VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES ----------------------------- KHỔNG THỊ THẢO A SURVEY ON INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH FLUENCY DEVELOPMENT AT GRADE 11 IN AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE Một nghiên cứu khảo sát những yếu tố nội tại và ngoại tại ảnh hưởng đến sự phát triển độ trôi chảy tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 11 tại một trường THPT ở Vĩnh Phúc M. MINOR THESIS Field : English teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Hanoi, 2019 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES ----------------------------- KHỔNG THỊ THẢO A SURVEY ON INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH FLUENCY DEVELOPMENT AT GRADE 11 IN AN UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE Một nghiên cứu khảo sát những yếu tố nội tại và ngoại tại ảnh hưởng đến sự phát triển độ trôi chảy tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 11 tại một trường THPT ở Vĩnh Phúc M. MINOR THESIS Field: English teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Hoang Van Van Hanoi, 2019 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby state that I, Khong Thi Thao, being a candidate for the Degree of Master of Arts (TEFL) accepted the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of M.A Thesis deposited in the library.
In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis. Hanoi, January 2019 Signature Khong Thi Thao i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Hoang Van Van, for his invaluable instructions, helpful suggestions, critical comments, various sources of reference and precious corrections on my writing. I also want to would like to express my sincere thanks to lecturers of Faculty of Post Graduate Studies at University of Languages and International studies of Vietnam Nation University, Hanoi for their wonderful and meaningful lectures and suggestions which played an important role in my completion of this thesis.
I am very grateful to all teachers and students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School who have enthusiastically participated in my research. Finally, I wish to thank all my beloved family and all my close friends who always encouraged and supported me in the process of doing this thesis. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT This research aims to investigate the internal and external factors that affect students’ fluency development for grade 11th at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School – Vinh Phuc province and suggest some solutions to the problems. The data of the research was collected from both students’ and teachers’ questionnaires and classroom observation before and after treatment.
The findings revealed that both teachers and students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School are facing many problems in improving fluency for students, specifically speaking skill. Through this research, many factors have been listed such as learning styles, students’ habit of using mother tongue, students’ low motivation and low English level accounting for poor vocabulary, structure, and poor pronunciation. Some factors from teachers are teaching large and mixed level classes, references, resources and time pressure. From the findings, suggestions are given with hope that they may be a reliable and useful source of reference for not only teachers but also students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School to develop students’ fluency in a cooperative learning environment.
iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vi LIST OF TABLES.vii PART A: INTRODUCTION.
4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theoretical background of speaking. Theories of speaking. Concepts of speaking fluency.
Concepts of fluency development. CLT in teaching speaking .1 Concept of CLT. Characteristics of CLT. Internal and external factors influencing students’ fluency development .11 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
Description for facilities at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School. Description of the teachers at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School. Description of the students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School. Description of the English textbook .16 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Kind of the research. Data collection instruments. Data collection procedures. Data analysis procedure .19 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS.
Results of the survey questionnaires. Questionnaires for teachers. Questionnaire for students. Results from classroom observations .34 CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
Major findings and discussions. Students’ level of fluency development. Factors influencing students’ fluency development. Finding motivation for improving fluency and taking risks.
I v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Teachers’ experience .17 Table 2: Students’ gender.17 Table 3: Teachers’ attitudes toward speaking skill and teaching this skill .20 Table 4: Teachers’ opinion on students’ participation and interest in speaking lesson .21 Table 5: Factors influencing students’ English fluency development .21 Table 6: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching speaking skill.22 Table 7: Teachers’ teaching English method .23 Table 8: Teachers’ using equipment in teaching speaking skill .24 Table 9: Solution for students’ low motivation in speaking activities .24 Table 10: Teachers’ improvement for students’ low level of spoken English .25 Table 11: Teachers’ current teaching techniques and activities .26 Table 12: Teachers’ solutions to improve students’ English fluency development.27 Table 13: Students’ attitudes toward speaking skill.28 Table 14: Students’ willing ness in developing English fluency .29 Table 15: Students’ evaluation in speaking activities .30 Table 16: Students’ opinion to encourage participation in speaking lesson .31 Table 17: Internal factors influencing students’ fluency development .32 Table 18: Internal factors influencing students’ fluency development .33 Table 19: The level of students’ fluency development before and after having native teacher teaching .35 vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study With the development of English all over the world, to keep up with the speed of modernization of society we need to learn from other countries as well as other cultures, so the requirement is that people must use one language to exchange their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and so on through languages. The most popular language we use nowadays is English; however, to use English skillfully learners must master at four skills including speaking, reading, writing and listening skills. They often find lots of difficulties in using English fluently and effectively, as well as, taking the time and making the effort to master speaking skills.
Similar to other learners, students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School are quite good at grammar, reading and writing skills, but their exposure to English speaking is very limited. They meet many difficulties to communicate in English, sometimes they feel scared when they have speaking tests. Several students are so worried that they even burst into tears or can not say anything or express their ideas. Therefore, in the hope of helping students improve English speaking skill, we need to find out the reasons why students face with these problems.
That is why I have chosen the topic entitled A survey on internal and external factors influencing students’ English fluency development at grade 11 in an upper secondary school in Vinh Phuc province. Aims of the study This study is to analyze some factors influencing students’ English speaking development at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School in Vinh Phuc province. Besides, it also tries to offer some solutions to improving students’ speaking ability. The specific objectives of the study include: 1.
Investigating the importance of speaking skills in learning foreign language especially in a high school. Finding out internal and external factors affecting to the students’ fluency development. 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Offering some solutions to improving students’ fluency development.
Research questions To fulfill the main and objectives, the study raises the following questions for exploration: 1. How do Tran Phu Upper Secondary School 11 graders perceive speaking skills? 2. What are the internal and external factors that affect their English fluency development? 3. What should be done to improve students’ fluency development? 4.
Methods of the study To answer the questions, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. The data of this research was collected through the survey questionaire and classroom obsevation. First, the author carried out the survey questionaires for students at Tran Phu Upper Secondary School to gather information and evidence for the study. Second, classroom observation was enployed to make the study more reliable.
Finally, comments, recomendation and conclusion were given based on the results of the study. Scope of the study The study is confined to finding internal and external problems/factors affecting Tran Phu Upper Secondary School 11 graders’ English speaking development. Specifically, the internal factors include motivation, learning styles, learners’ level and L1 interference while external factors may be the roles of teacher and the learning environment. Then author offers some solutions to solving the problems.
Significance of the study It is expected that this study will uncover some internal and external factors influencing upper secondary school students’ English speaking ability and will make useful suggestions on how to improve this most difficult language skill. Design of the thesis 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com The study is divided into three parts as follows: Part A – Introduction – presents rationale, aim, objectives, the research questions, the scope, significance and design of the study. Part B – Development – consists of three chapters: Chapter 1: Literature review – presents the concepts relevant to the speaking skill and factors influencing students’ fluency in English. Chapter 2: Research methodology – presents situation analysis, participants and research questions.
Chapter 3: Data analysis – describes the data of the questionnaires and classroom observation. Chapter 4: Finding, discussions and recommendation – presents data analysis and discusses internal and external factors affecting Tran Phu Upper Secondary School 11 graders’ English speaking development and suggests solutions to the problems. Part C – Conclusion – provides the conclusion of the thesis, points out limitations and makes recommendations for further study. 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW Fluency in speaking English is one of the most important skills in learning as well as teaching English.
Most of the learners desire to master this skill because they want to communicate with others in the English language fluently. Thus, one problem that seems to obsess most EFL teachers is what factors influence students’ English fluency development and how to deal with these problems. In what follows, we will present some major approaches related to the subject of the thesis. Theoretical background of speaking 1.
Speaking It cannot be undeniable that speaking plays a vital role in communication besides reading, listening and writing skills. In the past, people also knew how to exchange attitudes, thoughts, perchases, etc. Therefore, using English fluently has become an important purpose in teaching and learning English from now to then. People often assess their development in learning English by how well they use language especially in speaking skill.
As a result, speaking is one of the productive skills in communication. Theories of speaking Basically, all of us speak every day to each other, using language but many of us still do not know exactly what it is. According to Brown (1994) and Bruns and Joyce (1997), speaking is understood as an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information. Obviously, the speaking process consists of participants, their collective experience, environment factors and the purposes of speaking which is to have deep relationships and support together.
In addition, Hedge defines speaking as “a skill by which they [people] are judged while first impressions are being formed.