THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY ENGLISH FACULTY - - GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON THE REALITY OF ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL OF THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY AND SOLUTIONS Supervisor :Hoang Thi Thuy, M.A Student : Danh Thi Ha Class : K51N2 Student’s number : 15D170080 Hanoi - 2019 Hanoi - 2018 ABSTRACT The study is aimed at finding out the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first-year English majored students at ThuongMai University and giving some effective solutions to deal with this reality For the objectives, 50 first-year English HÀ NỘI - 2016 majored students were invited to participate in this study They were asked to a survey questionnaire and personal interview question which help to identify the reality of learning English speaking skill The results of the study revealed that students faced up with some problems when learning English speaking skill such as: mispronunciation, limited listening skill, limited amount of vocabulary, the habit of translating from Vietnamese into English as well as lack of background knowledge and confidence when speaking English In addition, some suggestions were proposed to help students solve these problems and enhance their English speaking skill i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerely thanks to my supervisor, Ms Hoang Thi Thuy, for her great help, guidance, tireless support and encouragement during my study Furthermore, I would highly appreciate all her helps and instructions on various drafts of the study Without her enthusiastic help and support, I couldn’t be able to complete this study on schedule I would also like to express my appreciation to all teachers at Faculty of English at Thuong Mai University, those who helped me so much in my data collection My sincerely thanks also go to 50 first-year English majored students of the English Faculty who actively participate in the survey questionnaire and interviews Additionally, I would like to show my deepest thanks to my dear friends for their great help and encouragement through my hard times carrying out the thesis Especially, I am indebted to my loving parents for their continuous encouragement and support during my study Thanks to their devotion, I have overcome the difficult times and completed this paper Ha Noi, 19th APR 2019 Ha Danh Thi Ha ii TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii TABLE OF CONTENT iii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS v CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Previous studies 1.3 Aims of the study 1.4 Scope of the study .3 1.5 Research methodology 1.6 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of speaking skill 2.1.1 The concepts of skill 2.1.2 The definition of speaking skill 2.2 Types of speaking .10 2.3 Speaking process 11 2.4 Purposes of speaking 12 2.5 The importance of speaking skill .14 2.6 Problems in speaking English 15 2.6.1 Outer impacts 15 2.6.2 Nothing to say 16 2.6.3 Low in participant 16 2.6.4 Mother-tongue use 16 2.7 Factors influencing student’s English speaking skill 17 2.7.1 Lack of motivation 17 2.7.2 Listening comprehension 18 2.7.3 Vocabulary .19 2.7.4 Grammar 19 2.7.5 Pronunciation 20 iii 2.8 Strategies in speaking English effectively 21 2.8.1 Learning English strategies .21 2.8.2 Strategies to improve English speaking skill 22 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 24 3.1 Data analysis 24 3.1.1 Results from the questionnaire 24 3.1.2 Results from personal interview 32 3.2 Some discussion on the reality of learning English speaking skill of the firstyear English majored students 33 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 35 4.1 Recommendations and suggestions to improve English speaking skill for the first-year English majored students at TMU 35 4.1.1 Practicing listening skill 35 4.1.2 Improving vocabulary 35 4.1.3 Practicing speaking English with foreigners and friends .36 4.2 Recommendations and suggestions for teachers to help students improve their English speaking skill 36 4.2.1 Understanding students’ feeling .36 4.2.2 Finding the effective teaching methods 36 4.2.3 Setting an English speaking environment .37 4.3 Recommendations and suggestions for Thuong Mai University to help students improve their English speaking skill .37 4.3.1 Directing the Faculty of English to employ foreign native teachers 37 4.3.2 Using high-tech equipments in the classroom 37 4.3.3 Holding more English speaking contest and language seminars 37 4.4 Some suggestions for further studies 38 4.4.1 Limitations of the study 38 4.4.2 Some suggestions for further studies 38 CONCLUSION 39 REFERENCES APPENDIX iv LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS No Charts and tables Chart 1.1: Distribution of the student participants Chart 3.1: Students’ purposes to learn English speaking skill Chart 3.2: Students’ participation in speaking class Chart 3.3: Students’ difficulties and problems faced in speaking Page 27 29 30 English Chart 3.4: Students’ solutions to overcome and improve their English 31 10 speaking skill Table 3.1: Students’ English learning background Table 3.2: Students’ attitudes towards leaning English speaking skill Table 3.3: Students’ evaluation their level of speaking English Table 3.4: Students’ frequency in practicing English speaking skill Table 3.5: Students’ feeling in speaking English 24 25 26 28 28 v CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1.1 Rationale In recent times, it is undeniable that language is a pivotal part of our society’s cultural richness in particular and of the world in general In order to keep ourselves keep up with the global standard in today’s world which is called international community, we need to have knowledge and understanding of English as an international language English language is the dominant business language, and it has become almost the necessity for people to speak English It is the key to unlock the door which helps us to explore new world, new culture and broaden the mind about the big world Speaking is one of the basic language skills that need to be proficient by English foreigner learners due to its significance and its use for communication It is very important to be able to speak English because it is the most commonly accepted language in the global world so that it will be very beneficial for those who comprehend it not only to improve their background knowledge but also to help them get a good job By speaking English fluently, they will not find difficult to communicate and interact with people around the world when they travel Moreover, nowadays, Vietnam becomes one of the members of the World Trade Organization, it is crucial for Vietnamese students of English to have good English speaking skill in order to adapt to the increasing demand of integration into the world economy and exchange culture with other countries As a result, learning English speaking skill is a great advantage for Vietnamese students However, it is not easy for student to fluent because of some influences on the different cultures, mother tongue or their own limited language ability, and so on… In the context of Thuong Mai University, learning English speaking is one of the compulsory subjects at Faculty of English However, most of students not have good marks in this course In addition, from the observations during English speaking course, the researcher found out that the student faced with many problems and difficulties in learning English speaking skill To improve teaching and learning English speaking skill for the first-year English majored students at Faculty of English, Thuong Mai University, it is vital to find out the reality of learning English speaking skill as well as the solutions to deal with this problem For those reasons, “A study on the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first-year English majored students at Thuong Mai University and solutions” was conducted to identify the reality of learning English speaking skill and propose solutions to help them improve their English speaking skill 1.2 Previous studies There has previously been many studies done relating to this area which will be listed as follows: Firstly, a study on how to improve English language speaking skills of Ajloun National University Students was conducted by Abdel- Rahman Al- Eiadeh, B.A Student, department of English language and literature at Ajloun National University For the objectives, 20 students consist of 12 Females student and Males students were invited to this research All of them are studying English language, the majority of the objectives were the Seniors and Juniors students, while Freshman were minority students This thesis focused on analyzing and revealing the problems ANU students had to face related to speaking skill such as confusion and embarrassment; students lack of confident and background knowledge and face difficulty in pronouncing some words And the study presented some of solutions to improve English speaking skills such as practicing English outside and inside the classroom effectively, using the modern social media to help student communicate in English and to express the student feeling and demand Secondly, an action research project on the understanding and actions taken to improve speaking skill through game in a public school called “Federico Garcia Lorca” in Columbia accomplished by Urrutia & Vega (2006) The participants in this study were twenty girls and twenty boys from 14 to 18 years old The data collection instruments were used in this study are questionnaires, teacher’s journals and video recordings The results of the study revealed that majority of students considered that speaking English is the most complicated skill to work out; the researcher noticed that students sometimes spoke English but the majority of them did not speak English during the English class In addition, other study on how to improve English speaking skill through extraactivities for the first-year English non-major students in Hai Phong Private University conducted by Nguyen Thi Dieu Huyen(2008) The study identified the reality of teaching and learning English at Hai Phong Private University, covered the background knowledge of speaking The research also proposed some appropriate methods for teaching speaking lesson which draw student’s attention into the lesson Besides, Hamzad & Ting (2009) conducted a qualitative and action research study on success of using group work in teaching speaking in English classroom in a school called “SMK Damai Jaya” in Malaysia The sample of the study was 33 students and English teachers Questionnaires, observations and interviews were used as data collection instruments The researchers carried out a series of questionnaires in Malay language which helped students provide their opinions about the group work activities to improve speech skills and their consciousness of participation in those activities The results of the study expressed enthusiasm in group work activities and proficiency in spoken language To sum up, obviously these studies have been researched on different criteria of the language learning However, this research study will look into the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first-year English majored students at Thuongmai University and solutions 1.3 Aims of the study The primary aim of this research is to find out the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first-year English majored students at Thuong Mai University The study also aims to find out problems students faced when speaking English and then some solutions will be suggested to help students overcome the problems and improve their English speaking skill The targeted subjects of this study are mainly students; however, all people who are interested in learning English speaking skill can consider it as a useful reference for enhancing their English speaking skill as well 1.4 Scope of the study When the first-year students in Faculty of English, Thuong Mai University (2018-2022 curriculum) start to their semester, English speaking course is the compulsory subject for them This paper focuses on researching and analyzing the reality of learning English speaking skill by using the data collected from giving the first-year students in Faculty of English, TMU make a questionnaire and personal interview as well as making some suggestions to help students improve their English speaking skill The results of the study are limited to the students participate in this study But it can be a source for anyone who excited and want to practice and enhance speaking English 1.5 Research methodology 1.5.1 Research design It took about months to carry out this study Firstly, the researcher chose the topic, collected the related previous studies and information through the internet, reference books and other sources which is useful and support for the researcher during the research After that, the questionnaire and personal interview related to the thesis were designed and taken by 50 first-year English majored students at TMU Finally, the study was fulfilled to find out the reality of learning English speaking skill by the first–year students at Faculty of English, the problems and some solutions were given as well 1.5.2 Research questions In order to identify the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first-year English majored students at Faculty of English, Thuong Mai University, this study concentrate on answering the following question: What is the importance of the English speaking skill? What strategies can be helpful for students to speak English well? What is the reality of the first-year English majored student’s English speaking skill? How can students improve their English speaking skill? 1.5.3 Participations of the study There were 50 randomly first-year students in Faculty of English selected to take part in the study They all were learning English speaking skill Among them, there were 10 males and 40 females The information of the students who participate in this study was shown in the chart 1.1 below English The results were that their ability to reflect and speak English will be weakened - Students’ participation in speaking class Chart 3.2: Students’ participation in speaking class The chart 3.2 answers for question 8: “What you in your speaking class” It shows that 29.5% of the students actively participate in speaking activities They say that they love speaking English, so they always actively participate in speaking class and actively interacted with their teacher The majority of students (55.1%) accept that they rarely participate in speaking activities because they not have good English, and they had encountered with speaking English and express their idea 32.1% of the students confirmed that they usually used their mother-tongue with their friends in speaking class The reason for this is that by using their mother-tongue, they can easily communicate with other students and show their knowledge about English terms Only 5.1% of the students keep silent and say nothing in speaking class The results show that most of students were not interested in speaking English and they did not want to enhance their English speaking skill 29 Difficulties in speaking English of the first-year English majored students - Student’s difficulties and problems faced in speaking English Chart 3.3: Students’ difficulties and problems faced in speaking English Chart 3.3 shows students’ difficulties and problems they face in speaking English As can be seen that 76.6% of them say the limitation in vocabulary has caused difficulty for them when speaking English This difficulty occupied top of the results according to students’ answer They have problems in memorizing vocabulary and English terms On the other hand, most of the students also have problems in applying derivation rules They also respond that they have suffered from limited amount of vocabulary inside the classroom because they lack of vocabulary, they not have anything to say or express their idea Confusion, worry, embarrassment, shyness and non-confident are other problems students faced in speaking English 49.6% of the students said that they have suffered of this problem, they were afraid of losing their face in front of other students in the class Other students (41.6%) faced with fear of making mistake when they speak English Student not dare to speak out loud in front of teacher and other students Due to they have erroneous usage of English grammar and incorrectly utilizing structures of sentence during the conversation, for 30 example using verb forms does not match either the subjects or tense, or using the sentence missing verbs or lacks other parts of the sentences such as wrong adjectives, adverbs or preposition and so on 26% of students have less of opportunity to interact with native speakers, so they cannot practice and or can not be familiar with native accent 19.5% of the students say that they have limited background in English, This was the reason why they could not express their idea or build the idea in their mind and say them out loud There were 9.1% of the students faced with some problems such as mispronunciation, feeling that they have nothing to say, using incorrect grammar, etc Through this reality, it requires some solutions to help them overcome these problems in order to make their English speaking skill more fluent and more smoother - Students’ solutions to overcome and improve their English speaking skill Chart 3.4: Students’ solutions to overcome and improve their English speaking skill Chart 3.4 above shows some solutions students used to improve their English speaking skill It can be seen that 71.8% of the students improved their English speaking skill by practicing more and more They thought that the more practice they do, the more influent they have in speaking English Moreover, practicing speaking English regularly, students can enhance their pronunciation as well as their listening skill The majority of the students (73.1%) improved English speaking skill by listening to English News, films, and 47.4% of the students tried to improve English 31 listening skill Through listening, they can enlarge their vocabulary as well as practice their pronunciation and listening comprehension Speaking with native speaker is also considered solutions students use to improve their speaking skill By practicing and speaking with foreigners, they can learn how to reflect quickly and response by English in different conversations Some other students (26.9%) said that developing grammar helps them to improve their English speaking skill When they understand clearly about grammar, they can use right word and sentence to make conversations in various fields 3.1.2 Results from personal interview Some first-year English majored students were invited to the inteview Two question were asked them in order to find out their opinions about the reality of learning English speaking skill for the first-year English majored students Question 1: What are the difficulties you encounter when learning English speaking skill? Through the personal interview, the first-year English majored students shared their difficulties you encountered when learning English speaking skill Đoàn Thị Phúc, student at K54N3 responded that she had encountered with many difficulties when learning English speaking skill Her idea was that “English grammar is so complex, not easy to remember, tough to learn and especially difficult to use and apply flexibly in real context, real conversation She lacked vocabulary as well as lacked of confidence to speak in front of the public Phuc also shared that she sometimes had nothing to say since she did not have background knowledge in English Forming the ideas and expressing those ideas were too difficult for her Moreover, she is afraid of losing her face and being laughed by other students in the class when she spoke English wrongly Another student from K54N4 named Do Thi Thanh also faced with the similar difficulties in speaking English The most difficult thing she faced was lack of confidence in communication When speaking in the crowded group of people, she felt nervous and forgot what she had to express Limitations in her vocabulary has also made lots of difficulties for her She did not dare to speak with other people since her vocabulary was not good Thanh said that when she learned in high school, she had just focused on learning grammar, spent less time to practice speaking English 32 Therefore, her pronunciation was also not good That was the reason she felt nervous and inconfident to speak in front of the crowded It is clearly seen that most of the first-year English majored students felt learning English speaking skill is so difficult Factors caused their weakness of English speaking skill are lack of vocabulary, inconfidence when speaking in public or the feeling of fear when speaking in front of the crowd and this state has led to the emptiness or blank mind to speak Moreover, limitations in background knowledge also led to the unability to speak English well Question 2: What ways you use to improve your English speaking skill? With this question, two students have been asked about how to improve their English speaking skill and what strategies they used and they answered as following: Firstly, Phúc’ answer has been noted that she identified the difficulties she encountered and then made plan to improve her English speaking skill Practicing speaking English with her friends regularly was the ways she applied to enhance speaking skill She joined in some English club and English volunteer organizations to make friends with many other students and foreigners In free time, she usually listens to music especially English song to improve listening skill and her pronunciation Then another student has been asked is Đỗ Thị Thanh She has shared some other ways to help her improve English speaking skill She practiced speaking English by watching movies which have transcripts and then she tried to imitate the intonation and accent of characters On the weekend, Thanh and her friends gathered and practiced speaking English with foreigners at Hoan Kiem Lake She also applied in some English course to improve English speaking skill as well as became a tour guide to foster her English knowledge 3.2 Some discussion on the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first-year English majored students Based on data collected from the survey questionnaire and personal interviews, the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first-year English majored students at Thuong Mai University was identified and analyzed The results showed that most of students understood about how important English is They realized that speaking English plays an important role and it has been the key to unlock the door and integrate with other countries 33 The results also revealed the difficulties students faced in learning English speaking skill The majority of the students say that they lack of confidence, lack of vocabulary as well as lack of background knowledge in English In addition, fewer opportunity to interact with native speakers means that they also have other difficulties to encounter when speaking English Besides, some psychological factors such as fear of mistake, confusion, embarrassment, shyness hindered their ability to speaking English fluently CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 34 This chapter focuses on giving some effective solutions to improve students’ English speaking skill and some recommendations for further study are also addressed 4.1 Recommendations and suggestions to improve English speaking skill for the first-year English majored students at TMU 4.1.1 Practicing listening skill Practicing listening skill is one of the important solutions to improve students’ English speaking skill The students should listen to the radio, they could get up five minutes earlier and listen to the News, listen to music or listen any things they are interested in English It is necessary for the students to try to create a habit of regular listening in English Thanks to listening every day, students not only improve their listening and speaking skill but also have more background knowledge about aspects or fields which are useful for them Listening to music in English and sing along is another way to improve listening skill Music is one the best tools for learning intonation and pronunciation The best way to enhance their listening skill is to practice listening through dictation Students can choose any channel or sources which they love to practice this skill There are many useful channels on the Internet such as CNN News, VOA learning English Through these channels, student can improve their listening skill as well as broad their mind about many interesting fields In addition, students can choose a famous person whose accent they admire, record their speech, listen again and imitate the way he or she speak When they listen again, they can evaluate their own pronunciation and notices areas where they need to improve 4.1.2 Improving vocabulary The students must enlarge vocabulary by studying whenever and wherever they can They need to create a habit of reading newspapers, magazines articles on the Internet Through these sources, they can expand their vocabulary, practice reading skill and know more knowledge in different fields 4.1.3 Practicing speaking English with foreigners and friends 35 Students can find a partner to practice English speaking skill They can invite your English teacher to lunch, find a friend who also wants to improve his or her English A great way to improve students’ speaking ability is to practice situations when they are alone, perhaps practice speaking in front of the mirror Imagine introducing yourself, disagreeing with some’s ideas, being interviewed or asking for information If students can get someone to help, assign parts and role-playing Reading out loud is also a great way to improve students’ speaking skill when there are no conversation partners available This method can give them a chance to focus on pronunciation and intonation Students can find video which have transcript TED talk is useful video channel which include transcript and explain new words specifically By reading out loud transcript, students can check their pronunciation by listening to how the speaker says something Besides, students can join an English club or a global volunteer organization to get to know people and practice speaking English regularly Students also can make friends with the exchange students on their campus Making friends and practice speaking English with them, students not only improve their speaking ability but also expand their knowledge about other cultures 4.2 Recommendations and suggestions for teachers to help students improve their English speaking skill 4.2.1 Understanding students’ feeling Teacher-student is a close relationship where both sides are support and help each other Teachers play an important role in teaching learning English for students They are guider and supporter who show the student ways to learn and improve their English Therefore, to improve students’ English speaking skill, teachers should understand their students’ interests and demands, find the way to improve students’ self-confidence 4.2.2 Finding the effective teaching methods It is necessary for teachers to find out the effective teaching methods to keep their learners involved in the speaking class They should hold more English activities which related to every fields in the life In addition, teachers should praise and encourage their student to actively participate and speak English in the class It is very important that teachers should build a friendly relationship with their students, make 36 them feel happy in the class and have a feeling of great excited and enthusiastic to learn English in general and speak English in particular 4.2.3 Setting an English speaking environment In the class, it is pivotal that teachers should not use mother-tongue when teaching and speaking with their students On the contrary, they need to speak English every time, so students can not only practice their listening skill but also enhance English speaking skill Because they are surrounded in English environment and they understand how ways teachers used to communicate with others by English Besides, teachers should give their students enough time to speak English in the class, help them overcome their shyness through friendly behaviors to make students feel comfortable when speaking English 4.3 Recommendations and suggestions for Thuong Mai University to help students improve their English speaking skill 4.3.1 Directing the Faculty of English to employ foreign native teachers For the Thuong Mai University part, it is necessary to focus on teaching English speaking skill rather than just concentrate on other skill such as writing, reading or grammar University need to hire more native English teachers to help students familiar and adapt to speak English fluently 4.3.2 Using high-tech equipments in the classroom High-tech equipment should be used in teaching English such as projector, radios, so on Thanks to these modern equipments, students can easily understand the lesson faster and more effective It also saves times for the teachers because teachers can use its facilities to support their lesson instead of wasting time to write directly in the board 4.3.3 Holding more English speaking contest and language seminars It is essential that Thuong Mai University also need to hold more English speaking contest which helps student learn and struggle with other students to enhance their English speaking skill in particular and other knowledge in different fields in general Moreover, holding English seminars with the attend of language experts also is other ways university can apply to help students learn more about English 37 knowledge as well as support students understand deeply about the way native speakers speak English and use its in all conversations 4.4 Some suggestions for further studies 4.4.1 Limitations of the study The limitations of this study were as follows: This study was conducted in limited time and the participants were 50 students therefore the results of the study were still not presented clearly and reliably The research has just focused on the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first-year English majored students at TMU Other important skills were not mentioned and analyzed Thus, it does not provide in-depth results on other aspects of English language And the participants just focused on the first-year English majored students, so the results were not remarkable, it also cannot analyze the reality of learning English of non-majored English students 4.4.2 Some suggestions for further studies Through the research findings, some suggestions for further studies were presented: This paper focused on the reality of learning English speaking skill of the firstyear English majored students at TMU Further studies about learning English speaking need to be conducted in other Departments at Thuong Mai University in particular and other universities in general Other studies related to listening, writing and reading skill also need to be investigated to find out the difficulties and problems students faced when learning these language skill Moreover, it is necessary to carry out more studies related to speaking skill in large scale with large samples, so the results will become more reliable and remarkable 38 CONCLUSION With the rapid development of international communication, English has become one of international languages So it is necessary to foster learners to grasp more language abilities Speaking English is pivotal part of modern life Having well English is a great opportunity to help people climb in their career ladder as well as broaden their mind in many fields Therefore, they can easily keep up with and integrate with today’s modern world Realizing the importance of speaking skill, the researcher conducted this study to find out the students’ perception on the importance of English speaking skill, revealed students’ problems and difficulties in learning English speaking skill Through this study, many students stated that it is difficult to express themselves in English This study indicated that students faced with difficulties such as limitations vocabulary, few opportunities to interact and speak with native speakers, and so on Some solutions were given to improve their English speaking skill as follows: practice more and more, improve listening skill as well as expand the vocabulary and grammar Due to the limited time and comprehension knowledge, this paper will remain shortcomings and cannot mention all aspects of English language I hope that this study is a useful source for those who are interested in learning English and want to improve English speaking skill 39 REFERENCES Burns, A., & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on Speaking Sydney: National Center for English Language Teaching and Research Bygate, M (1987) Speaking Oxford: Oxford University Press Urrutia & Vega (2006) “The understanding and actions taken to improve speaking skill through game in a public school called “Federico Garcia Lorca” in Columbia” Nguyen Thi Dieu Huyen (2008), A study on how to improve English speaking skill through extra- activities for the first-year English non-major students in Hai Phong Private University Lukitasari, N (2003) Students’ Strategies in Overcoming Speaking Problems in Speaking Class University of Muhammadiyah Malang Lai-Mei Leong & Seyedeh Masoumeh Ahmadi (2016), An analysis of factors influencing learner’s English speaking skill Pham Thi Huyen Huong (2012), A study on technique to improve speaking skill for secondary student in Quang Ninh Zhanli Yang (2014) International conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication (ICELAIC 2014) Strategies of improving spoken English for learners Dr Ahmed Maher Mahmoud Al Nakhalah (2014), International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention Problems and Difficulties of Speaking That Encounter English Language Students at Al Quds Open University 10 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/skill 11 http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/skill.html APPENDIX Appendix A: The questionnaire QUESTIONNAIRE Question 1: Have you learn English before University? A Yes B No Question 2: How long have you learn English? A Less than years B From years to years C More than years Question 3: Are you interested in learning English speaking skill and why? A Yes B No Question 4: Can you evaluate your English speaking skill? A B C D E Proficient Good Normal Bad Very bad Question 5: Why you prefer to learn English speaking skill? A B C D To find a good job To communicate fluently with foreigners To broaden your mind Because English is becoming an international language Question 6: How often you speak English? A B C D Always Sometimes Rarely Never Question 7: How you feel when you speak English? A B C D Confident Normal Unconfident Afraid Question 8: What you in your English speaking class? A B C D I actively participate in all speaking activities I rarely participate in speaking activities I use mother- tongue with my friends I keep silent and say nothing Question 9: What are the problems and difficulties you faced in speaking English? A B C D E F Fear of mistakes Limited amount of vocabulary Confusion, worry, embarrassment, shyness and non-confident Less opportunity to interact with native speakers Limited background in English Others Question 10: Which solutions you choose to overcome with these problems? A Practicing more B Speaking with native speakers C Listening to English News, Films, and English Conversations in different fields D Developing grammar E Improving English listening skill Appendix B: Question interview Question 1: What are the difficulties you encounter when learning English speaking skill? Question 2: What ways you use to improve your English speaking skill? ... look into the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first- year English majored students at Thuongmai University and solutions 1.3 Aims of the study The primary aim of this research is...ABSTRACT The study is aimed at finding out the reality of learning English speaking skill of the first- year English majored students at ThuongMai University and giving some effective solutions. .. oral presentation and the latter on interacting with other speakers (Nunan,1989: 27) Speaking can also serve one of two main functions: transactional (transfer of information) and interactional