TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages SUB COVER PAGE. i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 LIST OF TABLES.
4 LIST OF APPENDICES. Background of the study. Reasons for doing the research. Scope of the research.
Structure of the thesis. 12 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. The nature of speaking and teaching speaking. What is “Speaking”?.
What is “Teaching speaking”?. Goals and techniques for teaching speaking. Factors affecting English speaking abilities. Language learning motivation.
Language learning attitudes. Language learning strategies. Surrounding environment of the learning. What a successful speaking learner should do.
Vietnamese learners and English speaking. Background of Vietnamese learners and English speaking. Spoken English learning outcomes. Vietnamese ethnic minority learners of English – Background and speaking outcomes.
24 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOG Y. Data collection procedures. Data analysis methods. 32 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS.
Personal ideas of students and teachers about learning and teaching English speaking skills. Motivation towards the English language. Attitudes towards the learning and teaching of the English language. Reality and difficulties in learning and teaching English speaking skills.
Reality in English speaking classes. Difficulties in the learning and teaching of speaking skills. Students’ and teachers’ expectations in learning and teaching English speaking skills. Expectations of the teachers/learners.
Expectations of the syllabus. 55 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. Summary of the findings. For the teachers.
For the students. For the educational administrators. 63 APPENDICES 3 LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Students’ motivation towards the English language Table 4.2: Students’ attitudes towards the learning and teaching of the English language Table 4.3: Subjective factors related to the usage of spoken English outside and inside classes Table 4.4: Objective factors related to the usage of spoken English outside and inside classes Table 4.5: Students’ difficulties in the learning of speaking skills Table 4.6: Teachers’ difficulties in the teaching of speaking skills Table 4.7: Students’ expectations when learning speaking skills Table 4.8: Students’ expectations of the syllabus 4 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Questionnaire 1 (Vietnamese version) Appendix 2: Questionnaire 1 (English version) Appendix 3: Questionnaire 2 (Vietnamese version) Appendix 4: Questionnaire 2 (English version) Appendix 5: Interviews with teachers Appendix 6: The classroom observation sheet Appendix 7: The first term and second term examination paper (2009 – 2010) Appendix 8: The GCSE paper (2009 – 2010) 5 ABSTRACT This thesis was conducted with the aim of addressing ways to improve English speaking skills for ethnic minority students in The Upper Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minority Students in Thua Thien Hue. To a chieve that aim, the thesis searched answers to the questions on the difficulties that students and teachers face when learning or teaching speaking skills by way of presenting the reality in learning and teaching speaking.
Also, the study investigated the expectations of the teachers and students in teaching and learning the skill, from which proposals were made to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The participation included two groups: three teachers and ninety 11 th grade students at the Upper Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minority Students in Thua Thien Hue. Three types of research instruments used: (1) two sets of questionnaires designed to gather opinions of teachers and students, (2) interviews for teachers, and (3) classroom observations. Findings from the survey showed that most learners experience difficulties because of the lack of basic knowledge such as vocabulary and structures, which potentially lead to other obstacles such as fear of making mistakes or poorly expressing their ideas in speaking activities.
The findings also showed that most of the obstacles faced by the teachers were similar to the findings from the students’ results. Simultaneously, they also said that the pressure of written exams contributed to limiting the teaching and learning of speaking skills. The survey also showed some expectations from teachers and students to the current ways of teaching and learning speaking skills. As a result, some implications are made with the hope to improve the speaking skills for ethnic minority students at the Upper Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minority Students in Thua Thien Hue.
6 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This chapter describes (1) the background and setting of the research, (2) the rationale for conducting the research, (3) the scope of the research, (4) the research questions and (5) the structure of the research. Background of the study It is undeniable that English is one of the most widely used languages in Vietnam. It has been widely used in many areas such as economics, culture, tourism, telecommunication, science and technology. English is not only a means but also a key to approaching the achievements and knowledge in the world.
In a survey in 2006, Do mentioned that in the past ten years from 1996 to 2006, English had developed at an unprecedented speed. A statistic result in his survey showed that around 90% of Vietnamese learners of foreign languages had been studying English. This can be seen as clear evidence for considering English as a main subject in the high school curriculum of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). According to Trinh (2006), English language has been considered one of the main subjects in high schools in Vietnam since 1980.
In reality, however, the teaching and learning of English in Vietnamese high schools is not necessarily satisfactory, especially in terms of speaking skills. In 2006, a survey was conducted of approximately two hundred 12 th grade students in a high school in Ho Chi Minh City by Kim Lien entitled “Why can’t students speak English after seven years learning at high school?” In this survey, 86.6% of two hundred 12 th grade students believed that they did not have the ability or the self-confidence to communicate in English. According to the survey, there 7 were many reasons explaining this but the most important one was the students’ motivations and attitudes. More than half of the students (55.5%) in this survey thought that English was a difficult subject although most of them (69.2%) s aid that they liked studying English in order to communicate with foreigners, to find a good job or to access the Internet.
However, the survey pointed out that textbooks had contributed to the difficulties experienced when learning English. At that time, they used the old series of textbooks published in the 1980s. A teacher from this high school said, in this survey, that the out-of-date information, for example, in unit 13 (textbook English 10) or unit 4 (textbook English 11), made the teachers themselves and their students feel bored with teaching and learning. In addition, the new policy of examinations focusing only on reading skills using the multiple-choice format discouraged students from paying much attention to speaking skills.1% of students in the survey said that they had hardly any speaking or listening lessons and 44.4% of students said that they never had those lessons but that they practised grammar exercises and learnt vocabulary instead.
It is noteworthy that this survey was carried out in 2006, when the new version of English textbooks was not yet applied in high schools. That is the finding about Kinh students of English. What we can find about the ethnic group is more disappointing. In a recent survey of three high schools in Son La Province, where 82% of population is ethnic minorities, Bui (2008) discovered a disappointing fact: less than 5% of students earned good marks, even in the national graduation exams.
According to this survey, the main problem was that the new textbooks were too difficult for them, in terms of a large amount of new vocabulary. In addition, many topics were remote from their daily lives and cultural backgrounds, and were therefore difficult to understand. At this time, the new version of textbooks was applied, which might contribute to the low level of competence in English. In the academic year 2006 – 2007, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) introduced the use of the new English textbook for high school students throughout the country.
In general, in my opinion, these new textbooks have achieved the goal of teaching English through a communicative 8 approach. It is a harmonious combination of four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, with various interesting topics, which are related to the age of the students. The new textbooks have many advantages, however, they have been challenging to ethnic minority students. According to Bui (2008), there were some unfamiliar topics to them, and they wanted a textbook more focused on ethnic students’ daily life.
There seems to be another restriction as far as I am concerned, that is the conditions for ethnic minority students to learn English are quite limited. Compared to Kinh students, outside school these students have to spend almost all their free time doing chores, such as planting maize, cassava, or gathering firewood for their families (Bui, ibid. These are the general situation of the English teaching and learning in Vietnam at high school level. The specific detail concerning why the study is done will be discussed below.
Reasons for doing the research As a teacher of English for ethnic minority students in Thua Thien Hue, I also have the same difficulties as those faced by the ethnic students. According to the annual statistics on the percentages of graduating students in my school from 2004 to 2009, English had the lowest rate; approximately 30 percent of students achieved the average mark in the final national examination. This was a negative result for English teachers as well as the graduating students. That result indicated that it is necessary to find a solution for the problems in teaching and learning English at the Upper Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minority Students in Thua Thien Hue.
Although I find the new textbooks more effective than the old ones that were used years ago, given the updated information and interesting topics, my teaching still seems to encounter a significant problem: the students do not pay much attention to the speaking skills, so their speaking skills are poor. There are probably three reasons for this, which I have observed during 9 my teaching: the semester and final examinations only focus on reading skills; the students’ lack of background knowledge; and some specific obstacles in the Vietnamese language, which is a means to learning the English language. The first reason, which is probably a basic one for every high school student, is the motivation for studying. It is undeniable that passing examinations is one of the most important motivations in studying.
However, according to the policy from MOET (Nguyen, K. 6, 8), the semester and final written examinations are in the multiple-choice format (see Appendices 7 and 8). The graduating student often has to pass five other subjects in the examinations, therefore they only pay attention to practising reading skills and grammatical points as well as vocabulary and structures. Teachers of English themselves take advantage of the little time they have to provide reading practice and help with solving problems in grammar exercises in order to achieve the short-term goal of passing the final examination.
Lack of background knowledge is perhaps the second reason for students having poor speaking skills. All of the students at my school received their primary and secondary education at Nam Dong and A Luoi. These are the two poorest mountainous areas of Thua Thien Hue province, so the learning conditions are very poor and they are deprived of chances to speak English. For example, they do not have enough facilities for studying English at home such as cassette or CD players, Internet, etc.
Furthermore, the third reason may be that coming from an ethnic minority group is in itself a big obstacle to students learning English, especially in terms of speaking skills.