VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* ĐỖ THỊ HẠNH A STUDY ON THE INFLUENCES OF SOME FIRST CULTURAL FACTORS ON FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENT’S PARTICIPATION IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LEARNING AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA MỘT SỐ NHÂN TỐ VĂN HÓA MẸ ĐẺ LÊN VIỆC THAM GIA HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HA NOI - 2014 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* ĐỖ THỊ HẠNH A STUDY ON THE INFLUENCES OF SOME FIRST CULTURAL FACTORS ON FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENT’S PARTICIPATION IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LEARNING AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ SỰ ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA MỘT SỐ NHÂN TỐ VĂN HÓA MẸ ĐẺ LÊN VIỆC THAM GIA HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa HA NOI - 2014 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled A study on the influences of some first cultural factors on first year non-English major students’ participation in English speaking learning at Hanoi University of Industry is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that it has not been previously submitted to this University or to any other institutions in application for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications. Signature Đỗ Thị Hạnh Date: August 10th, 2014 i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my academic supervisor Dr. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa for her conscientious guidance, helpful suggestions, invaluable critical feedback and encouragement in the writing of this study.
Without invaluable assistance, my study would not have been completed. I also wish to acknowledge my great gratitude to all my lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies during my MA course, to the whole staff of the Post Graduate Department as well as the organizers for this Master Course. I would like to sincerely thank 60 first year students at Hanoi University of Industry who participated in the study. My appreciation is also extended to my colleagues at HaUI for their warm concern and assistance in the process of collecting the data.
Without their participant and support, this study could not be conducted. Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks go to my family and my friends for their love, understanding, encouragement and support to help me complete this study. Hanoi, August, 2014 Đỗ Thị Hạnh ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT This research is implemented to investigate the first cultural factors that influence students’ participation in English speaking learning activities at Hanoi University of Industry. The research’s subjects are the first year non-English major students from HaUI.
The results from the questionnaires and the class observations show that the factors coming from cultural factors such as the different traditional learning style, collectivism rather than individualism and the fear of losing face have been regarded as important factors affecting remarkably students’ participation in speaking lessons. The findings of the research indicate that teachers should help students to be confident, not to be shy, passive, or afraid of making mistake; improve students’ knowledge of grammar and enrich their vocabulary; build a cooperative atmosphere in class as well as create variety of interesting and appropriate activities to increase students’ involvement in teaching speaking English. Implications and suggestions for further research are made with the hope for better methods to help the teachers reduce their students’ negative effect of these factors during the process of learning speaking English. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATION AND SYMBOLS HaUI : Hanoi University of Industry CLT : Communicative Language Teaching SLA : Second Language Acquisition ESL : English as a Second Language EFL : English as a Foreign Language E.
: Example UK : United Kingdom : United State US L2 : Second Language iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: The frequency of students’ speaking English in class Figure 2: Students’ questioning or interrupting the teacher Figure 3: Students’ frequency of expressing their own opinions Table 1: Teachers’ current teaching activities to increase students’ participation Table 2: The frequency of teachers’ current teaching activities Table 3: Students’ participation in speaking activities Table 4: Activities motivate students to take part in speaking lessons Table 5: Students’ comfort when speaking English Table 6: Factors influence on students’ participation in speaking learning Table 7: What teacher should do to help students overcome the difficulties v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………… iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS………………………………… iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES……………………………………………… vi TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………… vi PART A: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………… 1 1. Rationale for the study………………………………………………………… 1 2. Aims and objectives of the study …………………………………………… 2 3. Scope of the study ………….
Significance of the study ……………………………………………………… 3 5. Methods of the study…. Research questions of the study. Organization of the study……………………………………………………… 4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………….
5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………… 5 1. Definitions of culture……. Elements of culture………………………………………………. Some cultural factors in the teaching and learning of speaking skills in classrooms ……………………………………………………………….
The role of culture in language teaching and learning……………. Definitions of speaking skills…………………………………………… 10 2. Types of classroom speaking performance……………………………… 11 2. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity………………………… 13 3.
Learners’ participation……………………………………………………… 14 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Review of previous studies……………………………………………. Setting of the study……………. Brief introduction of Hanoi University of Industry …….
Students and their background. The course book …………………………………………………………… 18 2. Data collection procedures….………………………………………………… 20 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS ……………………………………………… 22 1. Situation of students’ participation in learning speaking in classroom lessons 22 1.
Speaking activities used by teachers……………………………………… 22 1. The frequency of teachers’ current teaching activities ………………… 23 1. Students’ participation in speaking activities …………………………… 24 1. Activities motivate students to take part in speaking lessons …………… 25 1.
Students’ comfort when speaking English ……………………………… 26 1. The frequency of students’ speaking English in class …………………… 27 1. Students’ questioning or interrupting the teachers ……………………… 28 1. Students’ frequency of expressing their own opinions ………………… 29 2.
The influence of some first cultural factors on students’ participation while learning speaking English in the classroom ……………………………… 30 3. Students’ desire in order to overcome those difficulties …………………. 31 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS…………………………… 35 1. Major findings and discussion ……………………………………………… 35 1.
The situation of students’ participation in class oral activities………… 35 1. Factors influence students’ participation in speaking activities………… 35 2. Recommendations for increasing students’ participation in speaking activities……………………………………………………………………. 37 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Teachers should be enthusiastic, friendly, helpful and tolerant………… 37 2. Teachers need to help our students to improve their knowledge of grammar and enrich their vocabulary …………………………………… 38 2. Teachers should build a cooperative atmosphere in class ………………. Teachers need to create variety of interesting and appropriate activities.
Students should take risks ………………………………………………. Limitations and suggestions for further studies ……………………………. I viii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION In this study, there are six sections. After the introduction, the second section presents a rationale based on theoretical, pedagogical and contextual grounds, which serve as a foundation for the study.
The third section gives the methodology of the research. The focus of the study is lined in the fourth and fifth sections. The final section describes the conclusion of the study. Rationale Culture plays a significant role in language teaching and learning.
It may decrease learners’ involvement in classrooms. Being aware of cultural differences and knowing how to deal with related differences are critical for the success of teaching and learning in general, and learning participation in particular. According to Wright (2010), participation is central to second language acquisition (SLA) and therefore, language proficiency. When students lack proficiency and do poorly on tests, their self- confidence and motivation in school may be impacted.
Students, who are actively involved, in contrast, report higher satisfaction and higher persistence rates. With the recognition of the importance of proficiency, especially proficiency of students’ speaking skills, Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) has implemented a program which lasts five semesters and focuses on teaching English extensively for communication. Experiencing two-years teaching, the researcher found out that many students could write and read English well but they could not speak fluently and correctly. Most of the students found speaking difficult, even uninteresting.
Therefore, they were quite passive in speaking English. They did not actively participate in speaking activities. Their low participation may be due to a variety of factors in which first cultural factors such as the different traditional learning style, collectivism rather than individualism, the fear of losing face, etc play a significant role. 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com This has given the researcher the desire to conduct a research namely “The influences of some first cultural factors on first year non-English major students’ participation in English speaking learning at HaUI” to identify the first cultural factors that influence students’ participation as well as to find out the techniques and activities to increase students’ involvement in speaking activities at HaUI.
I hope that this research can give a few benefits to teachers, students and people concerned about this field. Aims and objectives of the Study This study aims at finding out some first cultural factors influencing first year non- English major student’s participation in English speaking learning, specifically in English speaking lessons. The main objectives of this study are as follows: 1. To investigate the present situation of participation in English speaking learning activities of first year non-English major students at HaUI.
This includes what activities teachers use in speaking lessons, how often they organize those activities and how students take part in those speaking activities. To find out how some first cultural factors influence students’ participation in the classroom while learning English speaking, such as the traditional learning style, collectivism rather than individualism and the fear of losing face. Based on the findings, the researcher gives some suggestions for teachers to stimulate students in speaking English and overcome the difficulties they have to face with in teaching speaking English for university students. Scope of the Study There are so many aspects relating to English speaking learning including strategies, methods, ways of learning (learning in class, or learning at home), etc.
The above aspects can be influenced by learners’ first culture. In this study, for the limitation of 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com time, conditions, and materials, this study only focuses on participation of students with two main issues: the present situation of HaUI first year non-English major students’ participation in learning speaking and the influence of some first cultural factors on their classroom involvement while learning speaking English including the traditional learning style, collectivism and the fear of losing face. The study involves the participation of 60 first year non-English major students at HaUI. They have experienced one semester studying English at this university.
Significance of the Study The significance of the present study would be to contribute some useful information which teachers can consider in their real English speaking classrooms so as to help students have more effective speaking lessons. Methods of the Study In the study, both qualitative and quantitative methods are used. The data will be collected by means of classroom observations and questionnaires. After the data is collected, analyzed and discussed, some conclusions will be drawn and some suggestions will be made in the thesis.