VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ HỒNG MINH A STUDY INTO STUDENTS’ RETICENCE IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS: A CASE OF 10TH- FORM STUDENTS AT HOẰNG HOÁ 4 HIGH SCHOOL ( Nghiên cứu về sự dè dặt, ít nói của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Hoằng Hoá 4 trong các giờ học nói Tiếng Anh) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Ha Noi- 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ HỒNG MINH A STUDY INTO STUDENTS’ RETICENCE IN ENGLISH SPEAKING LESSONS: A CASE OF 10TH- FORM STUDENTS AT HOẰNG HOÁ 4 HIGH SCHOOL ( Nghiên cứu về sự dè dặt, ít nói của học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Hoằng Hoá 4 trong các giờ học nói Tiếng Anh) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Dr. Nguyễn Huy Kỷ Ha Noi- 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS G.E: General Certificate of Secondary Education CLT: Communicative Language Teaching GTM: The Grammar- Translation Method No: Number U. : University HH4: Hoằng Hoá 4 ESL: English as a Second Language EFL: English as a Foreign Language iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LISTS OF CHARTS AND TABLES LISTS OF CHARTS Chart 1: Students‟ opinions on the importance of speaking skill. Chart 2: Students‟ frequency of speaking English in class time.
Chart 3: Students‟ opinions on the speaking topics of “ Tiếng Anh 10” text book. Chart 4: Teacher- related factors making students reticent in oral activities. Chart 5: Students‟ desires on communicative teaching activities. Chart 6: Teaching methods currently used in teaching speaking skill.
Chart 7: Teacher‟s attitude towards unwilling speakers. Chart 8: Techniques to create good relationship with students. LISTS OF TABLES Table 1: Students‟ reasons for learning English. Table 2: Students‟ interest in learning speaking skill.
Table 3: Students‟ opinions on the speaking tasks of “ Tiếng Anh 10” textbook. Table 4: Student- related factors making students reticent in oral activities. Table 5: Students‟ desires on what teacher should do to encourage them to speak English. Table 6: Difficulties teachers encountered in teaching speaking skill.
Table 7: Teachers‟ attitude towards mistake makers. Table 8: Techniques applied by teachers to encourage reluctant students to speak English. v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
iv LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES. v TABLE OF CONTENTS. vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Objectives of the study.
Methods of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Organization of the study.
4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theoretical background of reticence .1 Definition of reticence .2 Possible causes of language learning reticence. Effects of reticence in class. Theoretical background of speaking skill in second/ foreign language learning.
Definition of speaking. Characteristics of a successful speaking activity. Approaches to the teaching of speaking. 14 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Data collection instruments. Procedures of data collection. Procedures of data analysis. 16 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS.
Data analysis of the first survey questionnaire and the interview for students. Data analysis of the second survey questionnaire for teachers. 31 CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS 32 4. Major findings and discussions.
Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study. APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS. I APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS.
VII APPENDIX 3 : INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS. IX APPENDIX 4: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT. XI vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A : INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale: It is undeniable that English is an international language and together with its increasing importance, the need of learning English is becoming more urgent than ever.
In learning English at high schools in Vietnam, speaking skill has become compulsory since the new English textbook was officially put into use in 2006. However, among the four skills, speaking seems to be the most difficult one but paid the least attention to at most high schools. While many Vietnamese students can be good at grammar, reading or writing skill, they cannot speak English correctly and fluently in real-life communication. As we can see, for a long time, the language teaching and learning have been based on the out-of-date methods in which students only passively sit, take notes but rarely contribute to the lessons.
They do not ask their teacher questions, even when they have problems. Therefore, when approaching new teaching methods such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), students feel passive in classroom. This results in numerous problems inflicting students in learning the speaking skill, one of which is the reticence in oral activities. There have been a variety of studies on this situation and various solutions have been given, including changing teaching methods, changing syllabus or textbooks, upgrading teachers‟ qualifications, changing formats of speaking tests and so on.
However, students‟ reticence is still common occurrence in language classrooms in Vietnam. Based on my seven-year teaching experience at HH4 high school, I know that the students rarely speak English, even in English speaking classes, though they have been learning English since they were at the lower secondary school. It is important to involve students in classroom learning activities and minimize their reticence because involvement in classroom interaction will help students explore and learn English much better. For such reasons I choose “A study into students‟ reticence in English speaking lessons: A case of 10th-form students at Hoằng Hoá 4 High School” as a theme for my thesis.
Objectives of the study: The study is carried out to meet the following objectives: 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com (1 ) To find out some factors causing 10th- form students at HH4 high school to be reticent in English speaking activities. (2 ) To give some suggestions to stimulate students to speak English. Research questions: In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following research questions were asked in the study: (1) What factors make 10th- form students at HH4 high school reticent in English speaking lessons? (2) What should be done to minimize the students‟ reticence in speaking English? 4. Methods of the study: To achieve the objectives of the study, several methods were used, but the researcher used mainly quantitative and qualitative methods.
Each methodology has its strengths and weaknesses, thus it cannot alone help to find out satisfactory and sufficient information. That is the reason why the researcher chose to make full use of both approaches rather than employ one so as to achieve the reliable results. The data serving the research analysis and discussions were collected by means of: +A survey questionnaire for students + A survey questionnaire for teachers + A follow-up interview for students All the comments, recommendations and conclusions provided in the study were based on the data analysis of the study. Significance of the study: Firstly, the information about students‟ reticence in English speaking lessons in this minor thesis is believed to be useful for the teachers of English in general and the English teachers at HH4 high school in particular so that they can apply suitable and effective techniques to teaching oral activities.
Secondly, this research may help raise the students‟ awareness of causes of silence they have in foreign language lessons, and from that they can make progress in speaking English. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Thirdly, the study may be used as a reference on which other researchers can conduct other studies in similar areas. Scope of the study: In the previous studies, reticence in learning English has been mentioned by many researchers so far and they aimed at several levels of learners. Because of the limited time and within an M.
minor thesis, only speaking skill was chosen on the ground that speaking seems to be the most challenging language skill to English learners in Vietnam in general. Moreover, the subjects chosen for this study are 10th- form students at HH4 high school, Thanh Hoa province where the researcher is teaching. Thus, it cannot be said that the results of this study are general to other language skills and to all Vietnamese high school students. Organization of the study: This minor thesis is divided into three main parts: Part A- INTRODUCTION- contains rationale, objectives of the study, research questions, methods, significance, scope and organization of the study.
Part B- DEVELOPMENT- consists of the following chapters: - Chapter 1- Literature Review- provides the basic theoretical background of reticence such as definition, causes of reticence, effects of reticence in class; and framework of speaking skill. - Chapter 2- Methodology- deals with the picture of how the research was carried out from the first step of determining research setting, participants, data collection instruments, procedures of data collection to the last one of procedures of data analysis. - Chapter 3- Data Analysis – provides the analysis of the first survey questionnaire and the interview for students and the analysis of the second survey questionnaire for teachers. - Chapter 4 -Major findings, discussions and recommendations- shows major findings, discussions and recommendations for the teachers to minimize the students‟ reticence in English speaking lessons.
Part C- CONCLUSION- addresses the key issues in the study, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter consists of two sections. Section one concerns the issues of reticence which include the definition of reticence, possible causes of language learning reticence and effects of reticence in class as well. Section two deals with the issues of speaking skill in second/ foreign language learning which cover many matters such as definition of speaking, characteristics of a successful speaking activity, and approaches to the teaching of speaking.
Theoretical background of reticence: Reticence on the part of students in second or foreign language classrooms has received increasing attention in recent decades. By observing, interviewing, and doing surveys, studies have revealed that learners, especially Asian learners, often seem reticent and quiet in language classes. Dick and Robinson (1995) reported that Malaysian students “preferred not to say anything during lecture discussion sessions. If an instructor asked a general question, the classes became deadly silent” (p.
Korean students “speak only when invited by their instructors” and “the professors also regard those who don‟t ask any questions as very good students” (p. Japanese students are “nervous about asking questions in class” because they are unsure if a question was appropriate and they would choose “to ask questions after class, only with teachers” (Chen, 2003, p.1 Definition of reticence: Reticence is generally viewed as an abstract concept and has been defined by many researchers. McCroskey (1977) portraits it as “an individual‟s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons ”. Reticent people often speak less and for shorter durations; their language tends to be less comprehensible, less immediate, and less intense (Evans, 1996).
According to Keaten & Kelly (2000), reticence is a communication problem with cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions and is due to the belief that one is better of remaining silent than risking appearing foolish. Reticent individuals refer to those who view themselves as incompetent communicators. In their minds, reticence is typified by a set of faulty beliefs about communication, for example, good communicators speak 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com spontaneously and one must be born with good communication skills. The adoption of this set of beliefs creates anxiety and feelings of helplessness.
Bilmes (1994) suggests that reticence can be as basic as a substance “between sounds and before sound” (p.