VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THU THẢO THE DIFFICULTIES OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS WHEN DOING ORAL PRESENTATION IN A SPEAKING LESSON: A CASE OF AN ENGLISH CENTER IN HANOI (Những khó khăn học sinh tiểu học làm thuyết trình học nói: Một nghiên cứu trung tâm tiếng Anh Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Major: Teaching English Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI – 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THU THẢO THE DIFFICULTIES OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS WHEN DOING ORAL PRESENTATION IN A SPEAKING LESSON: A CASE OF AN ENGLISH CENTER IN HANOI (Những khó khăn học sinh tiểu học làm thuyết trình học nói: Một nghiên cứu trung tâm tiếng Anh Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Major: Teaching English Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Ph.D HANOI – 2019 DECLARATION I certify that the work presented in this research report has been performed and interpreted solely by myself I confirm that this paper is submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the M.A Degree and has not been submitted elsewhere in any other form for the fulfillment of any other degree or qualification Hanoi, 2019 Nguyễn Thu Thảo i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This M.A thesis could not have been accomplished without the invaluable help, encouragement and support form a number of people who I would like to show my sincerest gratitude and appreciation To begin with, I would like to express my greatest and deepest thankfulness to Doctor Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, my supervisor, for her enthusiastic and precious guideline and advice throughout the duration of my thesis Without her instruction and supervision, this thesis could not have reached the fulfillment Moreover, my honest thanks also come to teachers and students in an English center in Hanoi, especially teachers and students who participated in my research Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family and relatives who have always supported me and supplied the best conditions for me to complete this thesis ii ABSTRACT Among four skills of English language, speaking has been claimed to be an important skill to communicate Oral presentation takes an important role in teaching and learning English, especially in teaching and learning English speaking skill However, many students find it difficult to a presentation This study was conducted to explore the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson in an English center in Hanoi This study also collects students‟ expectation of their teachers to solve the problem 100 elementary students in an English center in Hanoi, who have to oral presentation in speaking lessons as one task in their course, participated in this research Questionnaire, observation, and interview were employed to collect data for the research The findings of this study revealed that there are many difficulties faced by elementary students in doing presentation Among these difficulties, “Language”, "Personal trait" and “External factor” constitute the most serious difficulties encountering students in the process of delivering oral presentation On the basis of the findings of this study and in the light of the difficulties encountering students in giving the oral presentation, the students expect some supports from their teachers to overcome these difficulties and to improve the learning process generally in oral proficiency and speaking skill in particular iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Research aims Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study Significance of the study Design of the thesis PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Oral presentation 1.1.1 Definition of oral presentation 1.1.2 Types of oral presentation 1.1.3 Significance of oral presentation 1.2 Learning difficulty 1.2.1 Definition of learning difficulty 1.2.2 Classification of learning difficulties 1.2.3 Students‟ difficulties in oral presentation 10 1.3 Young learners 11 1.3.1 Characteristics of young learners 11 1.3.2 Factors causing young learners‟ difficulties when presenting 13 1.4 Related studies 14 1.5 Summary 16 iv CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17 2.1 Research design 17 2.2 Research subjects 18 2.3 Data collection instruments 18 2.3.1 Questionnaire 19 2.3.2 Observation 20 2.3.3 Interview 21 2.4 Data collection procedure 22 2.5 Data analysis procedure 22 2.6 Summary 23 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 24 3.1 Data collected from the questionnaire 24 3.1.1 Students‟ difficulties in doing presentation 24 3.1.2 Students‟ expectation of their teachers to help them overcome the difficulties 31 3.2 Data collected from observation 36 3.3 Data collected from interview 38 3.4 Summary 41 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 42 4.1 A summary of the major findings 42 4.2 Implications of the study 43 4.3 Limitations of the study 43 4.4 Recommendations for further study 44 REFERENCES 45 APPENDIX I APPENDIX I APPENDIX IV APPENDIX VII APPENDIX IX APPENDIX X v LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The sum of responses, means, std deviation and the rank of each item from of the first domain from the questionnaire 24 Table 3.2: The sum of responses, means, std deviation and the rank of each item from of the second domain from the questionnaire 25 Table 3.3: The sum of responses, means, std deviation and the rank of each item from of the third domain from the questionnaire 26 Table 3.4: The sum of responses, means, std deviation and the rank of each item from of the fourth domain from the questionnaire 27 Table 3.5: The sum of responses, means, std deviation and rank of each domain from and all questionnaire 28 Table 3.6: The sum of responses, means, std deviation and rank of each item from of the second part from the questionnaire 31 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Teachers give more interesting and useful topics 32 Figure 3.2: Teachers give detailed guide about how to make a good presentation 33 Figure 3.3 Teachers give better score or a reward for the best presentation 33 Figure 3.4: Teachers help brainstorming some ideas that can appear in the presentation 34 Figure 3.5: Teachers provide some activities to make students able to use language without fear to make mistakes 35 vii PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Since English was first taught in Vietnam, learners had focused more on studying grammar and translation because they were the best ways to communicate with foreigners and set foot to the English-speaking world However, nowadays, as the society is developing faster, it is required that education should attach special importance to communicative language teaching Therefore, speaking plays an important role in learning English There are many ways for English learners to improve their speaking ability, one of which is oral presentation Applying oral presentations nowadays in teaching is not uncommon The use of oral presentations in teaching, especially in teaching English, has created a new trend in the field of English language teaching methodology, which has drawn a lot of researchers‟ attention all over the world (Miles, 2003) It is believed that the opportunity to speak in front of the audience is one of the greatest benefits that students are offered when spending time at school (Miles, 2003) Zhu (2005) shared her same opinion about the need of using presentation in developing student skills She claimed in her study that oral presentation is a multi-task activity requiring learners to speak and illustrate their speech at the same time It has two clear purposes which are to provide information and/ or to persuade listeners to a desired task Nowadays, as presentation becomes more popular, it takes an important role in teaching and learning Numerous studies have examined the factors contributing to the success of oral presentations (Cheung, 2008; Taylor, 2012; Wilson and Brooks, 2014), the general benefits of using presentation in EFL classrooms, and the teachers‟ and students perceptions of the effects of this technique on the development of the language skills and language elements (i.e pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary) (Nguyen, 2012; Masmaliyev, 2014) However, very few studies have been carried out to measure the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson In fact, a thorough search in the literature results Delhi: Response Books Kaul, A (2005) The Effective Presentation: Talk Your Way to Success New Delhi: Response Books King, J (2002) Preparing EFL learners for oral presentations Dong Hwa Journal of Humanistic Studies, 4, 401-418 LittleWood, W (1981) Communicative Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Mandel, S (2000) Effective Presentation Skill a Practical Guide to Better Speaking Printed in United State of American: ISBN Masmaliyeva, D (2014) Using Affective Effectively: Oral Presentations in EFL Classroom Asst Retrieved in January 2015 http://www.deedergisi.org/sayilar/10/10.pdf Maximos, W (1968) Difficulties Encountering Eighth Graders in Solving the Theoretical Engineering Exercises MA thesis, p 11 McDonough, J., & McDonough, S (1997) Research Methods for English Language Teachers Great Britain: Arnold McLeod, S A (2015) Observation methods Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/observation.html Meloni, C & Thompson, S (1980) Oral reports in the intermediate ESL classroom TESOL Quarterly, (4) Retrieved in January 2015 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3586238?sid=21105853972253& uid=3739320&uid=2&uid=4 Miles, R (2003) Oral presentations for English proficiency purposes Reflections on English Language Teaching, 8(2), p.103–110 Retrieved in November, 2014 from http://www.nus.edu.sg/celc/research/books/relt/vol8/no2/103110miles.pdf Miles, R (2010) Oral presentations for English proficiency purposes, Reflections on English language teaching, 8(2), 103–110 47 Morita, N (2000) Discourse socialization through oral classroom activities in a TESL graduate program TESOL Quarterly 34(2), p 279-310 Nguyen, T T (2012) An action research on developing speaking skill through oral presentations with reference to the course book “Talk time” for the second-year non-major students at Hanoi University of Industry Unpublished MA Thesis ULIS Orsmond, P., Merry, S., & Reiling, K (2000) The Use of Student Derived Marking Criteria in Peer and Self-Assessment Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 25(1), 23-38 Otoshi, J and Heffernen, N (2008) Factors Predicting Effective Oral Presentations in EFL Classrooms Foreign Language Annals, 29(2), 239-251 Othman, S (1990) Learning Difficulties Cairo: Englo-Egyptian library, p 11-18 Rajoo, S A (2010) Facilitating the development of students‟ oral presentation skills Voice of Academia, (1), 43-50 Retrieved October 18, 2015, from http://kedah.uitm.edu.my/v1/images/stories/industrial_linkages/uitm_pre ss/voa_5_1_2010/5_1_2010_5.pdf Rivers, W (1968) Teaching Foreign Language Skills Chicago: University of Chicago Press Stake, R (1995) The art of case study research Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Taylor, G (2015) Making a Place for PowerPoint in EFL Classrooms Retrieved January, 2015 from http://jaltcue.org/files/OnCUE/OCJ61/OCJ61%20pp%2041-51%20Taylor.pdf Teijlingen, E (2014) Semi – structured interviews Available at: https://intranetsp.bournemouth.ac.uk/documentsrep/PGR%20Workshop %20%20Interviews% 20Dec%202014.pdf Thomas, G (2010) Doing Case Study: Abduction Not Induction, Phronesis Not Theory Qualitative Inquiry, 16(7), 575–582 https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410372601 Thornbury, S & Slade, D (2006) Conversation: From Description to 48 Pedagogy Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ur, P (2000) A course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Whatley, R P (2003) Presentation Skills: Types of Presentations Wilson, J & Brooks, G (2014) Teaching presentation: improving oral output with more structure Retrieved in January, 2015 from http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/cls/CLaSIC/clasic2014/Proceedings/wilson_jo hn.pdf Yang, H.C (2002) Language anxiety: From the Classroom to the Community Yin, R K (1981) The Case Study as a Serious Research Strategy Knowledge, 3(1), 97-114 https://doi.org/10.1177/107554708100300106 Young, D J (1990) An Investigation of Students‟ Perspectives on Anxiety and Speaking Foreign Language Annals, 23(6), 539-553 Zhu, X (2005) Developing oral presentation skill in ELT classroom CELEA Journal, 28 (2), 118-120 49 APPENDIX APPENDIX Student Questionnaire This survey questionnaire is designed for the study on “The difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson: A case of an English center in Hanoi” Your assistance in responding to the following questions is highly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Read the following statements carefully before answering any of them If you face any difficulty, please ask your instructor Part 1: What are your difficulties in doing presentation? No Difficulties Strongly Disagree Language You use appropriate transitional words You use correct grammar You have correct pronunciation Your presentations have enough appropriate vocabulary and expressions Your presentations have enough appropriate structure of sentences Content Your presentations are given in an organized way I Disagree No opinion Agree Strongly Agree 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 You outline the presentation objectives to audience You stick to the objectives of the speech Your presentations have a good connection of ideas You deliver the presentation with clear ideas and examples Personal trait You speak confidently You present fluently You not fear negative evaluation and comments You keep eye-contact with audience You use body language and gestures External factor You prepare carefully for the presentation You are familiar with the criteria of effective oral presentation You have the right to choose the topics You have motivation towards giving the oral presentation You are not interrupted by the audience II Part 2: What you expect from your teachers to help you overcome the difficulties? No Expectation your teachers Strongly Agree Agree Teachers give more interesting and useful topics Teachers give detailed guide about how to make a good presentation Teachers give better scores or a reward for the best presentation Teachers help brainstorming some ideas that can appear in the presentation Teachers provide some activities to make students able to use language without fear to make mistakes Thank you for your time and participation! III No opinion Disagree Strongly Disagree APPENDIX Khảo sát học sinh Bảng câu hỏi khảo sát thiết kế cho nghiên cứu “Những khó khăn học sinh tiểu học làm thuyết trình học nói: Một nghiên cứu trung tâm tiếng Anh Hà Nội” Sự hỗ trợ việc trả lời câu hỏi sau cảm kích Con tự tin bạn không bị nhận thảo luận liệu Xin đọc kĩ vấn đề sau trước trả lời câu hỏi Nếu gặp khó khăn nào, xin vui lòng hỏi người hướng dẫn Phần 1: Những khó khăn làm thuyết trình ? STT Khó khăn Rất khơng Khơng đồng ý đồng ý Ngôn ngữ Con sử dụng từ nối thích hợp Con sử dụng ngữ pháp Con phát âm Bài thuyết trình sử dụng từ diễn đạt thích hợp Bài thuyết trình sử dụng cấu trúc câu phù hợp Nội dung Bài thuyết trình có trình tự Con nêu mục đích thuyết trình cho người nghe Con bám vào mục đích nói Bài thuyết trình có kết nối IV Khơng có ý kiến Đồng Rất ý đồng ý 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 ý Con diễn đạt ý ví dụ rõ ràng Đặc điểm tính cách Con thuyết trình tự tin Con thuyết trình trơi chảy Con khơng sợ bị đánh giá nhận xét tiêu cực Con tương tác mắt với người nghe Con sử dụng ngôn ngữ thể Yếu tố bên ngồi Con chuẩn bị thuyết trình cẩn thận Con biết rõ tiêu chí thuyết trình hiệu Con chọn chủ đề thuyết trình Con có động lực thuyết trình Con khơng bị gián đoạn người nghe Phần 2: Con mong muốn điều từ giáo viên bạn để giúp bạn vượt qua khó khăn trên? STT Sự mong mn từ giáo viên Giáo viên đưa nhiều chủ đề thú vị Giáo viên hướng dẫn chi tiết cách làm Rất Đồng đồng ý ý V Khơng có ý kiến Khơng Rất khơng đồng ý đồng ý thuyết trình tốt Giáo viên cho điểm cao phần thưởng cho thuyết trình tốt Giáo viên giúp liệt kê ý cho thuyết trình Giáo viên đưa hoạt động để học sinh sử dụng ngơn ngữ mà khơng sợ mắc lỗi Cảm ơn dành thời gian để tham gia khảo sát! VI APPENDIX Observation checklist No 10 11 12 Difficulties Appeared Language Speakers not use appropriate transitional words Speakers make grammar mistakes Speakers have incorrect pronunciation Presentations lack appropriate vocabulary and expressions Presentations lack appropriate structure of sentences Content Presentations are given in a disorganized way Speakers not outline the presentation objectives to audience Speakers not stick to the objectives of the speech Presentations lack a good connection of ideas Speakers deliver the presentation with unclear ideas and examples Personal trait Speakers speak with lack of confidence Speakers hesitate while VII Disappeared Notes 13 14 15 presenting Speakers not keep eyecontact with audience Speakers lack using body language and gestures External factor Speakers are interrupted by audience VIII APPENDIX Interview Questions What are the most common and serious difficulties in terms of language faced by your elementary students in doing presentation? Can you give examples? What are the most common and serious difficulties in terms of content faced by your elementary students in doing presentation? Can you give examples? What are the most common and serious difficulties in terms of personal trait faced by your elementary students in doing presentation? Can you give examples? What are the most common and serious difficulties in terms of external factor faced by your elementary students in doing presentation? Can you give examples? Among four groups of difficulties above, what is the most popular and serious group? Why What your students expect from you to help them overcome their difficulties in doing presentation? How can teachers to help our students overcome their difficulties in doing presentation? IX APPENDIX The transcription of the interview What are the most popular and serious difficulties in terms of language faced by your elementary students in doing presentation? Can you give examples? - Teacher 1: Young learners often find it difficult to express their ideas because they not have enough vocabulary - Teacher 2: The language is difficult for them to comprehend the concepts and express their emotions, thoughts and ideas They have a habit of translating words by words when they presentation - Teacher 3: My students may need more structures and vocabulary to express their ideas Some students don‟t use vocabulary effectively as they not take notice at the use of word forms and prepositions What are the most popular and serious difficulties in terms of content faced by your elementary students in doing presentation? Can you give examples? - Teacher 1: Young learners often not have the clear ideas and steps for each part of their presentation, so that their content sometimes lacks connection and ambiguous - Teacher 2: They have a great difficulty in presenting a new topic without any background support Some topics are unfamiliar to the students - Teacher 3: Students find it is hard to remember what they prepared to say They also need time to arrange the ideas What are the most popular and serious difficulties in terms of personal trait faced by your elementary students in doing presentation? Can you give examples? - Teacher 1: Some young learners are shy and nervous when doing presentation - Teacher 2: Students with distinct personalities have many differences in learning languages The extrovert learners are active and enjoy group X work in class Otherwise, the introvert ones prefer writing exercises and working individually - Teacher 3: Students are often afraid of talking in front of many friends or people They feel shy, so they not want to raise their voice Students think that making mistakes is a terrible thing which makes them reluctant and embarrassed What are the most popular and serious difficulties in terms of external factor faced by your elementary students in doing presentation? Can you give examples? - Teacher 1: They not prepare posters, pictures or power point which support for their presentation - Teacher 2: There are some factors that come from outside such as motivation and cultural background - Teacher 3: Their mood is not good because of their sickness or other things that happened to them Among four groups of difficulties above, what is the most popular and serious group? Why? - Teacher 1: The most serious and popular problem comes from their language If they have enough vocabulary, they can express their ideas using different and various words, so that they can convey their presentation to the audience - Teacher 2: The most serious and popular group is the external factors They play an important role in the classroom The students are willing to take part in the lessons when their level of motivation is increased by their teacher Being aware of the cultural background helps students to gain the knowledge effectively - Teacher 3: The most serious and popular factor is the students‟ personal trait It takes time and efforts for both students and the teacher to make improvement XI What your students expect from you to help them overcome their difficulties in doing presentation? - Teacher 1: Students hope that they can get enough vocabulary and ideas for their presentation, so that they can feel confident in doing presentation - Teacher 2: The students need to have specific learning goals to reach, be positive and work hard with teachers‟ assistance - Teacher 3: Teachers support them in terms of language and practice, provide them chances to practice and correction How can teachers to help our students overcome their difficulties in doing presentation? - Teacher 1: Teachers should teach students how to form the clear structure for the presentation and provide them with the necessary vocabulary for expressing their ideas and connecting their idea - Teacher 2: The teachers should understand their leaners‟ different styles, personalities and background to foster students‟ interests, create more helpful activities that meet students‟ needs and have a positive attitude towards behaviours towards learning language - Teacher 3: Teachers can encourage students to practice, guide them step by step and pay students compliment for their effort XII ... speaking lesson The above reasons are the main ones for the birth of the study entitled ? ?The difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson: A case of an English. .. to be an important skill to communicate Oral presentation takes an important role in teaching and learning English, especially in teaching and learning English speaking skill However, many students. .. obtain the difficulties of elementary students when doing oral presentation in a speaking lesson The study was conducted in an English center in Hanoi This center teaches English for kindergarten,