VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGESAND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUTAE STUDIES BÙI THỊ MAI A MIXED METHOD STUDY ON STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ANXIETY : A SURVEY ON 11TH FORM STUDENTS AT THANH OAI A HIGH SCHOOL ( NGHIÊN CỨU KHẢO SÁT VỀ MỨC ĐỘ LO SỢ KHI HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH BẰNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP NGHIÊN CỨU HỖN HỢP TRÊN HỌC SINH LỚP 11 TRƯỜNG THPT THANH OAI A) M. Minor Program Thesis Field : Engplish Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Hanoi, 2016 IETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BÙI THỊ MAI A MIXED METHOD STUDY ON STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ANXIETY : A SURVEY ON 11TH FORM STUDENTS AT THANH OAI A HIGH SCHOOL ( NGHIÊN CỨU KHẢO SÁT VỀ MỨC ĐỘ LO SỢ KHI HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH BẰNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP NGHIÊN CỨU HỖN HỢP TRÊN HỌC SINH LỚP 11 TRƯỜNG THPT THANH OAI A) M. Minor Program Thesis Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor : Assoc. Lê Văn Canh Hanoi, 2016 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF STUDY PROJECT REPORT I declare that this thesis: “A mixed method study on students’ speaking anxiety: A survey on 11th form students at Thanh Oai A high school ” is my own work and effort and has not been submitted anywhere for any award.
Moreover, the contributions of my colleagues and students are involved. Other sources of information have been used and acknowledged. Hanoi, November 2016 Bui Thi Mai i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to show my sincere appreciation to the following people who supported me to complete this study. I wish to express my warmest gratitude to my respectful supervisor, Assoc.
Dr Lê Văn Canh , who instructed me how to do this research and provided me with a lot of professional advice on the thesis writing. I am really grateful to his generosity, kindness, and encouragement. Without his support, I could have never been able to finish this study I also would like to express my greatfulness to the participants of this study- the 11th form students and the teachers at Thanh Oai A high school for their whole- hearted participation. I feel a deep gratitude to my family.
My thankfulness goes to my parents who have patiently supported me to complete the research, and to my husband and my children who have stood by me as a big supporter. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT Many studies in second language acquisition have examined language anxiety, but few have explored its sources, especially in speaking skill. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate potential sources of speaking anxiety viewed from and manifested in 11th form students at Thanh Oai A high school. Through the use of questionnaire and narrative frames as research instruments and some sources of language anxiety as theoretical guideline for data collection and analysis, major findings were drawn.
First, the speaking anxiety tendency of the students surveyed was obvious. Second, some sources leading to students’ speaking anxiety were found. They include these factors as learners’ communication apprehension, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. Based on the learner’s and teachers’ recommendations in questionnaire and narrative frames, the research proposes some coping strategies to ameliorate negative effects of this kind of anxiety.
It is hoped that this research will help Vietnamese learners and teachers have a better understanding of the nature of foreign language acquisition anxiety in general and speaking anxiety in particular to improve the teaching and learning of English. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The results of the questionnaire about anxiety of speaking experienced by the 11th form students in Thanh Oai A high school. Table 2: Level of communication anxiety experienced by the 11th form students in Thanh Oai A high school. Table 3: Level of fear of negative evaluation experienced by by the 11th form students in Thanh Oai A high school.
Table 4: Students’ feelings about speaking English in the classroom (N= 36) iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: The results of the questionnaire about anxiety of speaking experienced by the 11th form students in Thanh Oai A high school. Chart 2: the results for students’ responses about the item 1. Chart 3: the results for students’ responses about the item 2. Chart 4: the results for students’ responses about the item 3.
Chart 5: the results for students’ responses about the item 4. Chart 6: the results for students’ responses about the item 5. Chart 7: the results for students’ responses about the item 6. Chart 8: the results for students’ responses about the item 7.
Chart 9: the results for students’ responses about the item 8. Chart 10: the results for students’ responses about the item 9. v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………. iii LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………….iv LIST OF CHARTS…………………………………………………………….Aims and objectives of the study.Scope of the study .Methods of the study.Design of the study.
4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Overview of speaking. The role of speaking in language teaching and learning. Principles of teaching speaking.
Foreign language learning anxiety .1 Definition of foreign language learning anxiety .2 Components of foreign language learning anxiety .3 Fear of negative evaluation. Speaking anxiety research. Sources of foreign language anxiety and speaking anxiety. 17 vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.1 Overview of current teaching and learning speaking at Thanh Oai A high school.
Techniques of data analysis. Data analysis and findings. Level of speaking anxiety experienced by 11th form students at Thanh Oai A high school. Fear of negative evaluation:.
30 CHAPTER 3: SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS. Solutions related to the contents of the lessons. Solutions related to learners’ communication apprehension. Solutions related to learners’ fear of negative feedback.
Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study. II vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A- INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale: English has become a useful and indispensable means for Vietnam’s integration of our country into the world community.
Learning English becomes a great necessity for Vietnamese people. Especially, learning speaking gains a great stature as the need of communication is paid much more attention. But getting students to respond in classes is a problem that most ESL teachers face. The problem of that is particularly acute with non major English students, who are generally considered to be more reserved and reticent than the majored ones.
The nervousness and anxiety frequently seem to become particularly aggravated when students are required to speak in front of their teacher and their classmates. MacIntyre and Gardner (1991), for example, assert that "anxiety poses several potential problems for the students of a foreign language because it can interfere with the acquisition, retention, and production of the new language" (p. As a teacher of English at Thanh Oai A high school, from my own observation and experience, I myself have noticed that my students often experience foreign language anxiety especially in speaking skill. They are afraid of speaking in front of the class, even when the teacher asks them to practice English in pairs or in groups; many of them keep silent or have discussion in Vietnamese.
While the students are more confident with written tests, they always feel reluctant when being asked to speak English and try to give answers as short as possible. Some students even refuse to give any answers when assigned. Some of them admit that they cannot find words to say and they always feel nervous and anxious when speaking English with teachers. In an attempt to reduce my students’ speaking anxiety so they can feel more comfortable learning to speak English, I decided to conduct a study on the topic: “A mixed method study on students’ speaking anxiety: A survey on 11 th form students at Thanh Oai A high school” 2.
Aims and objectives of the study: 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com The first aim of this study was to review the literature about foreign language learning anxiety so that I can learn more about what has been known and what has not been regarding the topic of speaking anxiety. This knowledge will help me to design the appropriate intervention in my class with my students. Towards that goal, this study was conducted to achieve the following specific objectives : - to identify the levels of speaking anxiety and factors leading to that anxiety among the 11th form students at Thanh Oai A high school - to think of necessary measures on the basis of the results of objective 1 to help the students to reduce their English speaking anxiety. Research questions In order to achieve the above-presented aims and objectives, the study was designed to answer two following research questions: 1.
What do the 11 graders at the researched school self-report on their levels of anxiety in learning to speak English in the classroom? 2. What are the causes of their speaking anxiety? 4. Scope of the study: The study limits itself to the survey of a group of high school students, i., graders, at Thanh Oai A high school. The type of anxiety that is investigated is the anxiety that students experience in the English-speaking lessons taught at their school within the current English language curriculum for high school students.
Methods of the study: Since the purpose of the study is to gain understanding about the students’ level of English-speaking anxiety and the causes of that anxiety, the study is a survey study. Two data collection instruments were used. These are the students’ questionnaires and narrative frames. Design of the study: The study consists of three parts: 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com Part A: Introduction: This part offers a brief introduction to the rationale for choosing the topic, the aims and objectives, the scope, the methods and the organization of the study.
Part B: Development The part consists of three chapters, as follows: + Chapter 1: Literature Review This chapter reviews the literature on language learning anxiety in order to provide the theoretical background and the conceptual framework for the study. + Chapter 2 - Methodology – provides information about the methods of data collection that were employed in the study and the research procedure that the study followed. This is followed by the presentation of the findings and the discussion of those findings. + Chapter 3 – Suggested improvements for teaching and learning speaking skill– focuses on anxieties facing students in learning speaking skill and suggested techniques and activities for the teachers to improve their teaching, suggested solutions for students to reduce and cope with anxieties facing them in speaking classes.
Part C: Conclusion This part offers an overview of the major findings as well as the limitations of the study, the implications and suggestions for further research in this matter. 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW The main aim of this chapter is to review the literature on second language anxiety in general and speaking anxiety in particular. The chapter starts with a literature review on anxiety. This is followed by an overview of speaking.
The end of the chapter is a discussion of speaking anxiety.1 Overview of speaking 1.1 Definition of speaking Florez (1999) defines speaking was “ an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information. It is “often spontaneous, open-ended and evolving”, but it is not completely unpredictable. In other words, “speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.” (Balley, 2005:2) Bygate (1997) states that speaking was a skill which deserved attention every bit as much as literacy skill. It is often thought of as a “popular” form of expression that uses the unprestigious “colloquial” register.