VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ HỒNG MINH

A STUDY INTO STUDENTS’ RETICENCE IN ENGLISH
SPEAKING LESSONS: A CASE OF 10TH- FORM STUDENTS
AT HOẰNG HOÁ 4 HIGH SCHOOL
( Nghiên cứu về sự dè dặt, ít nói của học sinh lớp 10
trường THPT Hoằng Hoá 4 trong các giờ học nói Tiếng Anh)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10

Ha Noi- 2013


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ HỒNG MINH

A STUDY INTO STUDENTS’ RETICENCE IN ENGLISH
SPEAKING LESSONS: A CASE OF 10TH- FORM STUDENTS
AT HOẰNG HOÁ 4 HIGH SCHOOL
( Nghiên cứu về sự dè dặt, ít nói của học sinh lớp 10
trường THPT Hoằng Hoá 4 trong các giờ học nói Tiếng Anh)

University

HH4:

Hoằng Hoá 4

ESL:

English as a Second Language

EFL:

English as a Foreign Language

iv


LISTS OF CHARTS AND TABLES

LISTS OF CHARTS
Chart 1: Students‟ opinions on the importance of speaking skill.
Chart 2: Students‟ frequency of speaking English in class time.
Chart 3: Students‟ opinions on the speaking topics of “ Tiếng Anh 10” text book.
Chart 4: Teacher- related factors making students reticent in oral activities.
Chart 5: Students‟ desires on communicative teaching activities.
Chart 6: Teaching methods currently used in teaching speaking skill.
Chart 7: Teacher‟s attitude towards unwilling speakers.
Chart 8: Techniques to create good relationship with students.

LISTS OF TABLES

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES ............................................................................

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... ..

vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................

1

1. Rationale.............................................................................................................. ..

1

2. Objectives of the study...........................................................................................

1

3. Research questions.................................................................................................

2

4. Methods of the study............................................................................................ ..

2

5. Significance of the study ...................................................................................... ..


1.1.3. Effects of reticence in class..........................................................................

7

1.2. Theoretical background of speaking skill in second/ foreign language learning..

8

1.2.1. Definition of speaking .............................................................................. ...

8

1.2.2. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity ........................................ ..

9

1.2.3. Approaches to the teaching of speaking ..................................................... .. 10
1.3. Summary...............................................................................................................

12

CHAPTER 2 : METHODOLOGY...........................................................................

13

2.1 Research setting ................................................................................................. .. 13
2.2 Participants ....................................................................................................... ... 14

vi


32

4.2. Recommendations.................................................................................................

34

4.3. Summary...............................................................................................................

39

PART C: CONCLUSION.........................................................................................

40

1. Conclusions ..........................................................................................................

40

2. Limitations of the study .........................................................................................

40

3. Suggestions for further study .................................................................................

41

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................

42


out-of-date methods in which students only passively sit, take notes but rarely contribute
to the lessons. They do not ask their teacher questions, even when they have problems.
Therefore, when approaching new teaching methods such as Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT), students feel passive in classroom. This results in numerous problems
inflicting students in learning the speaking skill, one of which is the reticence in oral
activities.
There have been a variety of studies on this situation and various solutions have
been given, including changing teaching methods, changing syllabus or textbooks,
upgrading teachers‟ qualifications, changing formats of speaking tests and so on.
However, students‟ reticence is still common occurrence in language classrooms in
Vietnam. Based on my seven-year teaching experience at HH4 high school, I know
that the students rarely speak English, even in English speaking classes, though they have
been learning English since they were at the lower secondary school.
It is important to involve students in classroom learning activities and minimize their
reticence because involvement in classroom interaction will help students explore and
learn English much better.
For such reasons I choose “A study into students‟ reticence in English speaking lessons: A
case of 10th-form students at Hoằng Hoá 4 High School” as a theme for my thesis.
2. Objectives of the study:
The study is carried out to meet the following objectives:

1


(1 ) To find out some factors causing 10th- form students at HH4 high school to be reticent
in English speaking activities.
(2 ) To give some suggestions to stimulate students to speak English.
3. Research questions:
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following research questions were
asked in the study:

In the previous studies, reticence in learning English has been mentioned by many
researchers so far and they aimed at several levels of learners. Because of the limited time
and within an M.A. minor thesis, only speaking skill was chosen on the ground that
speaking seems to be the most challenging language skill to English learners in Vietnam
in general.
Moreover, the subjects chosen for this study are 10th- form students at HH4 high
school, Thanh Hoa province where the researcher is teaching. Thus, it cannot be said that
the results of this study are general to other language skills and to all Vietnamese high
school students.
7. Organization of the study:
This minor thesis is divided into three main parts:
Part A- INTRODUCTION- contains rationale, objectives of the study, research
questions, methods, significance, scope and organization of the study.
Part B- DEVELOPMENT- consists of the following chapters:
- Chapter 1- Literature Review- provides the basic theoretical background of reticence
such as definition, causes of reticence, effects of reticence in class; and framework of
speaking skill.
- Chapter 2- Methodology- deals with the picture of how the research was carried out
from the first step of determining research setting, participants, data collection
instruments, procedures of data collection to the last one of procedures of data analysis.
- Chapter 3- Data Analysis – provides the analysis of the first survey questionnaire and
the interview for students and the analysis of the second survey questionnaire for teachers.
- Chapter 4 -Major findings, discussions and recommendations- shows major
findings, discussions and recommendations for the teachers to minimize the students‟
reticence in English speaking lessons.
Part C- CONCLUSION- addresses the key issues in the study, limitations of the study
and suggestions for further study.

3


cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions and is due to the belief that one is better
of remaining silent than risking appearing foolish . Reticent individuals refer to those who
view themselves as incompetent communicators. In their minds, reticence is typified by a
set of faulty beliefs about communication, for example, good communicators speak

4


spontaneously and one must be born with good communication skills. The adoption of
this set of beliefs creates anxiety and feelings of helplessness.
Bilmes (1994) suggests that reticence can be as basic as a substance “between sounds and
before sound” (p. 73). It may mean a great deal in human interactions (Jaworski &
Sachdev, 1998). Reticence includes “the simple absence of sound” and “the relevant
absence of a particular kind of sound” (Bilmes, 1994, pp.73–74).
Reticence in English classroom belongs to the category of foreign language
anxiety,

which stands for

the feeling

of

uneasiness, worry, nervousness

and

apprehension experienced by non-native speakers when learning or using a second or
foreign language. These feelings may stem from any second language context whether
associated with the productive skills of speaking and writing, or the receptive skills of

According to Lee‟s observation, there are strict behavioural rules between the teacher
and students in English classrooms. In most cases, students only speak when they
are spoken to. The character of the interaction between the teacher and students is that the
teacher leads students initiatively and students‟ verbal participation is passive. These
cultural values generally have encouraged reticence and helped make students more
apprehensive and less willing to communicate in English.
In Tsui‟s study, there are some contributing factors from the learners themselves for their
reticence. Firstly, their low English proficiency prevents them from speaking up in
classroom. In fact, some students know the answer but they do not know how to express
their thought in English. Secondly, students are unwilling to speak in English for the fear
of making mistakes and being laughed by their classmates. Even when their students have
a well-preparation for the lesson, they are still afraid of losing face if they give the wrong
answer. Another factor is students‟ lack of confidence in their language proficiency and
their shyness. When they feel unconfident in their English knowledge, they prefer
remaining silent to risking making mistakes.
Moreover, teachers‟ intolerance of silence is a widespread phenomenon. It‟s easy to
realize that in class interaction, teachers often asks one question after another without
giving students much time to think about the answer because they are afraid that a longer
wait-time will slow down the pace of the lesson and lead to boredom and interruption in
the classroom. One more important factor in student reticence is the teacher‟s
subconscious choice to allocate speaking turns to brighter students. The fact that brighter
students are more likely to provide the right answer can save time so that more can be

6


covered in a lesson. This leads weak or shy students to feel neglected. The more they feel
ignored, the more they will be reluctant to participate or talk in classroom learning.
As Jackson (2003) claims, reticence is a complex phenomenon in language classrooms,
since it is provoked by a set of linguistic, psychological, cultural, and social factors.

Evans, 1996; Miller, 1987).
Reticent learners suffer from mental blocks during spontaneous speaking activities, lack
confidence, are less able to self-edit and identify language errors and are more likely to
employ strategies such as skipping class. Reticent students also forget previously learned
material, volunteer answers less frequently and have a greater tendency to remain passive
in classroom activities than their less reticent counterparts.
The effects of reticence could also extend outside the second language classroom. A high
level of reticence might also correspond with communication apprehension, causing
individuals to be quieter and less willing to communicate in other public occasions. As a
result, people who exhibit this kind of communication reticence are more likely to be
perceived as less trustworthy, less competent, less socially and physically attractive,
tenser, less composed and less dominant.
Therefore, working on reticence problem in and out of class is of great significance
not only in academic development, but also in mental development of the students.
1.2. Theoretical background of speaking skill in foreign language learning:
1.2.1. Definition of speaking:
It is known that language has been divided into four inter-related skills, in which listening
and speaking are called the oral skills because of the manners by which they are formed
(they are related to articulator organs); reading and writing are called the literacy skills as
they connect with manual script. Of all the four skills, Ur (1997: 120) believes, speaking
seems intuitively the most important. Most language learners, she adds, are primarily
interested in learning to speak. Similar view is held by Hedge when he writes that
“Learners may need the skill to establish and maintain relationships, to negotiate, to
influence people. Speaking is the skill by which learners are assessed when the first
impression is formed ” (Hedge: 261).
As mentioned above, “speaking is the productive, oral skill” ( Bailey and Savage 1994: 2).
Speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning. Speaking
is “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving
and processing information” (Florez, 1999 as cited in Bailey and Savage 1994). It is “often
spontaneous, open-ended and evolving”, but it is not completely unpredictable.

succeed in a given speech act.
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

9


granted. He also asserts that speaking skill deserves attention every bit as much as literacy
skills. Learners often need to be able to speak with confidence in order to carry out many
of their most basic transactions. Bygate also highly appreciates speaking skill by stating
that speaking is the medium through which much language is learnt.
Ur (1996: 120) explains some characteristics of successful speaking activities
which include learners talk a lot, participant is even, motivation is high, and language is
of an acceptable level. Each characteristic is explained as follows:
1) Learners talk a lot
As much as possible of the period of time allocated to the activity is in fact occupied by
learners talk. This may be obvious, but often most time is taken up with teacher‟s talk or
pauses.
2) Participant is even
Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talk active participants. It means
that all students get a chance to speak and contributions are fairly evenly distributed.
3) Motivation is high
Learners are eager to speak because they are interested in the topic and have something
new to say about it, or they want to contribute to achieve a task objective.
4) Language is of an acceptable level
Learners express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easy comprehensible to teach
others and of acceptable level of language accuracy.
To sum up, it is undeniable that speaking is 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

right sounds in the right patterns of rhythm and intonation, but also the choice of words
and inflections in the right order to convey the right meaning” (Bygate: 5). The quotation
reflects the conception of speaking at that time. The emphasis on the formal part, i.e. the
correct sounds, the correct choice of words and inflections etc., led to the accuracy
oriented practice. The result was that, although learners knew the patterns and memorized
the rules, they were not able to use their knowledge in practice. They were not capable of
exploiting the rules and patterns in real interaction.
- The Communicative Language Teaching ( CLT)
Communicative Language Teaching, with an emphasis on meaning and communication,
and a goal to develop learners‟ “communicative competence”, evolves as a prominent
language teaching method and gradually replaced the previous GTM and Audio-lingual

11


method. Since the concept of “communicative competence” was first introduced by
Hymes in the mid-1960s, many researchers have helped develop theories and practices of
CLT approach.
Features of CLT could be concluded as: “(1) an emphasis on learning to
communicate through interaction in the target language; (2) the introduction of
authentic texts into the learning situation; (3) the provision of opportunities for
learners to focus, not only on language but also on the Learning Management process; (4)
an enhancement of the learner‟s own personal experiences as important contributing
elements to classroom learning; (5) an attempt to link classroom language learning with
language activities outside the classroom.” (David Nunan‟s, 1991)
In CLT context, learners are seen as active participants in the construction of knowledge,
rather than passive recipients of information provided by the teacher or the textbook. In
contrast, language teachers are no longer viewed as the authority of the knowledge,
playing a dominant role. Rather, they share different roles such as communication
facilitator, independent participant, needs analyst, counselor, and group process manager

consists of 45 to 52 students. Most of the students come from the villages in the district
where English learning and teaching does not get much attention. The only sources from
which students can get knowledge are the textbooks and their teachers.
English is the only foreign language taught and learnt at the school. The total
number of English teachers at HH4 high school is 9. All of them are female aged from 23
to 52. They were trained from training courses in English language teaching at different
universities in Vietnam. Two of them are experienced teachers who have devoted nearly 30
years of their life to teaching students. Others are young teachers who are friendly, active,
knowledgeable and full of inspiration for teaching.
The main English textbooks used in teaching English at this school are
Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11, and Tieng Anh 12 ( Basic stream). There are only three
periods of English every week, with 45 minutes for each period. The teaching method
applied by the teachers at this school is various and integrated, but mainly GTM.
The teaching of English in general and the teaching of English speaking in
particular at this school has encountered many difficulties. Firstly, because the national
English tests are designed in written form, the speaking skill is often considered less
important and even neglected. Secondly, the teachers have to teach in large- sized classes
( more than 45 students), so it is difficult for them to organize oral activities as well as to
pay attention to all students during class time. The third is that most of the students are
not familiar with teaching in English. They don‟t understand when new words, new
structures are explained in English and they feel pressured when using English to express

13


themselves. It is set as a habit and when students come to upper grades, they become
more reluctant to speak English. Therefore, it is very necessary for the staff at HH4 high
school to find out effective ways to minimize the difficulties in teaching English and from
then, to improve the quality of English speaking lessons.
2.2. Participants:

- The first questionnaire has 10 questions and was delivered to 140 students from class
10A1, 10A8, 10A10 at HH4 high school. The questionnaire was conducted in Vietnamese
because the students might not understand all information in English, which may affect
the result of the study. The students‟ questionnaire is about 3 aspects :
+ Students‟ attitudes towards speaking skill. (questions 1, 2, 3,4 )
+ Factors making students reticent in speaking lessons. ( questions 5, 6, 7, 8 )
+ Students‟ desires to stimulate them to speak English ( questions 9, 10)
- The second questionnaire was delivered to 9 English teachers. It consists of 6 questions
concerning 4 aspects:
+ Their teaching method used in teaching speaking skill ( question 1)
+ Difficulties they usually encounter when teaching the speaking skill ( question 2)
+ Their attitudes towards reluctant speakers and mistake makers ( question 3, 4)
+ Their recent techniques to motivate reluctant speakers ( question 5, 6)
The two questionnaires consist of closed questions in which the respondents were
required to choose a suitable answer from the list given by the researcher.
The researcher did not design all question items but modified most of them from other
researchers because

there

are

many

similar

questionnaires which can suit the

researcher‟s purpose.
2.3.2. Interview:

information collected from the survey questionnaires and the interview.
The information collected was first read through for a sense of overall data. Then it was
analyzed both descriptively and interpretatively. The information from the questionnaires
was displayed in the form of tables and charts, while the information from the interview
was showed in quotations.
2.6. Summary:
The second chapter has described in detail the setting of the study, participants,
instruments and procedures of data collection as well as procedures of data analysis used
in this research. In the third chapter, the data analysis will be presented.

16


CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS

This chapter aims at analyzing the data collected. A careful analysis is clearly presented to
investigate the reticence among the students during speaking activities.
3.1. Data analysis of the first survey questionnaire and the interview for students:
3.1.1. Students’ attitude towards speaking skill:
Question 1: How important is speaking skill to you?

little
important
12%

not at all
4%
very important
40%
very important

(%)

115

82

15

11

It is necessary for your future job.

34

24

You want to study abroad

3

2

It is easier than other skills to get high marks

11

8

You learn to speak English for entertainment


than one
option)

people

Table 1: Students‟ reasons for learning English speaking
As can be seen from table 1, the highest percentage (82%) of the students wanted to learn
English because they thought that English was one of the obligatory subjects for learning
in the school‟s curriculum. When being interviewed by the researcher, one student said :
- “I don‟t have any specific purpose in learning English. It is a compulsory subject, so I
guess I have no other choices”
A frequent students‟ answer (33%) was that they had to learn English because it is an
important means of communication. The future job was also the thing that students
concerned. 24% of them thought that English was necessary for their future job. A small
number of the students ( 8%) affirmed that they were fond of learning speaking skill
because it was easier for them to get higher marks in speaking tests than in the tests of
other skills. The lowest percentage of the respondents (2%) claimed they wanted to study
abroad in the future. Whether they could achieve their wishes or not, it was the reason
why they tried to study English. About 11% of the participants answered that they were
interested in English, especially English culture and people. Besides, 12% revealed they
were interested in learning English as it helped them relax when listening to music,
playing games, reading books, magazines, newspapers…in English. One interviewee said:
- “I have been studying English since I was at secondary school. I am completely keen on
listening and singing English songs. I also want to know more about English culture, so I

18


find English very interesting”.
The above results suggested that students may enjoy learning speaking skill due to a


in speaking English

Little interested

72

51

Not interested at all

36

27

in class?

Table 2: Students‟ interest in learning speaking skill.
The statistics from table 2 show a surprising fact that only 22% of all students felt
interested in speaking lessons while 51% felt little interested and 27% of them responded
that they did not feel interested at all.
From these figures, we can come to conclusion that the students with low interest made
up the higher proportion than those with high one interest.
Question 4: How often do you speak English in English class time?
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%