MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NGUYEN TAT THANH UNIVERSITY NGUYENTAT THANH Phạm Văn Cường AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOW TO MOTIVATE EFL STUDENTS TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS OF ENGLISH AT SOME UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BINH DUONG Major: English Linguistics Major Code: 8220201 MASTER PROJECT IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS INSTRUCTOR: ASSOC. TRƯONG VIÊN Ho Chi Minh City - 2024 i DECLARATION BY THE AUTHOR I, the undersigned, hereby declare that this submission is entữely my own work, in my own words, and that all sources used in researching it are fully acknowledged and all quotations properly identified. It has not been submitted, in whole or in part, by me or another person, for the purpose of obtaming any other credit / grade. I understand the ethical implications of my research, and this work meets the requirements of the Faculty and Institution.
Student Name: Phạm Văn Cường Student Number: 2200012931 Signed ii ABSTRACT The study aims to investigate how to motivate EFL students to develop speakmg skills. The research with the topic “An investigation into how to motivate EFL students to develop speaking skills of English at some upper secondary schools in Binh Dương” was carried out from 23rd January to 8th August 2024. The study used a quantitative method to collect data with an onlme survey. The participants are 150 students at some upper secondary schools in Binli Duong.
The questionnaire includes groups such as (1) Demographic information (2) Finding out intrinsic and extrinsic motivation orientations in learning English speaking skills, (3) Problems encountered when learning English speaking skills. The results show that the motivation of the majority of students is the ability to speak fluently, communicate with native speakers, get a good job, have good grades on tests, and study abroad. Elowever, students still face difficulties when communicating such as lack of confidence, vocabulary, and incorrect pronunciation. Students all have different ways of motivating learning speaking skills such as (1) communicating with native speakers, (2) giving presentations in front of the class, (3) using social platforms, and other motivations.
Keywords: EFL students, motivate, speaking skills, upper secondary, Binh Duong school. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT During the period of writing my project, I sincerely appreciate the supportive encouragement everyone gave me at this pivotal time. I am appreciative of everyone who helped me overcome numerous obstacles so that I could complete my master's project. First and foremost, I want to thank the School Board of Nguyen Tat Thanh University and the Faculty of Foreign Languages for lettmg me experience everything here.
Second, I want to express my gratitude to Associate Professor Dr. Truong Vien, my super-visor, who enthusiastically guided me and consistently provided me with professional advice that enabled me to complete my project. I gamed more experience and wrote my project more effectively thanks to his helpful advice. In short, I sincerely thank all the people helping me to finish this master's project.
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION BY THE AUTHOR.iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF CHARTS. vii LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF FIGURES.
ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.Background of the study. Objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Organization of the Study. Summary of the Chapter. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of terms.
In the world. Gap of the research.Orienting students' motivation to learn English. Summary of the Chapter. Categories in the questionnaire.
Data Collection Procedure. Data collection procedure. Data collection procedure. Summary of the Chapter.
24 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Demographic profiles of the participants. Participant gender information. Gender of survey participants.
Time spent studying English. The importance of motivating EFL students. The number of hours that participants spend practicing English-speaking skills each day. Methodology of English speaking practice of students.The motivations that promote participants in learning speaking English.
Types of speaking practice do most motivating. Accessibility platform for speaking English. Finding out intrinsic and extrinsic motivation orientations in learning English speaking skills. Problems encountered when learning English speaking skills.
The options below demotivated students in learning English speaking skills. The students’ motivation orientations in learning English speaking skills. The difficulties faced by EFL students at some upper secondary schools in Binh Duong. The solutions for these difficulties faced by EFL students at some upper secondary schools in Binh Duong.
Summary of the Chapter.44 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Summary of findings. Implications of the study. Limitations of the research.
Suggestions for future studies. Summary of the Chapter. 56 vii LIST OF CHARTS Chart 4. Gender of survey participants.
Time spent studying English. The importance of motivating EFL students. The number of hours that participants spend practicmg English-speaking skills each day. Methodology of English speaking practice of students.The motivations that promote participants in learning to speak English.
Types of speaking practice do most motivating. Accessibility platform for speaking English. 32 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Categories in the questionnaire.
Participant gender information. The options below demotivated students in learning English speaking skills. 39 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.Orienting students' motivation to learn English. Data Collection Procedure.
Background of the study English is one of the subjects that are considered compulsory and necessaiy for the current generation of students. Moreover, English is an international language that is receiving significant impact all over the world in the context of globalization today. Therefore, learning English increasingly attracts the attention of most people, from kids to adults. But, teachers often pay attention to grammar and exercises, so students speak English very poorly.
Therefore, not everyone can speak English as well as they would like. In other words, some people fail to learn English while others can learn it well or use it fluently (Bernal Castaneda, 2017). English consists of four mam skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Speaking is one of the important skills that need to be focused on and enhanced because it is an effective means of conununication.
However, this skill is also considered one of the most difficult aspects of the foreign language learning process. Many students find it difficult to express all their thoughts in English, even if they feel shy about communicating in English, even though they have been studying this language continuously for many years. Through the process of study, the author has realized the importance of motivating speaking classes for EFL students to leam speaking skills at some upper secondary schools, which has a great influence on the entire teaching process and affects the students' willingness to actively receive and perform then learning tasks. Therefore, this study aims to identify the motivating importance of EFL students to develop speaking skills of English at some upper secondary schools in Binh Dirong who can speak English, recognize common demotivating factors that prevent students from learning to speak English and figure out solutions to motivate students to express themselves.
Because there haven't been many studies done specifically to address these issues, this research is significant. Based on the above reasons, the writer decided to 2 write research with the topic “Ail investigation into how to motivate EFL students to develop speaking skills ofEnglish at some upper secondary schools in Binh Dương ”. Objectives of the study In this study, the researcher focuses on two main purposes. The first purpose is to investigate difficulties students encounter when learning to speak.
Then, the researcher recommends some suggestions to motivate EFL students to develop speaking skills of English at some upper secondary schools in Binh Duong. Research questions This study aims to determine EFL students’ awareness of the importance of conducting research and the challenges of doing research. As far as the aims of this research are concerned, the following research questions are taken into consideration: 1. What are the students’ motivation orientations in learning English speaking skills? 2.
What difficulties are EFL students facing at some upper secondary schools in Binh Duong? 1. Scope of the study The study was conducted in several high schools in Binh Duong province where English is taught as a foreign language. The participating schools will represent the general education context of Binh Duong provmce. 112 students from high schools in Binh Duong province participated in the survey.
These students were selected as participants for this study because they had studied English. The content of this study includes the perceptions of high school students in Binh Duong about the importance of developing English speaking skills. In summary, the study focuses on understanding and developing motivation to learn speaking skills in English for high school students in Binh Duong, with a focus on methods, strategies, and factors influencing this process. Significance of the study The topic provides insights into methods and strategies to enhance motivation to learn English speaking for high school students in Binh Duong.
This is an important area in foreign language education, especially in teaching English as a second language (EFL), where students' motivation plays an important role in developing speaking skills. The study results will provide teachers and educational administrators with effective strategies to stimulate students to develop their English-speaking skills. This can help improve the quality of English teaching in high schools, helpmg students overcome language barriers and develop confidence in communicating in English. The study focused on high schools in Binh Duong, thereby providing solutions that are appropriate to the specific context of this area.
The findings from the study can be applied to improve the quality of English education locally, contributing to improving the English proficiency of students in this area. This study may open up other research directions related to the development of English skills in particular or other language skills (listening, reading, writing) for EFL students, thereby enriching knowledge in the field of foreign language education. Organizafion of the Study This research consists of five chapters: (1) Introduction, (2) Literature review, (3)Methodology, (4) Findings and Discussion, and (5) Summary, Conclusions and Recommendation. Chapter 1 introduces the background of the study.
After that, the study’s objectives are introduced to find out the answers to research questions. The scope, significance as well as organization of the study are also presented in detail. Chapter 2 first presents the definition of concepts, and then considers a theoretical and empirical framework of research. Previous studies concerning the domain of research are also reviewed in this chapter.
4 Chapter 3 describes the methods that were used for conducting the research and the analysis of the data used in this study. All the information about the research participants, research instruments, the operational procedures used for collecting data, and data analysis are specifically described. Chapter 4 presents and interprets the results of the study based on data gathered from questionnaires. Chapter 5 provides a summary of the research findings, followed by a discussion that compares and contrasts these findings with existing studies.
The chapter concludes with the researcher’s insights on pedagogical implications, acknowledges the limitations of the study, and offers suggestions for future research related to the topic. Summary of the Chapter Chapter 1 provides an overview of the research topic, clearly stating the reasons for choosing the problem and the importance of studying how to promote EFL students to develop English speaking skills. This chapter also presents the objectives, research questions, and scope of the study. At the same time, Chapter 1 provides the theoretical background related to the development of speaking skills and learning motivation, thereby clarifying the necessity of this study in the educational context of high schools in Binh Duong.
5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter 2 consists of three main elements, including (1) Definition of terms, (2) Theoretical framework, and (3) Review of previous related studies. Definition of terms 2. Definition ofimotivation Motivation is described as the process of starting, leading, and maintaining intentional activities. Motivation is what drives US to act (Peters, 2015).
The word motivation is derived from the Latin words motive (transferred) and motive (movement), so we can understand that motivation is related to the individual's motivation to perform some behavior.