HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH - CODE: 05 GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH STUDIES HOW TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS FOR FISRT-YEAR-ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS Supervisor : LÊ PHƯƠNG THẢO, M.A Student : VŨ THU TRANG Date of birth: 25/08/1993 Course : K18A2 (2011-2015) How to improve speaking skills for first- year- English-majored students HANOI, 2015 Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English2 How to improve speaking skills for first- year- English-majored students DECLARATION I certify that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor Hanoi, 4th May, 2015 Student Supervisor Vũ Thu Trang Lê Phương Thảo, M.A Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English3 How to improve speaking skills for first- year- English-majored students ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At this stage of research accomplishment, I would like here by to extend my profound gratitude to my supervisor Mrs Lê Phương Thảo M.A from whom I have received enormous kindness and guidance Also, I am very grateful to all the teachers at the English Faculty of Hanoi Open University for their interesting and useful lectures which have built in me a firm foundation with immense ideas for the fulfillment of this paper In particular, my special thanks go to my parents who have, as it always goes, encouraged and supported me so much in all respects Last but not least, I should also express many thanks to my dear friends who have shared with me a lot during my studies and my research work as well Hanoi, 4th May, 2015 Vũ Thu Trang Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English4 How to improve speaking skills for first- year- English-majored students TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definitions of Speaking 1.2 Aspects of speaking 1.2.1 Speaking is face to face 1.2.2 Speaking is interactive 1.2.3 Speaking happens in real time 1.3 Speaking English as a skill 1.4 Spoken versus written discourse 1.5 Purpose of Speaking 10 1.6 Speaking genres 12 1.7 Importance of speaking 13 1.7.1 The role of speaking inside and outside the class 14 1.7.2 The relationship between speaking and other skills 14 1.8 Types of speaking skills 15 1.8.1 Interactive 15 Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English5 How to improve speaking skills for first- year- English-majored students 1.8.2 Partially interactive 16 1.8.3 Non- interactive 16 1.9 Factors affecting speaking skills 16 1.9.1 Grammar accuracy 16 1.9.2 Fluency 17 1.9.3 Pronunciation 17 1.9.4 Vocabulary 18 1.9.5 Background knowledge 19 1.10 Summary 20 CHAPTER II: PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY THE FIRST-YEARENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS IN SPEAKING SKILLS 21 2.1 Data collection 21 2.1.1 A survey questionnaire 21 2.1.2 Class observation 21 2.1.3 Subject and setting 22 2.2 Data analysis 23 2.3 Stress 26 2.4 Intonation 26 2.5 The problems of the first-year- English-majored students in speaking skills 27 2.5.1 The lack of vocabulary 27 2.5.2 The confusion of the pronouncing and using grammar 28 2.5.3 The lack of self-confidence 29 2.5.4 The lack of background knowledge and culture 29 2.5.5 The change of the environment from high schools to universities 30 Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English6 How to improve speaking skills for first- year- English-majored students 2.5.6 Effects of the mother tongue in practicing English speaking skills 31 2.6 Summary 33 CHAPTER III: SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS 34 3.1 Improving background knowledge 34 3.2 Developing English style 35 3.2.1 Good eye contact 35 3.2.2 Good personal appearance 37 3.3 Improving self-confidence 37 3.3.1 Well preparation for the topics 38 3.3.2 Joining the English- speaking clubs 38 3.3.3 Speaking to native people 39 3.4 Warm-up activities in Speaking 39 3.4.1 Playing games 39 3.4.2 Word games 40 3.4.3 Telling stories 41 3.5 Group work 42 3.5.1 Working in pairs 42 3.5.2 Working in groups 44 3.6 Individual work 46 3.6.1 Improving grammar 46 3.6.2 Improving pronunciation 47 3.6.3 Vocabulary enrichment 48 3.6.3.1 Improving speaking vocabulary through reading skills 48 3.6.3.2 Improving speaking vocabulary through listening skills 48 Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English7 How to improve speaking skills for first- year- English-majored students 3.6.3.3 Improving speaking vocabulary by the Internet 49 3.7 Self-consciousness of improving speaking skills 51 3.8 Summary 51 PART C: CONCLUSION 52 REFERENCES 54 APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 58 Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English8 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Language is the tool of communication, while speaking is the most important part of language communication and it is the basic path to understand others To speak successfully a language, we need to be able to work out what speakers mean when they use particular words in particular ways on particular occasions and not simply to understand the words themselves Many students of English in Vietnam in general and ones at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University in particular badly in this field, they find it difficult to get good marks in English speaking comprehension, especially in understanding the implied meaning of conversation and the questions of the teachers Communication is likely the most important skill that people need Effective communication skills will definitely link to work effectiveness and life satisfaction Also, communication is the process of transmitting idea and information orally in a variety of situations In all of the people, students will become familiar with speechmaking as an ongoing process, the ethics of speaking, which they have everyday Mastering types of speaking skillfully will surely support students' works and their personal lives by making them become stronger communicators Speaking is one of the four important skills of communication It is also a keystone of western civilization and can be traced back to the ancient Greeks who practiced speaking as rhetoric Rhetoric is a part of our greatest philosophical discussions and appears in all ways in which human beings communicate in a public forum Speaking is a type of rhetoric and also the focus of this essay We also want to study why speaking is so vital to our ways of life and want to learn how to become competent speakers in practicing in real life Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English This essay is designed to create observable skills development demonstrative of competent communication in public, group, classroom, and in interpersonal contexts We also want to present your success as a speaker and effective communicator by having many in-class opportunities to improve your speaking level as you apply to the content of this essay Aims of the study The purpose of this study is to improve speaking skills for first-year -Englishmajored students, especially first- year students at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University The main aims of this thesis are: - Giving a brief overview of the materials relating to speaking skills - Presenting some problems that the first-year students have when practicing speaking skills - Proposing some methods to develop speaking skills Scope of the study Because of the time limit and the length of this paper, I want to focus on speaking skills, the common problems and some suggestions to solve those problems on speaking skills This is the reason why I have chosen "How to improve speaking skills for first-year-English-majored students" at Hanoi Open University as the subject for the graduation paper Vũ Thu Trang K18A2 – Faculty of English • Students develop and practice skills in: decision making, problem solving, values clarification, communication, critical thinking, negotiation, conflict resolution, and teamwork • The opportunity exists to nurture and develop Graduate Student Attributes • It makes the Unit of Study challenging, interesting, motivating, engaging, and fun 3.6 Individual work This way of practicing speaking means that students work alone without being interrupted by others This kind of practice has its own advantages for upgrading the skills and absorbing lots of valuable knowledge 3.6.1 Improving grammar According to Tran Huu Manh and Nguyen Van Co: "Grammar is an indispensable and essential part of any language which any student and user should make a deep insight into"(2000, p.1) Grammar plays an important role not only in academic test but also in the activities of communication With the main purpose of conveying thought and exchanging idea, speaking will become more effective if speakers know how to use grammar accurately and fluently The progress of improving grammar when speaking, in my opinion, can be attained if students practice reading grammar aloud at home Each day, the freshmen need only 15 minutes for reading aloud the sentences in correct grammar rules After that they can speak with correct sentence grammar without looking at them Gradually, students can speak with grammar accuracy and create the habit of choosing the best grammar structures for uttering instead of the not-sound-good ones with grammatical mistakes Vũ Thu Trang 46 K18A2 – Faculty of English 3.6.2 Improving pronunciation Pronunciation is key factor contributing to the effectiveness of the speech Therefore, it needs to be seriously considered and practiced regularly by learners to reach the level that speakers can interest listeners by their pronunciation To have a good pronunciation, the first-year students should have own ways to practice pronouncing English, such as listening to natives in the disc then intimating the sound with the same stress, pronunciation and intonation as in the book, namely "English pronunciation in use" or the discs of practicing pronunciation After practicing pronouncing the short words, students may favor in long and difficult words like "enthusiasm", "criticism", or "archaeology"… to improve their vocabulary and pronunciation as well Since the first-year students have problems in pronouncing English words by our mother tongue, they should try to practice listening to the basic vowels, consonants and simple words and then speak aloud perfectly After practicing those basics correctly, students can listen and pronounce difficult words However, students should choose the detail and complex pronouncing methods in order to speak errorless English speakers should pay seriously attention into correcting the words that they often make mistake in English pronouncing For example, "restaurant”, "comfortable", "desert" and so on Also first-year students can look at some kinds of pronunciation books that are always available in the foreign language bookshops with such a book like "English pronunciation in use" (elementary, advanced) together with the disc attached, or "speaking naturally" Vũ Thu Trang 47 K18A2 – Faculty of English 3.6.3 Vocabulary enrichment To increase the vocabulary in order to have an improvement on speaking, first -year students can consider several ways here as a guide to their enriching the vocabulary 3.6.3.1 Improving speaking vocabulary through reading skills Reading is considered the effective activity to achieve speaking competence First, when usually reading aloud an English text, subsequently students are familiar to pronouncing English words including the difficult words such as "multiculturalism" or "encyclopedia" After practicing the method for a time, their response to English words is quicker and more accurate Secondly, reading regularly will bring such a huge knowledge to students that they can apply in a specific situation or a certain topic While reading, students have opportunities to approach the cultures all over the world, they can enlarge their understanding and get more ideas that support their speaking effectively and attract the audience 3.6.3.2 Improving speaking vocabulary through listening skills In the book "Testing communicative performance", Brendan said: "Oral interaction (listening and speaking) is the most commonly encountered type The separate testing of speaking and listening runs the risk of failing to allow for the key characteristics of communication - that one must interact, initiate and develop coherently a theme of which one only controls a portion".(1980, p.54) Certainly, one must be able to listen with understanding and to speak intelligibly For example, in an examination, after presenting about the topic, students are asked the questions concerned to the topic If students cannot listen to teacher's questions, how they can respond with good answers and get good marks? Therefore, the need for combination of speaking and listening is necessary Vũ Thu Trang 48 K18A2 – Faculty of English In addition, by listening regularly, students can improve their pronunciation, stress, intonation, ways of expression and new words They can approach listening through various means of media, namely BBC, VOA, CNN or buying disc for listening tasks, listening to English songs and watching English or American films which are small pictures of real life in these native countries 3.6.3.3 Improving speaking vocabulary by the Internet Nowadays, information technology is growing, more and more people start to cope up with modern life and the need for faster devices used is increasing More and more machines, such as the Internet, telephone with official capacity and faster processing speed, can access network as well as the features offer more choices for people Thus, along with the use of the Internet to play games, to access the network, so on People still use the Internet to learn English to improve speaking skills for their own learning Learning English Online via the Internet also helps those who are not eligible to travel as well as economic Not only school in the Foreign Language Center or in the new English clubs help us improve our speaking skills but also have several different ways to help strengthen our abilities to tell a topic, confidence of proving to the crowd, and one of the ways that effective learning is learning English Online via the Internet The best way to improve speaking skills is talking with native speakers Thus, we can find them through social network like "Facebook" , "twitter" , to talk with others Besides, on the internet, we can find out a lot of materials relating to many aspects which affects to speaking skills such as pronunciation, culture… We can download it from the internet and we will know more about these knowledge Vũ Thu Trang 49 K18A2 – Faculty of English Everyday, we just spend 30 minutes improving our speaking skills through listening some dialogues, short stories on a lot of websites such as BBC learning English, VOA special English From that, we can study a lot of vocabularies from various fields; enhance pronunciation, stress, intonation, and so on Moreover, we can find out some websites in which they give a lot of model topics relating politics, literature ,…we can speak out loud these topics through many ways such as standing in front of mirror and speak follow these topics After a time, both our confidence and speaking skills will be improved very much At the beginning of the period, we can learn to talk with the simple and easy questions and we can also read the instructor to know the pronunciation, sentence intonation, word stress From there, we will feel more confident when presenting a single point ahead of the crowd and also more confident about my vocabulary has improved For practicing English pronunciation, Vietnamese students can access to the Internet to practice from the basic to the complex Nowadays, as the technology and information develops, there are many listening and pronouncing software like "Talk It", "Pronunciation Power", "Pronchart" software, and so on With the technical assistance, we not have to ask teachers to teach us how to pronounce difficult words correctly as those software have the standard English pronunciation we can practicing anytime, anywhere as long as we can access to the Internet Vũ Thu Trang 50 K18A2 – Faculty of English 3.7 Self-consciousness of improving speaking skills A very helpful advice for students to develop their English speaking skills is that they have their serious consciousness of learning the skills For example, students can create the fixed days to speak only English and not use mother tongue in speaking class; not interrupt when the partner is speaking, or laugh at the partner's mistakes and so on Apart from the severe attitude to speaking, the first-year students should make use of every opportunity to practice speaking English inside and outside class with a useful tool of pocket dictionary always ready for enriching their vocabulary 3.8 Summary There are several methods for first-year- English-majored students to improve their speaking skills Based on the experience of my own and the result from the analysis of the data collected, some solutions for first-year students' problems in their process of speaking and new ideas to promote their speaking ability have been proposed However, no method is perfect for all students; they should be wise to choose the most suitable and favorite way for applying and bring it into the play Vũ Thu Trang 51 K18A2 – Faculty of English PART C: CONCLUSION At the very beginning of the thesis, it is suggested that the development of speaking skills is influenced by several aspects Each aspect may present a separate prospective from which the development of speaking skills can be viewed For the purpose of the thesis, teachers' perspective and her share in that process has been chosen Teachers' organization of activities, preparation and considering different aspects related to the organization is one of the crucial phases in my opinion, though not the only one Before dealing with the organization of speaking activities, I consider it as inevitable to comment on some of the related aspects concerning the problematic of developing speaking skills Therefore, the first part of the theoretical section is devoted to the analysis of the speaking skills Next area of interest involves speaking in relation to the concept of communicative competence When talking about developing speaking skills, it is also important to mention what activities are relevant to this process and what the current theories and practical experience from the viewpoint of teaching specialists offer The use of various activities is connected with the involvement of different organizational forms For that reason, a chapter dealing with the organizational forms, specifically what advantages or disadvantages the most frequently used ones – whole-class teaching, group work, and pair work, may expose are included There is a more important part of this whole thesis is a method to learn how to improve their skills in public speaking, as well as improve selfconfidence to present a lecture or consultation certain topics And a learning method as learning English online through the Internet-one method of learning is quite popular nowadays with students as the development of information technology today Vũ Thu Trang 52 K18A2 – Faculty of English Since our mother tongue is Vietnamese, we have many difficulties in speaking English perfectly However, Vietnamese people, particularly English-majored students, can try their best and put effort into speaking English errorless With the help of new technology, the support of parents, teachers, and friends, students can anything, especially speaking English in this study We believe that Vietnamese people in general and Vietnamese students in particular can communicate by using English as fluently as using Vietnamese – our mother tongue Through the above analysis, we can see that English learning online through the Internet is really useful for students, or even students, including those who work, those who not have enough time, or those who have to travel a lot due to their work requirement And this method may be of some help to improve their English speaking Suggestions to improve speaking skills are as follows: • Starting speaking simple and easy sentences and then change into difficult ones • Trying to speak more and more by imitating what you listen or read from books, novels, songs, films or the Internet… • Practicing pronunciation as much as possible and whenever and wherever you can • Joining English -speaking clubs where you can make friends, speak to native people, or have debates with other people • Practicing listening,, speaking and reading skills is a great help to better this productive skill Vũ Thu Trang 53 K18A2 – Faculty of English REFERENCES English materials Angela Blackwell & Therese Naber (2006) Teaching English as a second or foreign language Oxford: Oxford University Press Basturkmen, H (Summer 2002) Learner Observation of and Reflection on Spoken Discourse: An Approach for Teaching Academic Speaking TESOL Journal, V.11 Brazil, D (1995) A Grammar of Speech Oxford: Oxford University Press Brendan J Carroll (1980) Testing communicative performance Pergamon Press Burns, A (1998) Teaching Speaking Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, V.18 Bygate, M (1997) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Bygate, M (1998) Theoretical Perspectives on Speaking Annual Review of Applied Linguistics V.18 Carter, R & McCarthy, M (1997) Exploring Spoken English Cambridge University Press Cornbleet, S and Carter, R (2001) The Language of Speech and Writing London: Routledge 10 Dinapoli, R (2000) Promoting Discourse with Task-Based Scenario Interaction Paper presented at the International Conference on Language for Specific Purposes (Barcelona, Spain, September 7-9, 2000) (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No ED: 454742) 11 Dornyei, Z & Thurrell, S (1994) Teaching Conversation Skills Intensively: Course Content and Rational ELT Journal, V 48 12 Eggings, S (1990) The Analysis of Spoken Data Paper presented at the National Center for English language Teaching and Research Spoken Discourse Project workshop Macquarie University, Sydney Vũ Thu Trang 54 K18A2 – Faculty of English 13 El Menoufy, A (1997) Speaking The Neglected Skill New Directions in Speaking Proceedings of the Fourth EFL Skills Conference Under the auspices of the Center of Adult and Continuing education the American University in Cairo 14 Ernest G Bormann (1980) Communication theory Holt, Rinehart and winston, inc 15 Foster, P., Tonkeyn, A and Wigglesworth, G (2000) Measuring Spoken Language: A Unit for all Reasons Applied Linguistics, V.21 16 Halliday, M (1975) Learning How to Mean London: Edward Arnold 17 Hughes, R (2002) Teaching and Researching Speaking Warlow: Longman 18 Kingen, S (2000) Teaching Language Arts in Middle Schools Connecting and Communicating New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers 19 Littlewood, N (1981) Communicative language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 20 Martin, P (1993) Tash for language teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 21 Mc Donough, J & Shaw, C (1993) Material & method in EFL Oxford: Blackwell publisher 22 McDonough, K & Mackey, A (2000) Communicative Tasks, Conversational Interaction and Linguistic Form: An Empirical study of Thai Foreign Language Annals V 33 23 Merrian (2002) Webster online dictionary 24 Miller, L (2001) A Speaking Lesson How to Make the Course Book More Interesting MET V.10 25 Mudd, Charles S & Malcom O Sillars (1991) Speech: content and communication Prospect Heights Waveland Press 26 Nunan, D (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom New York: Cambridge University Press 27 Nunan, D (1991) Language teaching methodology Pretentice Hall International (UK) Ltd Vũ Thu Trang 55 K18A2 – Faculty of English 28 Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers 29 Patton, P (1987) Developing communication skills Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 30 Penny Ur (1996) Teaching speaking Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 31 Raymond F Zeuschner (1997) Communicating today California Pytechnique State University 32 Richard A Katula; celest A Martin; Robert A Schwegler (1993) Communication: Writing and Speaking Little, Brown & Company 33 Richard, J.C (1985) “Cross – cultural Aspect of conversations Competence” in Richards The context of language teaching CPU 34 Richards J (1990) The Language Teaching Matrix Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 35 Rivers (1993) the learners - centered curriculum Cambridge University Press 36 Segaowitz, N (2000) Automacity and Attentional Skill in Fluent Performance In H Riggenbach (Ed.) Perspectives on Fluency Michigan: the University of Michigan Press 37 Sworth, AC (1884) Evaluating and selecting EFL Teaching material Lodon Heinemann Education Books Ltd 38 Wagne-Hosier (1975) Reading games A grade teacher Publication 39 Widdowson, H (1998) Skills, Abilities, and Contexts of Reality Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, V 18 40 Yule, G (1989) The Spoken Language Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, V.10, n 2, Pp: 163-173 Vietnamese materials 41 Tran Huc Manh; Nguyen Van Co (2000) A guide to university grammar of English Hanoi Open University bookcase Sources from Internet 42 https://www.englishclub.com/speaking/what-is-speaking.htm Vũ Thu Trang 56 K18A2 – Faculty of English 43 http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/effective-speaking.html 44 http://www.talkenglish.com/ 45 https://www.englishclub.com/speaking/ Vũ Thu Trang 57 K18A2 – Faculty of English APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE Questionnaires are designed for the 1st students at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appropriated Do you think Speaking skills are important? A Yes B No Have you ever failed your speaking test? A Never B Once C Twice times D More than twice How often you self-study speaking at home? A Never B Rarely C Sometimes D Often What you think about talking to other people in English in class? A Interesting B Boring C So so D Uncomfortable Vũ Thu Trang 58 K18A2 – Faculty of English What difficulties you have on your conversation? A Lack of self - confidence B Lack of knowledge in culture C Lack of vocabulary D All of them Which mistakes you think you often make? A Pronunciation B Grammar accuracy C Fluency D Vocabulary How is your pronunciation? A Excellent B Good C Normal D Bad How you improve your vocabulary? A Reading books, stories, novels B Listening to music C Watching films, news D Talking with foreigners Vũ Thu Trang 59 K18A2 – Faculty of English How often you learn non-verbal language via books or some resources of information? A Usually B Rarely C Sometimes D Never 10 What are the best ways to improve your self-confidence? A Joining an English speaking club B Learning experience from other C Having a part time job D Taking part in outside activities Vũ Thu Trang 60 K18A2 – Faculty of English [...]... summarized into some research questions as follows: - What are speaking skills? - What are the problems that the first- year students have when practicing speaking skills? - What have the first- year students done to improve speaking skills? 5 Methods of the study As the study involves in finding out the problems faced by first- year students of English and helping them develop speaking skills, the data... Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University in speaking will be pointed out Vũ Thu Trang 20 K18A2 – Faculty of English CHAPTER II: PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY THE FIRST- YEARENGLISH -MAJORED STUDENTS IN SPEAKING SKILLS In learning English in general and speaking skills in particular, the first- year students always have obstacles during the course Therefore, some problems of speaking skills that students may... - Students' attitude to speaking - Their difficulties in practicing speaking skills - Their methods of learning speaking skills 2.1.2 Class observation In order to design the paper, I have attended many first- year classes to observe the works of students and teachers When the teacher gave a topic to discuss and ask students to do pair works, a certain pair will have to present their ideas for the topic... the first -year students often get shocked when approaching the productive skills like speaking Therefore, I decide to do my study of developing speaking skills for the first- year students Vũ Thu Trang 22 K18A2 – Faculty of English 2.2 Data analysis Questionnaire is divided into 3 groups: • Group 1: From question number 1-3 These questions are designed to check the understanding about definition of speaking. .. are designed to check the problems of the first- year -English- majored students in speaking skills • Group 3: From question number 8-10 These questions are designed to check what the first- year students have done to improve speaking skills The collected figures from group 1: Questions from 1-3 Table 1 ANSWER QUESTION A B C D 1 59 1 0 0 2 25 17 5 13 3 0 16 31 13 The data in the table shows that in... of English 1.7.1 The role of speaking inside and outside the class As the students of English foreign language, we have opportunities to approach English as a main subject Students communicate or discuss about a certain topic to get information, knowledge or simply to get good marks in examinations by practicing in class But the most important role of speaking class is to give students chances to talk,... developing the speaking skills "Stress and intonation within spoken sentences are also crucial for academic students to practice, because pronunciation is often a weak point for EFL/ESL (English as First/ Second language) learners" (Blackwell & Naber, 2006) Pronunciation is very fundamental to the progress of speaking skills If students wish to speak English fluently and effectively, they need to practice... is used as the main tool to collect data 10 questions and each question which has 4 answers A, B, C, and D are given to 60 students in the first- year at Faculty of English to attain the answers that will be carefully studied and will be an invaluable help to find out problems and limits of the first- year students, since then strategies and tips to overcome them and develop speaking skills are proposed... you?" When speaking is grammatically accurate, speakers can show their levels in English to others and make the listeners satisfied Speaking with grammar accuracy is also an important criterion for teachers to assess his or her students' level in English Therefore, students need to practice speaking a lot for giving their speech with the exact grammar Vũ Thu Trang 16 K18A2 – Faculty of English 1.9.2... Trang 3 K18A2 – Faculty of English Chapter II: Problems encountered by the first- year- English- majored students in speaking skills Chapter III: Suggestions to improve speaking skills PART C: Conclusion This final part is to summarize main points of the graduation paper REFERENCES APPENDIX Vũ Thu Trang 4 K18A2 – Faculty of English PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW Speaking plays a very important