Luận án: Khó khăn dạy kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh - Nghiên cứu tại Biên Hòa, 2020

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Đinh Thị Thùy Trang DIFFICULTIES FACED BY LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS IN BIEN HOA CITY MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE HO CHI MINH CITY, 2020 luan an VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES \ Đinh Thị Thùy Trang DIFFICULTIES FACED BY LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS IN BIEN HOA CITY Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Assoc. Phạm Hữu Đức HO CHI MINH CITY, 2020 luan an DECLARATION BY AUTHOR I hereby declare that the thesis, entitled “Difficulties faced by the lower secondary school teachers in teaching speaking skills in Bien Hoa city” has been written solely by myself and has not been submitted to this University or any other institutions in application for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications. This master thesis has not been published before. And if it is eventually proved that I am cheating, I am ready to take responsibility, including the revocation of my academic degree.

Author’s signature Đinh Thị Thùy Trang Approved by SUPERVISOR Assoc. Phạm Hữu Đức Date:……………………… i luan an ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help, encouragement and support of many people. First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Assoc. Phạm Hữu Đức, my supervisor for his helpful comments, remarks and recommendations in completing this master’s thesis.

Second, I would like to send my thanks for the useful materials, guidance and enthusiasm for this study to all lectures and staff of the Graduate Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam Academy of Social Science, in Ho Chi Minh City. In addition, my sincere gratitude goes to the teachers and students of the Le Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School who have willingly spent their precious time in the interview process. Last but not least, many thanks to my beloved family and friends who are always beside me to support and encourage me to fulfill my study. ii luan an TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DECLARATION BY AUTHOR .vi LIST OF TABLES .vii LIST OF FIGURES .ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .2 Aims of the Study.4 Scope of the Study .5 Significance of the study .7 Structure of the study.

3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 The nature of speaking and speaking skills .1Definition of speaking .2The nature of speaking and speaking skills .2 The role of speaking in language teaching .3 Teaching and learning speaking skill .1Teaching speaking skill .2Learning speaking skill .4 Factors affecting learner’s speaking achievement. 10 iii luan an 2.5 Teacher’s difficulties in teaching English speaking skills .3 Data collection instrument .4 Data collection procedures. 20 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS .1 Data analysis of teachers’ survey questionnaire .2 Data analysis of students’ survey questionnaire .3 Data analysis of students and teachers’ survey interview .1Difficulties from the students .2Difficulties from the teachers .3Problems from other factors. 64 iv luan an 5.1Implications for students .2Implications for teachers .4 Limitations of the study .5 Suggestions for further studies.

69 REFERENCES 70 Foreign Authors. xi v luan an ABSTRACT English speaking is an important skill and mostly used in daily life to express opinions, explain, and make arguments. To get a better result in learning English and get a good job in the future, students have to speak English fluently. The aim of this study was to explore some difficulties faced by students and teachers at Le Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School in learning and teaching English speaking skills and suggesting solutions to resolve those difficulties.

The study subjects were 104 students and 18 English teachers. Research data were obtained from questionnaires, interviews, by both students and teachers. The findings showed that the difficulties faced by students in learning English were low levels of English proficiency, lack of motivation and problems with the use of mother tongue. Teachers' difficulties in teaching English-speaking skills were insufficient communication skills and inadequate methods.

Furthermore, large and multi-level classes, the current test system and lack of class time were additional difficulties in learning and teaching English speaking skills for students and teachers. Some recommendations were made from these findings with the aim of improving Le Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School's teaching and learning of English, especially speaking skills. vi luan an LIST OF TABLES Table 4. Information about the teachers participated in the survey.

Teachers’ year of teaching English .3 Information about students participating in the survey. Students’ years of learning English. 37 vii luan an LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4. Interesting of teachers in teaching speaking skill.

Teacher’s opinions about other skills. Teacher’s opinion about the importance of English speaking skill .4 The current testing system .5 Large and multi-level classes .6 There are multi-level students in the class. The contents in textbook are difficult for student’s ability.8 My knowledge of speaking topics is restricted. There is limited time for large knowledge.

Teachers’ teaching method. I find it difficult to create pleasant and comfortable atmosphere in English speaking lessons. I apply some techniques in teaching speaking skill (role-play, interview…). Teacher’s instruction in speaking class.

After giving speaking topics, I often provide new words and structures relating to the topics .It is difficult to find suitable activities. Limited time affects to student’s practice speaking skill. I rarely give activities involved in each speaking task. I give feedbacks for only few students because of the limited time 34 Figure 4.

Students are passive in learning speaking skill. Lack of teaching and learning facilities. Students’ opinion about the learning speaking skill. 37 viii luan an Figure 4.

Speaking skill is the most difficult among the four skills. Speaking skill is very important. I learn English speaking skill to communicate with foreigners. The aim of learning speaking English is to pass examinations.

I am shy and feel nervous when speaking in front of other people because I am afraid of being wrong and lose face. I have a poor vocabulary to express my ideas. I am not good at pronunciation, stress and intonation. I usually use Vietnamese during pair work and group work.

My speaking’s ability is good. My partners are unwilling to practice speaking English with me. It is difficult to have chances to practice English with foreigners. I rarely have chances to practice English outside the class.

Teachers’ instructions are ambiguous .Teachers often get angry and interrupt to correct when I make mistakes. Teachers’ knowledge is restricted. Teachers focus much on grammar. After giving speaking topics, teachers often ask to discuss the topics immediately.

Some contents in textbook are difficult. The classroom lacks facilities (micro, projector, videos, Internet…). 52 ix luan an LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LQDLSS: Le Quang Dinh Lower Secondary School %: Percentage x luan an CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Speaking is one of the most difficult skill language learners as well as teachers have to face. Speaking is very important in second language learning.

Therefore, teaching speaking skill for secondary school students also has a great effect on their ability of speaking learning. Teaching the speaking skill is the most important aspect of learning English and success is measured based on the ability to perform a conversation in the language. Despite its importance, speaking has been overlooked in schools and universities due to different reasons like emphasis on grammar and unfavorable teacher-student proportions. The traditional method of teaching in Vietnam is heavily dependent on books and lectures.

Teachers as well as students pay much attention to the grammatical items. As a result, those students might be structurally competent but communicative incompetent. This is the big problem with a lot of Vietnamese schools. They do not create enough opportunities to speak in authentic situations.

When it comes to interviewing with foreigners, speaking skills is the most important. This is because from the initial moment that applicants get in touch with interviewers when applying for a new job, those interviewers will scrutinize the way they behave. If the applicants can prove their speaking skills, it is likely that they will not only communicate well with other coworkers but also with regular customers, which would allow them to broaden their knowledge and gradually become a well-rounded employee. 1 luan an Finally, this study is to help those teachers who teaching speaking English in secondary school being more successful in teaching activities.2 Aims of the Study This study aims to: identify difficulties perceived by teachers in teaching speaking skill.

Suggest solutions perceived by teachers to overcome the difficulties for more successful teaching speaking English skill at secondary schools in Bien Hoa city. What difficulties or challenges do the teachers face when teaching speaking skills in classroom? 2. How can teachers and students minimize these difficulties? 1.4 Scope of the Study The study aims at outlining the difficulties in teaching speaking skill faced by teachers at secondary school. There are various difficulties that teachers met when they taught a foreign language.

The study sought to find out the most popular difficulties in teaching speaking skill faced by teachers at secondary schools. Then, this study also gave out some suggested solutions for common teaching problems for teachers.5 Significance of the study The findings of this study will redound to the benefit of society considering that teaching speaking skill plays an important role in education today. The study can help the teacher teach better way of teaching speaking skills. The result can be useful for English teacher in giving addition input of teaching learning 2 luan an process of speaking as well as gives a broader point of view for teachers in teaching English.6 Research methods To collect data for this study, the questionnaires were distributed to 104 students and 18 teachers.

The teachers participating in the survey were teaching English to students so that they can understand why students fail to speak fluent English. First, the survey questionnaires are carried out to find out the problems being faced by teachers. Then the interviews with teachers are conducted to make clear which were ambiguous and vague in the questions.7 Structure of the study The study is organized in five chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Findings & Discussions and Conclusions. Chapter 1- Introduction presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study and research.

Chapter 2 – Literature Review reviews the overview of speaking skills; Chapter 3 - Methodology includes the participants, data collection instrument, data collection & data analysis procedure context of the study. Chapter 4- Findings & Discussions describes the data of the questionnaires and interviews, then gives some findings through the data analysis; and suggests some solutions perceived by teachers to the current problems. Chapter 5 - Conclusion focuses on recommendations for further study. 3 luan an CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The nature of speaking and speaking skills 2.1 Definition of speaking Speaking is a part of daily life that we take it for granted.

There are many different concepts of speaking through many different liguistics, but most accept the fact that speaking is very important to human communication. Speaking a foreign language is a very complex skill, including vocabulary; grammar, pronunciation, and fluency, the ability to structure talk or even non-verbal abilities. To Brown (1994), Burn and Joyce (1997), speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information; Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experience, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking; It is often spontaneous, open ended and evolving. According to Burn & Joyce, (1997), “speaking” is the delivery of language through the mouth.

To speak, we create sounds using many parts of our body, including the lungs, vocal tract, vocal chords, tongue, teeth and lips.