30
minutes if you have the time. This will help get you used to pronouncing common
expressions and phrases. If you have a recording device, try recording yourself and
listen back to focus on the improvements you can make (San Diego Lasik).

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3.5. Confidence:

in business or making friends. Therefore, a person can get others’ trustworthiness if he
knows how to trust himself as well as project his confidence by project others’
trustworthiness.

3.6. Speaking environment:
Speaking could be seen as the complicated skill of four main skills in English. Students
need to practice it for a long time to get a certain degree. A good speaking learner is the
one who can express ideas by many words in a short time. They should speak loudly
and fluently when communicating, and be confident when speaking. However, to
become good speakers, they should become people who could transmit the information
to the listeners quickly and clearly. That the reason why students should learn speaking
skill by listening to English news. In the news, MCs will present the information by
their native voice. It is very useful for students to learn because if they can speak like
native speakers their pronunciation and skills (listening and speaking) could be
improve and it also help them understand more about English language (about
grammar structures, idioms, slang words, choosing suitable words in specific context,
etc). Actually, it is advised to study English effectively. Since, they can listen to
English news everyday like a daily activity. After time, they are able to widen their
knowledge which is useful for their English studying.

On the other hand, Saharudin Setapa confirmed that environmental factors such as
noise, temperature and uncomfortable seating can cause us to focus our attention on
other factors besides what the speaker is saying. They should try to control
environment factors whenever possible, try adjusting the thermostat, find another seat,
or move to a quiet place to continue the conversation. It is hard to focus attention when
we are constantly distracted by outside forces.

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chance. Pay attention. If you listen you may hear something useful to you. If you listen
you may receive a warning that is worth following.”

The previous saying mentions the importance of listening. In every angle in life, human
can get many benefits or correct their mistakes. For example, in business, before doing
something, a staff must focus on the saying of the director who will steer exactly what
he needs to do. If he does not listen to the supervisor, the mission may not be
completed. On one hand, listening to the news is also like listening to the steer or
advice of other people. When human focus on the news, they can get some useful
knowledge that they have never known before. That knowledge will be accumulated
day by day. People could use it in some cases. Especially, it is useful in discussing,
expropriating and explaining their ideas in English speaking topics.

4.2. Enriching vocabulary:
Vocabulary is known as the important factor which helps human express what he or
she wants to say. However, it needs time to practice a lot to remember thousands of
words. They should also spend time in a long process to take note the meaning,
structure, word forms, etc. Nation (2001) said that “second language learners need to
know very large numbers of words. While this may be useful in the long term, it is not
an essential short term goal”. Besides, Stahl and Fairbanks (1986) confirmed that
“vocabulary knowledge has been identified as the most indicator of oral language
proficiency, which is particular important for comprehension of both spoken and
written language”.
Similarly, Beck and McKeown stated that “the goal for vocabulary development is to
ensure that students are able to apply their knowledge of words to appropriate situation
and are able to increase and enrich their knowledge through independent encounters

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