i VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************************************** NGUYỄN THỊ THANH HUYỀN DEMOTIVATING FACTORS FOR THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN LEARNING TO SPEAK ENGLISH AT HAI DUONG COLLEGE CÁC YẾU TỐ LÀM GIẢM HỨNG THÚ TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG HẢI DƯƠNG M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 HANOI, 2012 ii VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************************************** NGUYỄN THỊ THANH HUYỀN DEMOTIVATING FACTORS FOR THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN LEARNING TO SPEAK ENGLISH AT HAI DUONG COLLEGE CÁC YẾU TỐ LÀM GIẢM HỨNG THÚ TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG HẢI DƯƠNG M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 SUPERVISER: DO BA QUY, M.Ed HANOI, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS i Declaration Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations vii List of tables and charts viii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Aims of the study Research questions Methods of the study Scope of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 1.1 Theoretical background of speaking 1.1.1 The nature of speaking 1.1.2 Definition of speaking 1.1.3 The role of speaking in foreign language teaching 1.1.4 Factors affecting the learning of speaking 1.2.Theoretical background of demotivation 1.2.1 Definition of demotivation 1.2.2 Factors affecting students’ demotivation 1.3 Previous studies on the topic 13 1.4 Summary of the chapter 15 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 16 2.1 An overview of current situation of teaching and learning 16 iv English at HDC 2.1.1 Hai Duong College 16 2.1.2 The students 16 2.1.3 The teachers 17 2.1.4 The teaching and learning conditions 17 2.1.5 The textbooks 17 18 2.2 Methodology 2.2.1 Subjects of the study 18 2.2.2 Data collection instruments 18 2.2.3 Data collection procedure 20 2.2.4 Data analysis procedure 20 2.3 Summary of the chapter 21 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 22 3.1 Data analysis of students’ responses 22 3.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards speaking skills 3.1.2 Students’ ideas about demotivating factors in learning speaking English 3.1.3 Students’ interest and expectations 3.2 Data analysis of teachers’ responses 3.2.1 Teachers’ opinions on students’ attitudes towards speaking skills 3.2.2 Teachers’ ideas about students’ demotivation in learning to speak English 3.2.3 The frequency of teaching techniques and activities used by teachers in speaking lessons 3.2.4 Teachers’ opinions on what motivates students to learn to speak English 22 24 28 30 30 31 32 33 33 3.3 Major findings and discussion 3.3.1 Demotivating factors in learning English speaking skills for v 33 the first year non-English majors at HDC 3.3.2 Solutions suggested by the teachers and the students to overcome demotivation in the learning of speaking skills 35 3.4 Summary of the chapter 36 PART C: CONCLUSION 37 Conclusions 37 Recommendations 38 Limitations of the study 40 Suggestions for further studies 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDICES I vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BA Bachelor of Arts EFL English as a Foreign Language ELT English Language Teaching ESL English as a Second Language HDC Hai Duong College L2 Second Language MA Master of Arts PhD Doctor of Philosophy vii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Page Charts Chart Students’ perceptions of the importance of speaking skills 22 Chart Teachers’ interest in speaking skills 28 Chart Teachers’ perceptions of students’ thought over speaking 30 skills Page Tables Table Students’ attitudes towards the learning of speaking skills 23 Table Student’s opinions on student-related factors 25 Table Student’s opinions on teacher-related factors 26 Table Student’s opinions on learning environmental factors 27 Table Student’s opinions on speaking time and the textbook 28 Table Students’ opinions on what motivates them to learn speaking 29 English Table Teachers’ opinions on students’ participation in speaking class 31 Table Teachers’ ideas about students’ demotivation in learning 31 speaking English Table The frequency of teaching techniques and activities used in 32 speaking lessons Table 10 Teachers’ opinions on what motivates students to learn speaking English viii 33 PART A: INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Language skills have never been more important than today because in a global world where information travels fast, and people frequently interact across borders, the ability to communicate effectively is very necessary It can not be denied that English is now considered to be a means of international communication and an important tool to connect countries all over the world It is English that plays an essential role in the path of industrialization and modernization as well as in the process of integration and globalization of every country in the world In Vietnam, English teaching and learning has become a great concern over the last decades It has been a compulsory program in most of educational campuses such as institutions, universities, colleges and schools at different levels There are more and more people desiring to know and master English because of different purposes: to pass examinations, to keep up with the latest development in science and technology in the world, or to cater their practical needs Among the four skills known as listening, speaking, writing and listening, speaking skill plays an important part in language teaching in the context of Vietnam For many learners, speaking skill is the most important of the four skills in a second language in general and in English in particular However, it is the fact that most of students at Hai Duong College (HDC) seem to consider speaking skill to be the most challenging From observations and teaching experiences, the author realizes that students pay little attention to communicative skills such as listening and speaking They seem to have lost interest in learning English and they are not active in participating in speaking activities They feel nervous in speaking class and become demotivated in learning speaking These lead to the underachievement and have a negative effect on students in learning English as a foreign language With the desire to identify the factors affecting students’ demotivation and find out some solutions for this problem, I decided to choose the topic “Demotivating Factors for the First Year non-English Major Students in Learning to Speak English at Hai Duong College” as the title of my minor thesis Aims of the study The major purposes of this study are: - To identify the demotivating factors affecting the first year non-English majors learning to speak English - To figure out some suggested solutions to eliminate the demotivation and help to improve students’ speaking skills Research questions The study is implemented to find out the answers for the following questions: What are the demotivating factors affecting the first year non-English major students in learning to speak English at HDC? What solutions the teachers and the students suggest to overcome the students’ demotivation in learning speaking skills? Methods of the study To achieve the aims of the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed The data was collected by means of questionnaires and interview Two sets of survey questionnaires, one for students and the other for teachers, were mainly used to get information and evidence for the study To get more reliable data, an interview was conducted All the comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusions provided in the thesis were based on the analysis of the data Scope of the study This study is limited to the student’s demotivation in learning to speak English at HDC Therefore, the investigation of the issue on other skills will not be included in the study Furthermore, it should be taken into consideration that the subjects of the study are the first year non-English majors who are being taught speaking skill under the communicative approach Design of the study This minor thesis is divided into three main parts: Introduction, Development, and Conclusions Part A, Introduction, presents the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the methods, the scope as well as the design of the study Part B, Development, consists of three chapters: Chapter one, Literature review, revises the relevant theories as the base for carrying out the research In addition, related studies are also mentioned in this chapter Chapter two, Methodology, provides the methodology underlying the research which includes the setting of the study, research questions, participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedure as well as data analysis procedure Chapter three, Data analysis and discussion, shows a detailed presentation of data analysis to answer the research questions The discussion of the findings is also included in this chapter Part C, Conclusions, addresses the key issues in the study, comes up with some recommendations to cope with the problem Furthermore, this part also points out some shortcomings of the study as well as provides some suggestions for further studies ... DEMOTIVATING FACTORS FOR THE FIRST YEAR NON -ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN LEARNING TO SPEAK ENGLISH AT HAI DUONG COLLEGE CÁC YẾU TỐ LÀM GIẢM HỨNG THÚ TRONG VIỆC HỌC NÓI TIẾNG ANH CỦA SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN... and find out some solutions for this problem, I decided to choose the topic “Demotivating Factors for the First Year non -English Major Students in Learning to Speak English at Hai Duong College? ??... the following questions: What are the demotivating factors affecting the first year non -English major students in learning to speak English at HDC? What solutions the teachers and the students