FOREIGN TEACHERS: A KEY FACTOR TO IMPROVE

SPEAKING SKILL FOR EFL STUDENTS IN VIETNAM

CHAPTER 4: FINDING AND DISCUSSION
4.1: DATA ANALYSIS and FINDINGS
Of the 185 respondents that took part, 141 (76,2%) were students from higher
education, 32 (17,3%) were from high school, and 12 (6,5%) were from secondary
school.

Table 1: Pie chart of education levels among respondents

The results and finding are as shown below:

a) Question 1:

Table 2: Bar graph of the effectiveness of different skills when participating in a learning environment with foreign teachers.
 What abilities would show to be more useful when taking part in a learning
setting with foreign teachers, the question was posed. Eighty-five percent of students
say speaking would be the best option because foreign teachers naturally speak
English well. Furthermore, more than half of the students (58,4%) selected that
learning from non-local teachers can enhance their listening skills. The survey also
received 29,7% and 20,5% for writing and reading, respectively. This outcome makes
it clear that foreign teachers play a critical role in the success of the English language
learning process.
b) Question 2:
The next inquiry focused on evaluating the improvement in speaking
proficiency following instruction from foreign teachers, and here are the evidence:

Table 3: Bar graph of people’s self-assessment of their improvement in speaking skills

After learning in a classroom with foreign teachers, the majority of students

thought that their speaking ability had improved. To be more precise, 32,5% of
students rate their learning process at 6-7, which is considered a good improvement,
after working with non-local professors. There is the greatest percentage in the entire
chart—29,7%—of students who agreed that their speaking growth is at rate 8 (very
good). The high numbers for rates 9 and 10, which are 16,8% and 8.5%, respectively,
are especially noteworthy. Furthermore, after working with foreign teachers, 15
pupils (8.1%) feel that their performance is mediocre. Nonetheless, some negative
ratings continue to remain on file; a total of 9 (4.8%) pupils state that there has been
no change or only a minimal improvement: One student (0.5%) gives one point,
another student (0.5%) gives two points, four students (2.2%) provide three points,
and three students (1.6%) rate four points.
c) Question 3:
 The following points make up the 5-point Likert scale used to assess how much
the speaking process of learning with foreign educators has improved: (1) Disagree;
(2) Agree; (3) Neutral; (4) Agree; and (5) Strongly Agree:

Table 4: Bar graph of confidence boost in speaking skills after learning with foreign teachers.

The first concern is whether or not pupils become more confident when
learning in an environment where teachers cannot communicate in Vietnamese.
According to the findings, 37.3% of them expressed a neutral opinion regarding the
capacity to increase confidence. However, a comparatively large percentage of
students—28.1% and 10.8%, respectively—commented that they agreed or strongly
agreed.
d) Question 4:

Table 5: Bar chart of language comprehension growth after learning speaking with foreign teachers.
 The next question asks how much the learner's ability to perceive context and nuances
has improved as a result of communicating with a non-local speaker. The number is highly
positive. Only 2.2% of participants said that their language comprehension had not
shown noteworthy progress after communicating with native speakers. Moreover,
among the large crowd, some people said that their comprehension level at least got
better to some degree. This comprised 5.4% of them. On the other hand, among these
35.7% of the participants who had conversed with native speakers, almost 56% of
them indicated having a moderate amendment in their competencies of perceiving
subtle nuances of the language. Also, the sample marked a quite sizeable
improvement (41.6%) as far as language accuracy is concerned, which demonstrates
a substantial improvement in the comprehension of linguistic subtleties. The next
highest rating went to 15.1% of the surveyed population. This represented a
substantial improvement in their comprehension of modality and cohesion devices, a
special feature of English.
e) Question 5:

Table 6: Bar chart of fluency enhancement by learning speaking with foreign teachers'

Significant advancement was attributed by a notable minority to interactions

with foreign teachers. These students saw language diversity as an opportunity for
personal development. The largest percentage of responders said there had been
significant improvement. Interacting with educators who do not speak English as
their first language improved their fluency. Most reported only modest increases in
fluency. Their language growth was greatly aided by conversations with foreign
teachers. A small portion recognized minor improvements. These students identified
small steps forward that came from being exposed to different language models. Few
students claimed that their language proficiency had improved as a result of speaking
with foreign teachers. This result emphasizes how uncommon this perception is.
f) Question 6:
 A negligible proportion of pupils (1.1%) reported no language fluency
improvement after interacting with foreign teachers. Importantly, a modest segment
(8.1%) acknowledged slight enhancements, recognizing incremental progress
resulting from exposure to diverse linguistic models. Furthermore, the majority
(31.9%) perceived moderate gains in fluency, with conversations with foreign
teachers significantly contributing to their language development. Notably, the
highest number of respondents (39.5%) indicated substantial improvement,
emphasizing the positive impact of engaging with non-native-speaking educators.
Additionally, a notable minority (19.5%) attributed significant progress to these
interactions, actively embracing linguistic diversity as a catalyst for growth in their
fluency levels.
g) Question 7:

Table 8: Bar chart of pronunciation improvement in speaking through learning with foreign teachers

There is a Likert scale from 1 to 5 for the data. A considerable percentage of

participants (40%) provided a rating of 4, signifying a notable improvement in their
language proficiency. A further 26.5% of respondents gave the improvement a rating
of 3, indicating a moderate improvement. The combined percentage of these two
groups (66.5%) highlights the effectiveness of interacting with instructors of foreign
languages. The majority of respondents appeared to feel some progress, based on the
smallest percentage of responses (0.5%) for the lowest grade 1. The responses to the
ratings of 2 and 5 were almost equal, indicating a wide range of experiences. In
conclusion, the evidence suggests that communication with foreign instructors is
typically linked to observable gains in language ability.
h) Question 8:
 The graph gives a clear picture of how students who have taken classes from
foreign professors consider their vocabulary to have grown. At the outset, it is clear
that a very small percentage—exactly 0.5%—felt that there had been no discernible
improvement and gave the rating of 1. For those who rated 2 or lower, there is a
steady increase to 7.6%, suggesting only a minor improvement in vocabulary.
Moreover, the information shows that more than a quarter (28.1%) gave a rating of 3,
which denotes moderate progress. Furthermore, the largest percentage of participants
(40%) ascribed their significant vocabulary growth to studying under foreign
instructors, assigning a rating of 4. Finally, almost a quarter (23.8%) gave their
vocabulary growth the highest rating of 5, indicating that they were completely
satisfied with it. According to these statistics, most students reported a noticeable
increase in vocabulary after working with foreign professors.
i) Question 9:

Table 10: Bar chart of listening skill enhancement through learning with foreign teachers

To further investigate how communicating with overseas teachers affects

listening skill, survey takers are asked to evaluate their improvement in listening skill
after the process. The next picture reveals a bar chart where research participants
express their opinions about how their contacts with foreign instructors have evolved
their listening skills. It is peculiar to note that a majority of them i.e. 50.3% have
marked their progression at level 4, which reveals the significant development in
their abilities. Additionally, notable is that 28.1% ranked their growth as a level 3,
clearly meaning that they have progressed a lot. Nevertheless, only a few percent of
inquirers (4.9% and 0.5%, respectively) scored themselves with 2 and 1, which
indicated no or little progress. Last of all, 16.2% of people gave themselves a level 5
mark which implies that they are the best they can be. In general, the graph depicts
that students’ listening proficiency is improved when they are interacting with whom
are foreign teachers.
j) Question 10:
 In summary, surveyors are asked to rate how likely they are to suggest overseas
tutors to their peers to improve their speaking skills. The bar graph shows that only a
small fraction of people considers conversing with foreigners to be a waste of time
and, perhaps, money. Specifically, only six respondents, which take up to 3.2% of the
total, had a thought that they would not involve foreigners when concerning
practicing speaking abilities. Furthermore, 30.3% of the respondents consider that
there are both advantages and disadvantages to practicing with a foreign teacher to
enhance speaking capabilities. Therefore, they would narrow down the
recommendation of this approach to individuals with a strong foundation of the
English language only. However, the majority of surveyors tend to practice speaking
foreign language as frequently as possible.
4.2: DISCUSSION
The main hypothesis of this survey is that interactions with foreign teachers would
bring favorable benefits to language learning, especially when it comes to improving
speaking abilities. The survey's results strongly support the theory as a big portion of
surveyors indicated that they witnessed some improvement in their English skills,
particularly speaking. The outcome also provides new interesting findings. First, most
respondents—especially those in higher education—said that they would prefer to study
with foreign instructors, considering that the professors' fluency in speaking English is a big
fortune. Moreover, participants agree that communication skills are crucial in the learning
process, and they regard conversational speaking with foreign speakers as the biggest reason
for language improvement. The results have also shown that the native teachers are
remarkable in helping students' fluency and pronunciation to be improved. It is interesting to
see that most of the participants responded positively and indicated moderate to major
advancement in their language skills, which really shows that learning from non-natives has
huge effects. Surprisingly insightful as the survey results may appear, one can hardly fail to
notice some issues. To start, the findings of the study could be based on self-reporting, and
this may introduce a bias and also lack objectivity. On the other hand, higher education is
the category that is mainly covered by the results of the questionnaire sample, leading to
questions about how relevant the findings are for other educational environments. Besides,
the survey design may not have portrayed the complete factors that determine language
learning outcomes like mode of study and proficiency levels prior to the study. The
consequence is that all such aspects are beneficial for teaching languages. The foreign
teacher's positive collaborations can be underscored by the educators and curriculum
designers to craft successful language learning programs. Introducing the students to
opportunities where they interact and practice speaking with somebody of the native
speakers' language assists them build their confidence and mastering the language. Besides
institutions, another way to expand learning is by developing relationships with international
teachers. This move will enable them to provide various educational chances and exposure
to different language models. Speaking about the study conducted, there are some
recommendations for further development of the research and practice. First and foremost,
future research would underscore the necessity of observing a more diverse and bigger
population that will include a wider scope of contexts and learners. In addition, educators
will need to shift to a learner-centered approach, which will be determined by the learners’
needs and style of learning and the foreign instructors will have an influence as teachers
incorporate them in language teaching. Eventually, in a way, institutions and policymakers
need to create programs and supply resources to improve the teaching proficiency of foreign
language teachers in language instruction.