VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
--------------------*&*--------------------

NGÔ PHƯƠNG THÙY

A STUDY ON THE DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING SPEAKING
ENGLISH OF THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
AT THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY,
THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
(TÌM HIỂU NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHOA CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN,
ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 10

HA NOI - 2010


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
--------------------*&*--------------------

NGÔ PHƯƠNG THÙY

A STUDY ON THE DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING SPEAKING

1.3 Nature of speaking and Development of speaking Skills ............................................... 8
1.3.1 Definition of speaking ............................................................................................ 8
1.3.2 Characteristics of speaking ..................................................................................... 8
1.3.4 The development Approach of Speaking Skills .....................................................10
1.4 Difficulties in learning to speak English .......................................................................12
1.4.1 Psychological factors ............................................................................................12
1.4.2 Cultural factors .....................................................................................................15
1.4.3 Linguistics factors .................................................................................................16
1.4.4 Objective factors ...................................................................................................17
1.5 Summary .....................................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 20
2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................20
2.2 The setting of the study ................................................................................................20
2.3 Subject of the study .....................................................................................................21
2.4 Instruments for collecting data .....................................................................................21
2.5 Data analysis ...............................................................................................................22
2.6 Summary .....................................................................................................................22
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................. 23
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................23
3.2 Data analysis of students’ responses.............................................................................23
3.3 Data analysis of teachers’ responses.............................................................................32
3.4 Summary .....................................................................................................................37
CHAPTER 4: SUGGESTIONS .......................................................................................... 38
4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 38
4.2 Recommendations for the Teaching of Speaking to first year students in FIT ...............38
4.2.1 Teaching students strategies to learn to speak English ...........................................38
4.2.2 Improving teachers’ classroom techniques ............................................................40
4.2.3 Developing speaking materials ..............................................................................45
4.2.4 Creating speaking environment for students ..........................................................45
4.2.5 Reducing the class size..........................................................................................46

Pie chart 9: Students' perception towards the effect of pronunciation to learning to
speak English .............................................................................................................. 29
Pie chart 10: Students' expectation towards the teachers' instruction ............................ 30
Pie chart 11: Students’ thought of class size ................................................................ 31
Pie chart 12: Students’ thought of mixed ability class .................................................. 32
Pie chart 13: Teachers' perception of students' thought over speaking skills ................ 32
Pie chart 14: Teachers' perception of students experience over speaking skills ............ 33
Pie chart 15: Teacher's perception of students' actual activities in speaking class ......... 34
Pie chart 16: Teacher's perception of their students' speaking difficulties .................... 35
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CLT:

Communicative language Teaching

ELT:

English Language Teaching

ESL:

Learning English as a Second Language

FIT:

Faculty of Information Technology

IT:

English-speaking countries. Therefore, the demand of studying foreign languages, especially
learning to speak English, has become more and more necessary.
Understanding the important role of speaking skill when learning a foreign language, the
Faculty of Information Technology (FIT) - Thai Nguyen University focuses on the teaching
and learning English in the light of Communicative Teaching Approach. FIT pays special
attention to develop speaking skill. Despite that, the desired effect is not high.
With the hope of helping students to learn to speak English effectively, the difficulties in
learning to speak English have been chosen as the topic of the present research. Realizing the
current difficulties that the first year students in FIT encounter will attribute to the
improvement and enhancement of the learning and teaching English speaking quality in the
FIT.
The research will first shed a light on how learners think and study to speak English in FIT;
second, it will reinterpret the recent difficulties in learning to speak English that learners meet
in terms of revised relevant theories. Third, it will recommend some solutions to upgrade the
learning to speak English quality in FIT. Forth, it will make the teachers become more aware
of the problems may occur in speaking class, from which they can have better and reasonable
solutions to their classes.

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1.2 Aims and objectives of the study
The study is carried out to find out the answers for the following questions:
1. “What difficulties do students in FIT meet when they learn to speak English?”
2. “What are possible causes leading to difficulties in learning speaking skills of the first
year students in FIT?”
3. “What are possible solutions to the problems?”
The study is aimed to
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situations.

1.5 Significance of the Study
The research is the first step of a larger investigation into the difficulties in learning to speak
English in a university or in a nation. The goal of the research is to conduct a small survey of
the difficulties that the first year students in FIT meet when they learn to speak English. A
questionnaire will be designed based on the three main factors: psychology, linguistics and
socio-culture. Data collected will be analyzed statistically. The result achieved will interpret
4


the difficulties that the students in FIT encounter, and support further and more detailed study
of the phenomena identified here.

1.6 Structure of the study
This study includes five chapters
Chapter 1: Introduction
In this chapter, the reasons why the topic was chosen are stated. Besides, the background and
scope of the study, the aims, the significance, the method and structure of the study are also
mentioned.
Chapter 2: Literature review
The relevant theories are revised in this chapter as the base for the research carried out.
Chapter 3: Development
This chapter will present the development and how the study is carried on.
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions
This chapter present the research result achieved and discussed on the result acquired.
Chapter 5: Suggestions and Conclusion
In this chapter, the suggestions will be presented basing on the result discussed in the previous
chapter. The conclusion will show a brief summary of the study and the limitation.


on negotiation of meaning. It includes attention to form as well as to meaning. The principles
of CLT apply also to reading and writing as well as to face-to-face oral communication.

6


1.2.2 Characteristics of CLT
Since its appearance, CLT has improved its prominent power which no approaches appeared
before it had. With the change from the “weak” version to the “strong” version, CLT has
changed its ideal method. It focuses on the learners, and develops the syllabus based on the
learners‟ needs. It turns from “learning to use English” to “using English to learn it” (Howatt,
1984 p. 279). CLT has its own characteristics as follows.
As for British and American perspectives, CLT aims to make communicative competence the
goal of language teaching and to develop procedures for teaching of the four language skills
that acknowledge and the interdependence language and communication.
Larsen- Freeman (cited in Rao (2002, p. 87)) considered the central characteristic of CLT is
that “almost everything that is done is done with communicative intent”. Another feature of
CLT is that “activities in the Communicative Approach are often carried out by students in
small groups” (Larsen-Freeman cited in Rao (2002, p.87)). One more noteworthy attribute of
CLT is “its learner-centred and experience-based teaching” (Richards and Rodgers cited in
Rao, (2002, p. 88).
As for David Nunan (1991 p.279), CLT has five basic characteristics:
(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 the language but also on
the learning process itself.
(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 activation outside the
classroom.

communicative competence. In which, he stated to be able to speak another language “one
needs to know how to articulate sounds in a comprehensible manner, one needs an adequate
vocabulary and one needs to have mastery of syntax.” (David Nunan, p.226). A few years ago,
Dell Hymes (1974) considered the communicative competence included three factors:
linguistic competence, socio-linguistic competence and conversational skills. In the early
1970s, Sandra Savignon defined communicative competence as “the ability to function in a
truly communicative setting – that is, in a dynamic exchange in which linguistic competence
must adjust itself to total information input, both linguistic and paralinguistic, of one or more
interlocutors” (p.9 cited in Nunan (1995, p.226)). As for Canale (1983, p.5) “communicative
8


competence refers to both knowledge and skill in using this knowledge when interacting in
actual communication. Knowledge refers here to what one knows (consciously or
unconsciously) about the language and about other aspects of communicative language use;
skill refers to how well one can perform this knowledge in actual communication.”
Richards, Platt and Weber (1985: 49) also stated:
“Communicative competence includes: a) knowledge of grammar and vocabulary of
the language; b) knowledge of rules of speaking; c) knowing how to use and respond
to different types of speech acts such as: requests, apologies, thanks, and invitations; d)
knowing how to use language appropriately.” (cited in Nunan (1995, p. 226)).
Obviously, the communicative competence depends on each person. To this one it is easy, but
to this one it is difficult. Since, it is assigned with many factors: psychological, socio-cultural,
and linguistic factors.
Generally speaking, one of the most typical characteristics of speaking is the communicative
competence as mentioned above.
David Nunan (1995 p.227) reckoned “Another aspect of speaking that is particularly relevant
for second language speakers concerns whether or not the speaking is planned or
spontaneous.” He also stated that “We tend to assume that all conversations are spontaneous,
and so they are to a degree. However, we all have routines, set phrases and other expressions

In this phrase, teachers play the dominant role while learners passively listen and take notes.
With their English knowledge, teachers select materials and present it in such a way that
learners can absorb knowledge easiest. The oral materials introduced to learners are often in
two forms: dialogue and prose. Each form needs a different way to present. To present a
dialogue, Byrne (1991 p.22), suggested 10 following different steps.
1. Establish setting by using pictures. At this phrase, English should be used as much as
possible.
2. Draw out learner‟s experience related to situation.
3. Explain some key words.
4. Set listening task by asking key information of the dialogue.
5. Ask listeners listen without looking at their books.
6. Allow learners to have a look at their books when necessary.
7. Ask learners to listen and repeat.
8. Ask learners to pick up difficulties and explain difficulties
9. Ask them to practice
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10. Ask them to dramatize the dialogue.
Obviously, the procedure is perfect and logically arranged. However, it depends on the
learners‟ competence. Teachers do not need to follow every step. They can leave out some
steps to adapt with their lectures and to make the lectures more flexible and attract the learners.
Byrne (1991) also pointed out 9 other steps to introduce the prose to the learners.
1. Introduce the topic by asking students to look at the picture or asking them about the
related things.
2. Introduce the text. New words and structures are given.
3. Provide relevant practice.
4. Set the reading task: Make questions
5. Ask the learners to read the passage in silence and find the answers.
6. Ask learners to read again aloud and ask for the answer.

accounts in order to achieve better results in spoken English teaching and learning.
Obviously, psychological factors play a significant role in language learning. Positive
emotions can facilitate the language learning process and improve learners‟ language
performance, while negative emotions will bring barriers to language learning and reduce
learners‟ learning capacity. There have been many research on the impact of the psychological
factors on learning to speak English such as the research of Wu Guang, Liang Jia-xia . In their
research, they focused on analyzing the psychological barriers in oral English teaching. They
stated four types of difficulties like self-abasement, pride, fear of difficulty, anxiety. From that,
they found out the causes and analyzed deeply those causes. The causes that they found out
are divided into two kinds subjective and objective. The subjective causes then further divided
into three causes: psychological factors, motivation, interest and attitude, learners‟ original
ability of listening and speaking. Whilst, the objective factors are classified into four types:
traditional language teaching mode and method, environments of language teaching, form and
content of language test, and qualifications of language teachers. Also studying about this
problem, Xuemei Meng and Qianyu Wang had other ideas. They believed that the
psychological barriers include anxiety, self-esteem and ETL and risk-taking. Therefore, the
influences of negative emotional factors include motivation, anxiety, low self-esteem, insecure
classroom atmosphere, lack rapport between teachers and students, etc. The following are
some of the emotional factors in details:
Motivation:
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Among the factors affecting SLA, motivation is the most important one. According to
Johnstone (1999, p. 146), it is a drive directed towards a goal. Rod Ellis (1994, p. 715)
considers motivation as “the effort which learners put into learning an L2 as a result of their
need or desire to learn it”. Lightbrown and Spada (2001, p. 33) define motivation in SLA as “a
complex phenomenon which can be defined in terms of two factors: learners‟ communicative
needs and their attitudes towards the second language community”. Research has shown that
whether second language learning is successful or not closely relates to the four types of


Therefore, anxiety is bad for the

improvement of students‟ spoken English. With the role of the educators, teachers should help
students reduce anxiety by paying much attention to teaching attitude and creating a free
learning environment without stress. Teachers should use effective language when evaluate
students and encourage them to study.
Self-esteem:
Self-esteem refers to the individual‟s evaluation on himself, and attitude towards his or her
ability, value, and achievement (Coopersmith (1967 p. 4-5). It is originated from individual‟s
experience and the judge of the outside world. Comparatively speaking, learners with high
self-esteem are full of the sense of self-confidence and self-affirmation. In English learning,
they can evaluate reasonably and objectively their own English level as well as the other
learning skills: listening, reading, writing, speaking and translating. Self-esteem was
associated with the English speaking, and that learners with high self-esteem could have more
chances to achieve speaking proficiency.
Presumably, they are less likely to feel threatened when speaking or communicating in English
or in an unfamiliar situation. They may also be more ready to risk making mistakes or
projecting a reduced image of them.
Extroversion:
Extroversion is a personal characteristic that can be observed through behaviors. The ones
who are extrovert tend to be out going, sociable and active. They like being with people and
feeling confident in social programs. They are not clumsy when talking with strangers (Yul
Iskandar,2000, p. 46). On the contrary, the ones who are introvert seem quiet, clumsy and
passive. They are afraid of meeting people or showing their own ability.
In the pedagogical perspectives, when learning English, learners with extroversion may enjoy
certain advantages in English speaking. Their nature makes them easier to be successful than
the ones who are introvert. They are more active, willing to take part in speaking activities and
social interaction. In turn, the success makes them more confident and more extrovert.
Self-concept:

possess a knowledge of the

meanings of words, the four types of sentences, the complete sentence and a firm grasp of
syntax; that is, they must fully comprehend how words are segmented into various sounds, and
how sentences are stressed orally and in writing in particularly effective ways. Thus, a solid
underpinning in grammatical competence enables speakers to employ and fully comprehend
English language structures both precisely and unhesitatingly, which unfailingly contributes to
their fluency in that language..
Besides grammatical competence, EFL learners must develop discourse competences which
are consistent with communicative relationships. In discourse, whether formal or informal, the
rules of cohesion and coherence are applied, which aid in holding the communication together
in a meaningful and structured way. In communication, both the message and comprehension
of a language require one's ability to perceive and process sometimes lengthy discourse, and to
derive meaning based on both what was previously stated and whatever follows

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Therefore, truly effective speakers should attempt to acquire a large repertoire of structures
and discourse markers to express ideas, show relationships of time, and indicate cause,
contrast, and emphasis (Scarcella and Oxford, 1992). With such acquired skills, learners can
then more readily manage more complex conversational exchanges.
1.4.4 Objective factors
When talking about the factors affecting speaking, beside the subjective factors, the objective
factors are also the factors cause difficulties in learning to speak English.
Textbook
Sheldon (1988, p237) considers textbook is “the visible heart of any ELT (English Language
Teaching) program”. In English as a foreign language (EFL) context it may even constitute the
main and perhaps only source of language input that learners receive and the basis for
language practice that occurs both inside and outside the classroom (Richards, 2005).

opportunities in involving and interacting with the others. Otherwise, if he studies in a small
class, he will have more chances to practice and interact with the others.
Mixed-ability class
Ainslie (1994) defined that mixed-ability classes are the classes where students differ greatly
in ability, motivation for learning English, needs, interests, educational background, styles of
learning, anxiety, experiences and so on. Tomlinson (1999), Berry & Williams (2002) and
Shank (1995), found out that every class is multileveled. Therefore all teachers have to face
with the challenges of mixed-ability classes.
Baker (2002) recognized that in mixed ability classes, keeping the attention of all students
become really difficult. Since, the class is divided into different levels. There remain active
and non-active students because of the suitable levels of the lesson with their ability. Hess
(2001) believed that a mixed-ability class can seem uncooperative, the students can get bored
easily and this can cause commotion in the classroom.
To overcome this difficulty, teachers should create a relaxed and free environment to make
students of multilevel actively take part in learning activities. Otherwise, upgrading and
adapting materials to suit with students‟ abilities is necessary.
Environments of language teaching and learning
Language learning environment is very important to the English learners. Being in an English
speaking environment will improve learners‟ English speaking skills, which helps learners
communicate more easily and effectively. When learners are constantly hearing and speaking
18


English on a daily basis, learners can dramatically improve how to speak and understand the
language. However, it is not very easy to have a chance to go abroad to study English in order
to live in an English speaking community. Learners should create the English learning
environment themselves by working in groups, in class or reading or listening to news or the
songs written or sang in English. As English language teachers, teachers should upgrade and
improve the teaching method to suit with the learners‟ levels and the ability.


taught English in high school or are not taught at all. Students are familiar with the old method
“teachers give lectures, students take notes”. They have few chances to practice speaking
English. When coming to the FIT, they are taught to fulfill the need of oral tests. It is very
difficult for them to get acquainted with. Further more, the class size is also a big challenge for
the teachers. It is too large. There are about 60 or over 70 students in a class. How can English
be taught in such a big class? As a result, chances for students to practice English are less and
less. The problems are given to the teachers: how to improve the teaching and learning; how to
help students study English better…In addition, most of the English teachers are fresh from
university. There are 11 teachers of English. Among them, only 7 are full-time teachers. The
others are amateurs. They do administrative work in the FIT. The one who has the most
teaching experience is ten years and the others are about three to five years. Therefore, it is not
avoidable to lack teaching experiences. Teaching in these large classes with non – equal level
students is too difficult. There are students who have studied English for 7 years, and also
20


students who have only studied English for 3 years. Further more, there remain students who
have not studied English at all in the high school. They studied French or Russian instead.
Like other universities, English levels at Elementary, Pre-intermediate and Intermediate. Each
course takes 3 months. Course books are chosen depending on age, levels, and requirements
and so on. The two books of Inside Out which have been adapted to suit with the students
have been used to teach during the last three years.

2.3 Subject of the study
This study was carried out with the cooperation of the 10 teachers and 100 first year students,
who are working and studying in the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT), Thai Nguyen
University. The students were of mixed abilities and all of them were willing to participate in
questionnaire responses. The teachers were chosen randomly since they were in charge of
teaching speaking skills to the first year students.
Among the 700 first year students, 100 of them were chosen from different classes. Since