MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA - VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY --------------- MASTER’S THESIS OF TESOL SECOND YEAR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AT LAM DONG MEDICAL COLLEGE. PHẠM MINH HIỀN Student’s code: 18110088 Supervisor: TRƯƠNG THỊ MỸ VÂN, Ph. BA RIA-VUNG TAU, 2021 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY --------------- MASTER’S THESIS OF TESOL SECOND YEAR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AT LAM DONG MEDICAL COLLEGE. Pham Minh Hien Student’s code: 18110088 Supervisor: Trương Thi My Van, Ph.
BA RIA-VUNG TAU, 2021 DECLARATION The thesis titled “Second year students’ speaking competence in English for specific purposes at Lam Dong Medical College.” was conducted under the supervision of Ph. Truong Thi My Van, senior lecturer of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Dalat University. I hereby declare that the information reported in this study is the result of my own work, except where due reference is made. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently submitted to any candidature for any other degree or diploma.
Candidate’s name: Pham Minh Hien Ba Ria – Vung Tau, 2021 i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS My name is Pham Minh Hien, being a M.A candidate of Tesol at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University. I accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of my study deposited in the Library. I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of theses. Candidate’s name: Pham Minh Hien Ba Ria – Vung Tau, 2021 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I wish to express my gratitude to the following people without whom I could never have accomplished this thesis.
I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, PhD. Truong Thi My Van, for giving me guidance throughout the process of conducting my thesis and giving me valuable comments, greatly inspiring me in the learning process as well as in completing the thesis. I acknowledge my gratitude to the lecturers of Ba Ria - Vung Tau University (BVU) for their dedication to teaching me during my study time. I would like to express my sincere thanks to my participants including my students, my colleagues and all members of the training department of Lam Dong Medical College, without whose unconditional participation, this research could not have been completed.
I am grateful to my workplace, the leaders, the board of directors, all members of Department of Medicine – Basic Science, Lam Dong Medical College for the support of time and other favorable conditions for me to complete my thesis. Sincerely thank you! iii ABSTRACT Speaking is one of the most important skills that needs to be focused on and enhanced because it is an effective means of communication. It is an important aspect to acquire when learning a second or foreign language, and the success of learning the language is measured from the performance of learners to speak the language learned because students who can speak English well will have the self-confidence to face and even interact with English native speakers. However, this skill is also considered one of the most difficult aspects of the language learning process.
Many students find it difficult to fully express their thoughts in English; they are afraid of communicating in English even though they have learnt this language continuously for many years. Some students understand English texts but they cannot speak English fluently. I am working in the medical field in tertiary level, and I would like to focus on the challenges faced by nursing students in Lam Dong Medical College (LMC) in learning speaking English for specific purposes (ESP) classes and the factors affecting students’ speaking competence in my research. The purposes of the study are to investigate the challenges and the factors affecting medical students’ learning speaking ESP.
The research method used in this study is qualitative. Data collection instruments are surveys, interviews and class observation. One hundred students of the Nursing department in Lam Dong Medical College were involved in answering a questionnaire, three interviews conducted with three nursing students and three other interviews for three groups of nursing students selected purposively in order to support the research aims. The findings of the study revealed that there were several major problems and many factors affecting students’ speaking competence that hindered students' development of ESP English speaking ability and led to their low quality output in the context of LMC.
Key words: Speaking skills, communicative skills, English for specific purposes, Medical English iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS. v LIST OF TABLES.
ix LIST OF FIGURES. xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .1 Background of the study .2 Statement of the Problem .3 Research Objectives of the Study .5 Scope of the research .6 Significance of the research. Organization of the Thesis This thesis includes 5 chapters as follows:. 5 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .2 Characteristics of speaking competence .3 The methods of teaching English speaking skills .4 Factors affecting English speaking learning .5 The challenges of Speaking Deficiency among EFL Students .2 Motivation for learning .4 The problems relating to topical knowledge.5 The environment of speaking.7 Mother tongue use.8 Low or uneven participation .2 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) .1 Definition of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and types of ESP .2 Characteristics of English for Specific Purposes .3 English for Medical Purposes (EMP) .4 The Problems in Teaching ESP amongst EFL Students .1 Difficulties Related to Students .2 Difficulties Related to Teachers.3 Difficulties Related to environment and others .1 Review of studies related to the speaking problems faced by EFL learners .2 Review of studies related to the problems faced by EFL learners in learning ESP in general and in learning English of Medical Purposes.2 The semi-structured interview .6 Data analysis methods.
51 CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Research question 1: What are the challenges faced by the second-year students at Lam Dong Medical College in English speaking classes? .1 The description of ESP teaching and learning at Lam Dong Medical College.2 The challenges in teaching and learning ESP English speaking skill in Lam Dong Medical College .1 The quality of admissions on the training process .2 Motivation on studying speaking skills in ESP classrooms .4 The abuse of the mother tongue in ESP speaking .5 Students’ speaking abilities.6 Other problems students faced when learning ESP speaking skills. Research Question 2: What are the factors affecting the students’ English speaking competence? .1 Mass entry admission .2 Perceptions of teaching and learning Medical English .3 Unreasonable distribution of training programs .4 Little time being spent on studying speaking medical English.5 Time to self - study medical English of students .6 Teaching and testing methods of lecturers .7 Textbooks and materials .8 Facilities for teaching and learning specialized English. 73 vii CHAPTER V CONCLUSION .1 Recommend for administrators .2 Recommend for teachers .3 Recommend for students .3 Limitation of the research .4 Suggestions for further research.
89 APPENDIX B: SEMI – STRUCTURED INTERVIEW. 99 APPENDIX C: CLASS OBSERVATION .101 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Components of Communicative Competence .2: Some common methods of teaching English speaking .3: The factors that influence the learning of English .4: The Problems of Speaking Deficiency amongst EFL Students .5: The characteristics of ESP .6: The main speaking problems during the process of teaching and learning English speaking skills .7: The problems faced by EFL learners in learning English of Medical Purposes .8: The problems and the recommendations of solutions in the Teaching of English in medicine .1: The challenges faced by LMC students in learning speaking Medical English.1: Some solutions to improve the quality of teaching and learning speaking skill in the Medical English Course of LMC. 76 ix LIST OF GRAPHS Graph 4.1: The students’ Perception on their issues in ESP Classes .2: Students' communicative ability in ESP classroom .3: Students' levels of speaking skills of Medical English in the nursing department.4: Comparison of student results of learning speaking Medical English in 3 consecutive academic years .5: Survey result of staff and lecturers on the importance of studying .6: Student survey results of importance of studying Medical English .7: Survey results of lecturers, staff and students on appropriate level of duration of Medical English training .8: Students' time to learn to speak specialized English .9: Time to study Medical English of students.10: Evaluation of teaching methods of speaking skills in ESP classroom .11: Resources for specialized English learning .12: Survey on facilities for studying specialized English. 73 x LIST OF FIGURES Fig.
The Tree of ELT (Adapted from Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p. The conceptual framework. 36 xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT Communicative Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language EMP English for Medical Purposes ESL English as a Second Language ESP English for Specific Purposes GE General English LMC Lam Dong Medical College TPLT Task Based Language Teaching TPR Total Physical Responses xii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study Language is a very essential instrument that enables speakers to state their existence and others ask something, express agreement and refusal. For this reason, oral language or speaking is regarded as of utmost importance to language learners.
Achieving fluency in oral communication is the main dream and the main motivation which a large number of learners bring to language classes (Richards &Renandya, 2002). Bailey and Savage (1994) states that speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills. Most people learn a language to have a goal of being able to speak so that they can communicate well in that language. Thus, the demand for speaking fluently is higher than that of other language skills.
English is considered as a global language and thus both the West and the East have become equally busy promoting this language (Imam, 2005). English has become the international language used in business, technological and academic communication. This trend of English globalization, as a worldwide phenomenon, makes it necessary to communicate with people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Nowadays, the majority of English users can be found in countries where the language is employed as a foreign or second language.
Effective use of English as a second language (ESL) or foreign language (EFL) in oral communication is one of the most common but also highly complex activities people need to learn for their interpersonal communication. English speaking skill requires speakers to use the authentic language where it means that students need to use the language in any occasions or when communicating with the other students in an academic context. When students speak, they construct ideas in words, express their perceptions, their 1 feelings, and their intentions, so that the interlocutors grasp the meaning of what they mean. It is not surprising that to Vietnamese students, the English language is very essential to the development of their country in general and their city in particular.
They are aware of the crucial role of this international language which plays an increasingly important role in the development of science, technology, politics, economics, culture and international relations. Good speaking skills in English will be very helpful for students in daily communication and in finding good jobs at big companies and multi- national corporations that have been invested in Vietnam. English speaking skills are considered as a tool to work effectively. Therefore, the demand for teaching and learning English, especially English for specific purposes is rising, not only for communication purposes.
English for specific purposes (ESP) has been developed worldwide since the 1960s and it is receiving a lot of attention, especially in universities. In different countries, the specialized English also develops at different levels.