Factors influencing students' speaking skills: A case study at Tuy Phuoc 3 high school = Những yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến kỹ năng nói tiếng Anh của học sinh - Một nghiên cứu điển hình tại trường THPT Tuy Phước 3

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ TRÚC LY

FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS’

SPEAKING SKILLS: A CASE STUDY AT

TUY PHUOC 3 HIGH SCHOOL

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching

Code: 8140111

Supervisor: Dr. VO DUY DUC

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN THỊ TRÚC LY

NHỮNG YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƢỞNG ĐẾN KỸ NĂNG NÓI

TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH - MỘT NGHIÊN CỨU

ĐIỂN HÌNH TẠI TRƢỜNG THPT TUY PHƢỚC 3

Ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh

Mã số: 8140111

Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: TS. VÕ DUY ĐỨC

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

This thesis represents my own work and due acknowledgement is given

whenever information is derived from other sources. No part of this thesis has

or is being concurrently submitted for any other qualification at any university

except where due reference has been made in the text.

Quy Nhon, 2022

NGUYEN THI TRUC LY

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Without the assistance of many people, this thesis could not have been

completed. I would like to express my profound gratitude and respect to those

who provide me with advice and assistance when I carry out this research.

First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Vo

Duy Duc, my supervisor, who kindly provides me with appropriate direction,

useful suggestions and critical comments so that I can have a suitable topic to

pursue and finish in time.

I would also give my special thanks to all the lecturers of the

Department of Foreign Languages and the Department of Pedagogy in

specific and to Quy Nhon Univesity in general who have provided me with

precious education, not only in English major but also in other fields of

knowledge. Without such knowledge, I cannot make such a far progress in my

academic career.

I would also like to say thanks to some of the teachers and students at

Tuy Phuoc 3 High School who participated in my study for their support

incompleting the survey questionaires and helping me in recording the

speaking classes.

Last but not least, I am particularly indebted to my parents for their

greatest encouragement and support that motivated me to complete this study

even in the hardest period. I feel extremely lucky to have their sympathy and

backup.

iii

ABSTRACT

The current study aimed at investigating major problems that Tuy

Phuoc 3 high school students have in the process of learning English speaking

skills as well as the reasons behind the frequency of making common

mistakes in speaking English. A descriptive research design was employed for

the study. The participants of this study were 120 students of three grades:

10th grade, 11th grade, 12th grade and 8 English teachers at Tuy Phuoc 3

High School. The data was gathered through online surveys and audio

recordings. The results showed two kinds of problems that students encounter

including linguistic problems and psychological problems. From the findings,

most of the students always have difficulties in using grammar (59,2%),

vocabulary (54,2%) and pronunciation ( 42,5%) correctly. In addition, up to

60,2 % of the participants always feel anxious or shy when they perform a

speaking task. Besides, the results also revealed that affective factors

impacting students’ performance in speaking skills are shyness, peer pressure,

anxiety, and fear of making mistakes. Other factors that hinder speaking

performance are time for preparation, pressure to perform well, teachers’

support, motivation to speak, topical knowledge, listening ability. Among

these factors, time for preparation is the most influential factor, which

accounts for 87,5% of the respondents. The study has significant contributions

to teaching and learning speaking skills.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ...................................................................i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................ii

ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................iv

LIST OF TABLES ..........................................................................................vii

LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................viii

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................. 1

1.1. RATIONALE.......................................................................................... 1

1.2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ......................................... 2

1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................... 3

1.4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY....................................................................... 3

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ....................................................... 3

1.6. DESIGN OF THE STUDY..................................................................... 3

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORICAL

BACKGROUND ............................................................................................. 5

2.1. DEFINITION OF SPEAKING SKILLS ................................................ 5

2.2. MAJOR PROBLEMS STUDENTS FACE IN LEARNING TO SPEAK

ENGLISH....................................................................................................... 7

2.2.1. Linguistic problems ............................................................................. 7

2.2.2. Psychology......................................................................................... 12

2.3. FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING

PERFORMANCE........................................................................................ 14

2.3.1. Performance Conditions..................................................................... 14

2.3.2. Affective Factors................................................................................ 15

2.3.3. Listening Ability ................................................................................ 19

v

2.3.4. Topical Knowledge............................................................................ 20

2.3.5. Teacher’s Feedback ........................................................................... 21

2.4. SUMMARY.......................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................ 24

3.1. RESEARCH DESIGN AND PROCEDURE ....................................... 24

3.1.1. Research Design................................................................................. 24

3.1.2. Procedure ........................................................................................... 24

3.2. DATA COLLECTION ......................................................................... 25

3.2.1. Participants......................................................................................... 25

3.2.2. Biographic information of the participants........................................ 26

3.2.3. Data-collecting Instruments............................................................... 28

3.3. DATA ANALYSIS............................................................................... 30

3.4. SUMMARY.......................................................................................... 30

CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ......................................... 31

4.1. STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS SPEAKING ENGLISH IN

THE CLASS. ............................................................................................... 31

4.2. COMMON PROBLEMS STUDENTS MAKE WHEN SPEAKING

ENGLISH..................................................................................................... 34

4.2.1. Students’ perception of common speaking problems........................ 34

4.2.2. Teachers’ responses to students’ speaking mistakes ........................ 38

4.2.3. Observation during actual teaching ................................................... 39

4.3. FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILLS ...... 40

4.3.1. Students’ self-evaluation.................................................................... 40

4.3.2. Factors affecting students’ speaking performance ............................ 42

4.3.3. Teachers’ evaluation of performance conditions............................... 50

4.3.4. Observation ........................................................................................ 51

4.4. CHAPTER SUMMARY....................................................................... 57

vi

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS.......................... 59

5.1. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................... 59

5.1.1. Common problems Tuy Phuoc 3 high school students encounter when

they learn to speak English .......................................................................... 59

5.1.2. Factors influencing the students’ speaking skills. ............................. 60

5.2. IMLICATIONS..................................................................................... 61

5.3. LIMITATIONS..................................................................................... 63

5.4. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES...................................... 64

REFERENCES.............................................................................................. 65

APPENDICES

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table

number

Title Page

number

3.1 Students’ background information 26

3.2 Teachers’ background information 27

4.1 Students’ perception of common problems 34

4.2 Students’ self-evaluation 40

4.3 Factors influencing students’ speaking skills 51