VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ----------------------------- NGUYỄN THỊ CHÂM ANXIETY IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES EXPERIENCED BY ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT A TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE IN VIET NAM (Sự lo lắng trong giờ học kỹ năng nói của sinh viên năm thứ nhất chuyên ngành tiếng Anh tại một trường cao đẳng sư phạm ở Việt Nam) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2018 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES ----------------------------- NGUYỄN THỊ CHÂM ANXIETY IN ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES EXPERIENCED BY ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT A TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE IN VIET NAM (Sự lo lắng trong giờ học kỹ năng nói của sinh viên năm thứ nhất chuyên ngành tiếng Anh tại một trường cao đẳng sư phạm ở Việt Nam) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Ngô Thu Hương Hanoi – 2018 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the study entitled “Anxiety in English speaking classes experienced by English majored freshmen at a teacher training college in Vietnam” is the result of my own work in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Hanoi, 2018 Nguyễn Thị Châm i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEGDMENT My study has been completed with the assistance and guidance of a number of significant people. I would like to acknowledge them here.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Huong Ngo for her valuable suggestions, academic guidance, and critical comments on my study. Without her support, I would not have been able to complete this study. Moreover, I am grateful to the lecturers and staff at the Faculty of Post- graduate Studies, at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Their inspiring lectures, together with their tireless academic support and encouragements have been a great motivation for me to realize the dream of completing my higher study.
Furthermore, my thanks also go to the students who participated in my research. Their willingness to support will be always remembered. Last, I wish to acknowledge the support and invaluable help of my family while the work was in progress. They have been part of my interesting journey.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The present study aimed to investigate anxiety in English speaking classes experienced by English majored freshmen at a teacher training college in Viet Nam. This study used a mixed methods design to achieve its research aims. In the quantitative phase, a questionnaire was administered to a group of 46 first year English major students at the teacher training college. The aims of the quantitative study were (1) to measure the level of anxiety when students studying speaking skills, (2) to measure students‟ motivation to learn English speaking skills and the level of students‟ self-perceived speaking proficiency reported by the students and (3) to examine the correlations between students‟ level of anxiety and their motivation and self-perceived English speaking proficiency.
In the second phase, the qualitative study employed a number of semi-structured interviews with seven participants. The interviews sought to understand the sources of anxiety in speaking classes and solutions to alleviate anxiety in English speaking classes. This study found that freshmen experienced a moderate level of anxiety in speaking classes, a moderate level of motivation in learning English speaking and a low level of self-perceived speaking proficiency. The findings revealed that there was a negative and significant correlation between speaking anxiety and motivation in learning English speaking.
The findings also revealed a negative and significant correlation between speaking anxiety and students‟ self-perceived English speaking proficiency. The five solutions were suggested to reduce students‟ anxiety in speaking classes. The study is expected to contribute to the enhancement of teaching speaking skills and help to improve students‟ speaking participation and speaking‟s ability at my college in particular and in Vietnamese school in general. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR Common European Framework of Reference for Languages CLT Communicative Language Teaching FLCAS Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale RQ Research Question iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 3.
Mean levels, Standard deviation and Cronbach Alphas for three Subtypes of Anxiety. Mean levels, standard deviation and Cronbach Alphas for Motivation, Students’ Self-perceived of Spoken Interaction and Students’ Self-perceived of Spoken Production. Correlations between the three Subtypes of Anxiety and Students’ Self- perceived Speaking Proficiency. Correlations between the three Subtypes of Anxiety and Students’ Motivation .31 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.
iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. iv LIST OF TABLES. Aims of the study. Significance of the study.
Scope of the study. Method of the study. Structure of the study. 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Foreign language learning anxiety. Definition and types of anxiety. Anxiety in foreign language learning. Definition of foreign language anxiety.
Impact of anxiety on foreign language learning .Foreign language speaking skills.1 Definition of foreign language speaking skills. Approaches to teach foreign language speaking skills. Factors affect speaking proficiency. English speaking anxiety.
Anxiety in English speaking skills. Sources of foreign language anxiety and speaking anxiety .14 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Previous studies of foreign language anxiety in speaking skills. Context of study.
Data gathering instruments. Data gathering procedure. Data analysis procedure. 26 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
The findings from questionnaires. The level of students’ speaking anxiety. The level of students’ motivation in learning speaking and students’ self – perceived speaking proficiency. Relationship between speaking anxiety and students‟ self-perceived speaking proficiency.
Relationship between speaking anxiety and students‟ motivation. The findings from interviews. The level of speaking anxiety experienced by freshmen majoring in English at the teacher training college. Sources of English speaking anxiety experienced by freshmen majoring in English at the teacher training college.
Suggested solutions to reduce anxiety in English speaking classes. Summary of the key findings .46 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study.
i Appendix B: Interview questions. xv SAMPLED INTERVIEW. xvi viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale In the global era, English as a language is considered one of the most common means of international communication in a wide range of areas, including economics, politics and education.
As a result, having a good command of English language is an advantage, even a must for people in non-English speaking countries like Vietnam. Recently English has been made to be a compulsory subject at schools and university in Vietnam. Moreover, in 2008 Prime Minister announced Decision No. 1400/QĐ-TTg that approved the Plan for “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, Period 2008 to 2020”.
The goal of this project is that “by the year 2020 most Vietnamese youth whoever graduate from vocational schools, colleges and universities gain the capacity to use a foreign language independently. This will enable them to be more confident in communication, further their chance to study and work in an integrated and multi-cultural environment with variety of languages. This goal also makes language as an advantage for Vietnamese people, serving the cause of industrialization and modernization for the country” (MOET, 2008, p. Having such changes in its foreign language policy, the Vietnamese government believed that it could help improve Vietnamese people‟s English language proficiency levels, enabling them to confidently use English to communicate in the international communication.
However, despite many attempts made by the Vietnamese government, research has indicated that Vietnamese people still demonstrate limited levels of English proficiency. The English capacity of Vietnamese people is limited (To, 2010). According to Le (2013) the English language proficiency of college students is very low and “many college graduates do not meet the foreign language requirement of the recruiters” (p. Le pointed out that the level of college students‟ is lower-intermediate after 240 hours of general English.
That is, they struggle with using English at work. They feel anxious when communicating with foreigners and believe English speaking skills are among the most difficult skills when they learn 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Mounting evidence has indicated a strong relationship between language learning anxiety and language proficiency levels. Specifically, Iakovos (2009) found that the students rather remain silent, mostly withdrawn and do not like to participate in classroom activities.
In fact, it is well recognized that foreign language anxiety is a rather pervasive phenomenon (Aida, 1994). Also, anxiety prevents a learner from achieving a high level of proficiency in a foreign language (Scovel, 1991). As a teacher of English, this concerns me. Through a number of observations conducted during my English lessons, I have realized that my students often experience language anxiety in speaking lessons.
It is questionable if my students‟ limited levels of English proficiency, particularly that for oral skills, is caused by their anxiety when learning English. While this topic has been researched extensive in other countries, research into this area in Vietnam is scant. The aforementioned reasons have encouraged me as a teacher of English at the college to conduct research investigating Vietnamese students‟ English speaking anxiety which is titled “Anxiety in English speaking classes experienced by English majored freshmen at a teacher training college in Vietnam”. Hopefully, the researcher would make the contribution to complete the insightful understanding about learners‟ speaking anxiety, enhancing teaching and learning English speaking skill, which can lay a foundation for subsequent research.
Aims of the study The present study has four research objectives. First of all it investigated the levels of language learning anxiety that students reported when learning English speaking skills. Secondly it measured the level of students‟ motivation in learning speaking and students‟ self - perceived speaking proficiency. Thirdly it examined the relationship between students‟ language anxiety and their self-perceived English speaking proficiency and their motivation.
Finally, it attempted to seek ways to reduce students‟ anxiety in speaking classes. Significance of the study The current study which explored the anxiety in English speaking classes of majored freshmen at a teacher training college is significant at both practical and 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com theoretical levels. At a practical level, the study identified the students‟ level of speaking anxiety, the relationship between speaking anxiety and students‟ self- perceived speaking proficiency and their motivation and possible ways to reduce anxiety in English speaking classes. These findings may help significant others such as lecturers and students to find ways to reduce students‟ anxiety in speaking classes, which may help to improve the quality of teaching and learning English speaking skills.
At a theoretical level, the present study complements existing literature of anxiety as it addressed the gaps in this area. The proposal would be a reference source for English language teachers when teaching oral skills. Furthermore, the study is expected to contribute to the enhancement of teaching speaking skills and help to improve students‟ speaking participation and speaking ability at the college in particular and in Vietnamese schools in general. Research questions To achieve aforementioned aims, the study set out to seek answers to the following research questions: (i) What is the level of students‟ speaking anxiety? (ii) What are the levels of students‟ motivation in learning speaking and students‟ self - perceived speaking proficiency? (iii) What is the relationship between English speaking anxiety and students‟ self - perceived speaking proficiency and their motivation?