DIFFICULTIES OF WORKING IN PAIRS IN SPEAKING LESSONS OF

FIRST YEAR ENGLISH STUDENTS AT HUCFL

I. LITERATURE REVIEW:

English speaking skills play an important role to most of aspects in life. They
can be considered to be valuable to one’s success in both the classroom and the
workplace because they not only help you in your higher education but they are also
helpful to your future job. In learning English, speaking is one of the four basic skills
that the students should gain well. Speaking is the productive skill. It has an important
role in communication. Speaking skills are one of the most important skills we learn,
as they allow us to communicate with others and express our thoughts and feelings.
When we speak, we produce the text and it should be meaningful. In the nature of
communication, we can find the speaker, the listener, the message and the feedback.
Speaking skills can be separated into formal and informal speaking skills, and we use
both types of speaking skills in a variety of contexts throughout life. Informal
speaking skills are important for conversations with friends and family, helping us to
form emotional connections. Formal speech, on the other hand, is necessary for
workplaces, in presentations or for conversations with people you don’t know. Formal
language is important as it helps us to make a good impression on people and
communicate politely.
Therefore, we need to improve own formal and informal skills. And the big
question for us: how do we improve? In carrying out speaking, students face some
difficulties, one of them is interacting with the opposites. In fact, most of students get
difficulties to speak even though they have a lot of vocabularies and have written
them well. The problem is that they are afraid to speak and to make an eye contact
with their partners.
"Teaching speaking means teaching the students to use the language in
real communication”. Therefore, working in pairs is an effective speaking learning
method used by many teachers. Pair work is a type of classroom interaction when
students are working with another student. According Diani &Agung in Bambang and
Nur (2011:42) “Teaching Speaking should improve student’s communicative skills,
because only in that way, students can express themselves and learn how to follow
the social and culture rules appropriate in each communicative circumstance”.
However, many students still have difficulty learning this method, especially for
freshman.
 Urrutia, & Vega (2006) conducted an action research project on the
understanding and actions taken to improve speaking skills through games in a public
school called “Federico García Lorca” in Colombia. The sample in this study was
twenty girls and twenty boys from 14 to 18 years old. Questionnaires, teacher’s
journals and video recordings were used as data collection instruments. The results of
the study were the majority of students considered that speaking is the most
complicated ability to work out; also, the researchers noticed that students sometimes
spoke English, but the majority of them did not speak during the English class.
(according to Improving English Language Speaking Skills of Ajloun National
University Students).
Therefore, in this study we work together to find solutions to overcome the
problems that students are encountered in studying speaking generally and in
communication in particular. To the best of our knowledge, the perception of
speaking skills as well as the difficulties of HUCFL, particularly English major
students was unexplored. Therefore, our group decided to conduct this project based
on these previous researches to understand the difficulties that Vietnamese students in
general and First year students at HUEFL in particular often face during speaking and
provide them with helpful solutions to improve their skills. This will be the solution
being proposed based on the needs of the students, it not only helps students improve
their speaking skills but also remove the fear, lack of confidence when
communicating with others.

With our research aims, we focused on the following questions:

1. How do first year students at HUFL feel about working in pairs in speaking lessons?
2. What are difficulties these students often face when they work in pairs?
3. What do these students often do to improve their speaking skills with their partners?
Sources Settings Methods Major findings Reflections Quotes
" I. Introduction 5 methods: 1. What are the To shortcut the " Cotter (2007)
IMPROVI 1. Introduction - Research tasks that findings of this argues that …
NG 2. Statement Design students use in study, new ‘Someone who
ENGLISH of the problem - developing strategies should speaks well would
LANGUA 3. Research Population their speaking be involved to similarly
GE questions and sample skill at ANU? improve students understand when to
SPEAKIN 4. of the study 2. What are the English language use different
G SKILLS Significance - Research influential speaking skill at grammar points'"
OF of the study Instrument factors that ANU. " Hamzah & Ting,
AJLOUN II. Review of - Data related to the It is suggested that (2009) conducted a
NATIONA Related collections students' English lectures qualitative and
L Literature - Data weakness level create situations action research
UNIVERSI III. Research analysis. at in speaking that can encourage study on success of
TY Methodology skill at ANU? learners to using
STUDENT IV. Results 3. How can produce English group work in
S" and Findings students oral interactions teaching speaking
V. overcome the because such in English
Discussions weakness in interactions can classroom in a
VII. speaking skill provide learners school called
Recommendat at ANU? with opportunities “SMK Damai Jaya”
ions to explain in Malaysia "
concepts and help ( Page 183 + 184 )
them to vocalize
concrete meaning,
leaners can lean
their tendency
towards English
oral
communication
activities.
"A I. Introduction Descriptive What is the In conclusion, " Pronunciation is
STUDY 1. method most dominant psychological as important as any
ON Communicativ problem faced problems is the other aspects of
STUDENT e Competence by the third most dominant foreign language
'S in English semester problem faced by learning like syntax
ENGLISH Language students of the third semester or vocabulary.
SPEAKIN Teaching English students of Correct
G 2. Speaking in Education English Education pronunciation is
PROBLE Language Study Program Study Program of very necessary to
MS IN Teaching and of FKIP FKIP Tanjungpura develop speaking
SPEAKIN Learning Tanjungpura University skill.
G 3. The University Pontianak. Pronunciation also
PERFORM Importance of Pontianak? has close
ANCE " Speaking connections to the
( Tanjungp 4. Problems in other fields such as
ura Speaking listening and even
University, Performance grammar. Once a
Pontianak ) 5. person can
Psychological pronounce correctly
problems the endings of the
 6. Lack of words, for example,
Self- he can, at the same
Confidence time give
II. Method grammatical
III. Findings information. "
and discussion
IV. Psychological
Conclusion problems
and suggestion are those problems,
V. References. which often
interfere the
emotional or
physical health.
These
" psychological
problems may
bring negative
effect towards
student’s speaking
performance."
(page 6)
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IMPLEME INTRODUCT Design students in technique misery
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OF ROLE 1.1 Qualitative Bandar students' speaking often valuable
PLAY IN Background of Research Lampung at achievement in if you are patient to
SPEAKIN the Problem Indicators first year still each component. face it.
G AT THE 1.2 of the do not master Role play can (Benjamin
FIRST Formulation Research one of the improve students' Ferdinand)
YEAR OF of the Instrument components in activities and In order to make
SMA Problems of the the speaking teacher's the right
NEGENI 9 1.3 Objective Research skill? performance in communication
BANDAR of the Data teaching speaking. either formal or
LAMPUN Research Analysis informal way,
G" 1.4 Uses of speaking skill is a
the Research must.
1.5 Scope of How knowledge
the Research you possess,
1.6 Definition doesn't matter, the
of Terms matter is what you
II. convey and how
LITERATUR you convey.
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III. must know, what is
RESEARCH speaking and types
METHODS of speaking?
IV. RESULTS
AND
DISCUSSION
S
V.
 CONCLUSIO
NS AND
SUGGESTIO
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Group 3:
1. Hoàng Thị Hương
2. Lê Hồng Nhi
3. Trần Thị Thu Uyên