VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THU THẢO THE DIFFICULTIES OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS WHEN DOING ORAL PRESENTATION IN A SPEAKING LESSON: A CASE OF AN ENGLISH CENTER IN HANOI (Những khó khăn của học sinh tiểu học khi làm bài thuyết trình trong giờ học nói: Một nghiên cứu tại một trung tâm tiếng Anh ở Hà Nội) M. MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Major: Teaching English Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI – 2019 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 THU THẢO THE DIFFICULTIES OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS WHEN DOING ORAL PRESENTATION IN A SPEAKING LESSON: A CASE OF AN ENGLISH CENTER IN HANOI (Những khó khăn của học sinh tiểu học khi làm bài thuyết trình trong giờ học nói: Một nghiên cứu tại một trung tâm tiếng Anh ở Hà Nội) M. MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Major: Teaching English Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Ph.D HANOI – 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I certify that the work presented in this research report has been performed and interpreted solely by myself. I confirm that this paper is submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the M.
Degree and has not been submitted elsewhere in any other form for the fulfillment of any other degree or qualification. Hanoi, 2019 Nguyễn Thu Thảo i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This M.A thesis could not have been accomplished without the invaluable help, encouragement and support form a number of people who I would like to show my sincerest gratitude and appreciation. To begin with, I would like to express my greatest and deepest thankfulness to Doctor Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, my supervisor, for her enthusiastic and precious guideline and advice throughout the duration of my thesis. Without her instruction and supervision, this thesis could not have reached the fulfillment.
Moreover, my honest thanks also come to teachers and students in an English center in Hanoi, especially teachers and students who participated in my research. Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family and relatives who have always supported me and supplied the best conditions for me to complete this thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Among four skills of English language, speaking has been claimed to be an important skill to communicate. Oral presentation takes an important role in teaching and learning English, especially in teaching and learning English speaking skill.
However, many students find it difficult to do a presentation. This study was conducted to explore the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson in an English center in Hanoi. This study also collects students‟ expectation of their teachers to solve the problem. 100 elementary students in an English center in Hanoi, who have to do oral presentation in speaking lessons as one task in their course, participated in this research.
Questionnaire, observation, and interview were employed to collect data for the research. The findings of this study revealed that there are many difficulties faced by elementary students in doing presentation. Among these difficulties, “Language”, "Personal trait" and “External factor” constitute the most serious difficulties encountering students in the process of delivering oral presentation. On the basis of the findings of this study and in the light of the difficulties encountering students in giving the oral presentation, the students expect some supports from their teachers to overcome these difficulties and to improve the learning process generally in oral proficiency and speaking skill in particular.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. vi LIST OF FIGURES.
vii PART I: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the study. Scope of the study. Methods of the study.
Significance of the study. Design of the thesis. 3 PART II: DEVELOPMENT. 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Definition of oral presentation.
Types of oral presentation. Significance of oral presentation. Definition of learning difficulty. Classification of learning difficulties.
Students‟ difficulties in oral presentation. Characteristics of young learners. Factors causing young learners‟ difficulties when presenting. 16 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure. 23 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Data collected from the questionnaire. Students‟ difficulties in doing presentation. Students‟ expectation of their teachers to help them overcome the difficulties. Data collected from observation.
Data collected from interview. A summary of the major findings. Implications of the study. Limitations of the study.
Recommendations for further study. X v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The sum of responses, means, std. deviation and the rank of each item from of the first domain from the questionnaire.2: The sum of responses, means, std. deviation and the rank of each item from of the second domain from the questionnaire .3: The sum of responses, means, std.
deviation and the rank of each item from of the third domain from the questionnaire .4: The sum of responses, means, std. deviation and the rank of each item from of the fourth domain from the questionnaire .5: The sum of responses, means, std. deviation and rank of each domain from and all questionnaire.6: The sum of responses, means, std. deviation and rank of each item from of the second part from the questionnaire.
31 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Teachers give more interesting and useful topics.2: Teachers give detailed guide about how to make a good presentation. Teachers give better score or a reward for the best presentation.4: Teachers help brainstorming some ideas that can appear in the presentation.5: Teachers provide some activities to make students able to use language without fear to make mistakes. 35 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study Since English was first taught in Vietnam, learners had focused more on studying grammar and translation because they were the best ways to communicate with foreigners and set foot to the English-speaking world.
However, nowadays, as the society is developing faster, it is required that education should attach special importance to communicative language teaching. Therefore, speaking plays an important role in learning English. There are many ways for English learners to improve their speaking ability, one of which is oral presentation. Applying oral presentations nowadays in teaching is not uncommon.
The use of oral presentations in teaching, especially in teaching English, has created a new trend in the field of English language teaching methodology, which has drawn a lot of researchers‟ attention all over the world (Miles, 2003). It is believed that the opportunity to speak in front of the audience is one of the greatest benefits that students are offered when spending time at school (Miles, 2003). Zhu (2005) shared her same opinion about the need of using presentation in developing student skills. She claimed in her study that oral presentation is a multi-task activity requiring learners to speak and illustrate their speech at the same time.
It has two clear purposes which are to provide information and/ or to persuade listeners to do a desired task. Nowadays, as presentation becomes more popular, it takes an important role in teaching and learning. Numerous studies have examined the factors contributing to the success of oral presentations (Cheung, 2008; Taylor, 2012; Wilson and Brooks, 2014), the general benefits of using presentation in EFL classrooms, and the teachers‟ and students perceptions of the effects of this technique on the development of the language skills and language elements (i. pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary) (Nguyen, 2012; Masmaliyev, 2014).
However, very few studies have been carried out to measure the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson. In fact, a thorough search in the literature results 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com in no study carried out to investigate the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson in the context of Vietnam. This is the first reason why the researcher wanted to do research on this topic. Realizing the effects of using oral presentations in EFL lessons on the students‟ language development, all learners including elementary students in an English center in Hanoi have to do oral presentation as one task in their courses, which showed that the center really emphasizes on the importance of presentation in class.
In fact, not only elementary students find it difficult to do a presentation, even intermediate learners find it difficult to improve their presentation skill although they have practiced regularly. Being a teacher in this center, the researcher considered this a very good chance for her to carry out a study on the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson. The above reasons are the main ones for the birth of the study entitled “The difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson: A case of an English center in Hanoi”, which is hopefully useful for all levels of students in general and elementary students in particularly. Research aims This research‟s main aim is to explore the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson in an English center in Hanoi.
This study also collects students‟ expectation of their teachers to solve the problem. Research questions The above overall aim is expected to be fulfilled by addressing the following research questions: Question 1: What are the difficulties faced by elementary students in doing presentation? Question 2: What do students expect from their teachers to help them overcome the difficulties? 4. Scope of the study The subjects of this study are elementary students in this center. All the students have experienced oral presentation in class.
The study focuses on finding out the difficulties of these students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Methods of the study In this study, the data was collected by multiple methods which are observation, face-to-face questionnaire and interview. Questionnaire and interview were used to achieve a reliable and comprehensive picture.
In addition, observation was used for being objective. After analyzing the data, some conclusions were drawn. Significance of the study This study mainly focuses on the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson. Findings of the study are hoped to help students, especially elementary students in this center in developing the oral presentation.
Firstly, it could be a guide for students, especially elementary students in this center in developing the oral presentation. Secondly, the research helps students understand clearly about the difficulties when doing oral presentations. Therefore, it can change students‟ attitude and behaviors toward studying. Finally, the study increases students' interest in presentation since they can find suitable ways to overcome these difficulties.
The study is also hoped to fill the gap in the literature on the level of the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson in the context of Vietnam. Other researchers who are interested in doing research in the topic can use this study as a reference to carry out their investigation. Design of the thesis This study consists of four chapters: Introduction presents the rationale for conducting the study along with its aims, research questions, significance and design.