SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND TOURISM

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Research Proposal
Student’s name: Nguyễn Kim Huy
Student code: 2019607534

Improve English speaking skills for first-year

students of foreign language faculty.

Field: English Linguistics

Supervisor: Dr. Dang Thi Minh Tam

Hanoi, 2022
TABLE OF CONTENT:
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Table of content:.................................................................2
I. Introduction.....................................................................3
II. Literature review...........................................................3
2.1. The definition of speaking skill:...........................................3
2.2. The importance of speaking skills:.......................................3
2.3. Factors affecting students' speaking skills:.........................4
2.3.1. Learning motivation:......................................................4
2.3.2. Learning attitude:............................................................5
2.3.3. Learning strategy:...........................................................5
III. Proposed research methodology:...............................6
3.1. Research question:.................................................................6
3.2. Research Methods..................................................................6
3.3. Content of Questionnaires:...................................................7
3.4. Research subject:...................................................................8
3.5. Data collection and processing:............................................8
IV. Expected findings and solutions:................................8
4.1. The situation of students’ English learning ability:...........8
4.1.1. English ability:................................................................8
4.1.2. Situation of speaking ability of students:........................9
4.1.3. Factors affecting students' speaking skills:.....................9
References.........................................................................11

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I. INTRODUCTION
In the current era of integration and development, English is an
international communication language and is becoming an important
means of communication. English is an effective tool, playing a great role
in helping students at Hanoi University of Industry to meet the inevitable
requirements to catch the job opportunities in the age of international
integration. Currently, there are many first-year students of non-English
majors who have certain difficulties in learning English, even first-year
students of English language major. In this article, the researcher examine
the current status of English learning in general and practice speaking
skills for first-year students of the English language major, thereby
making some suggestions to improve the quality of teaching and learning
foreign languages in schools.

The research proposal will be divided in to 4 main parts,

Introduction, Literature review, Proposed research methodology,
Expected finding and solution respectively.

II. LITERATURE REVIEW

II.1. The definition of speaking skill:
Scholars have different conceptions of speaking skills. According to
Thornbury (2005: 78), speaking in a second language is different from
speaking in a native language because learners lack vocabulary and
grammatical knowledge; the process of arranging grammar and words is
not automatic in the creation of a second language. Therefore, speaking
competence occurs when a speaker is able to communicate by exchanging
information accurately and fluently with the right choice and use of
vocabulary and structures. Speaking is the ability to express something by
putting ideas into words so that people understand the message being
conveyed; is the ability to exercise linguistic knowledge in practical
communication to express one's ideas, feelings, thoughts, and needs.

II.2. The importance of speaking skills:

According to Parupalli (2019), English is spoken all over the world
and it has gained the status of a global language. English is a widely used
language in the fields of scientific research, education, business, tourism,
media and journalism, software, medicine, engineering, information and
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technology, entertainment. It is the only primary language used to write
scientific research articles as more than 85% of research publications are
in English. It is the international language used for commerce and
commerce. According to Baker and Westrup (2003), learners who speak
English very well may have more opportunities to study better, find a
good job and get promoted. Thus, it can be affirmed that it is speaking
skills that help the English language perform its own communication
function. Moreover, speaking skills also contribute to strengthening
learners' listening skills, helping to increase vocabulary and practice
related skills. Therefore, many Vietnamese students who learn English
want to study and practice a lot to improve their speaking skills, helping
them to study and work in the future.

II.3. Factors affecting students' speaking skills:

II.3.1.Learning motivation:
The success or failure of students in learning English in general as
well as in learning English speaking skills in particular depends on many
different factors. In which, the following three factors are assessed as the
most important: learning motivation, learning attitude and learning
strategy. When it comes to learner motivation, Cole and Chan (1994)
mention two main motivations: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic
motivation. Extrinsic motivation refers to factors outside the classroom.
The factors outside the classroom are the attraction and gradual
absorption of the culture of the community using that language. Learners
want to learn about that culture and integrate into that culture. Factors
outside the classroom are also the need to use a foreign language as a
second language to achieve a specific goal such as applying for a job,
salary increase. According to Harmer (1991), motivation is the intrinsic
drive that encourages a person to pursue a course of action. If we perceive
a goal and if that goal is attractive enough, we will be motivated to
achieve it.

According to Harmer (1991), motivation is the intrinsic effort that

encourages a person to pursue a process act. If we see a goal and if that
goal is popular enough, we will be motivated to achieve that goal [7].
When it comes to people's learning motivation In academics, authors
Cole and Chan (1994) mentioned two main motivations: extrinsic
motivation and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is related to the
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weak factors outside the classroom. Factors outside the classroom are the
attraction and absorption of culture of the community that uses that
language. Learners want to learn about that culture and integrate into that
culture. Factors outside the classroom are also the need to use foreign
languages such as second language to achieve a specific goal, for
example: to apply for a job, raise salary, promote, etc.

Unlike extrinsic motivation, internal motivation is closely related to

the factors that take place inside class. According to authors Cole and
Chan (1994), this motivation plays an important role in determining
determine students' learning attitudes. A student without an external
motivation can still have an attitude study actively and achieve good
results in study. Intrinsic motivation is affected by a number of factors
The first is the physical condition of the classroom, the equipment for
teaching and learning, the environment surroundings and the size of the
class; the second is the teaching method, this is a factor determine the
student's interest in the subject; the third is personality, knowledge and
enthusiasm and interest of teachers, the factors that create attraction and
attraction for students; final is the success or failure of the students
themselves in learning.

II.3.2.Learning attitude:
Learner's learning attitude is a factor that has a great influence on
the success of learners themselves. According to Gardner and Lambert
(1972), attitude is the persistence that learners pledge to pursue one goal.
According to Brown (2000), attitudes are learners' beliefs about the
language-using community and their culture. Learning attitude and
learning motivation are closely related. Attitude towards learning a
foreign language is a motivating factor for learners to try their best to
achieve their goals. In contrast, motivation affects learners' attitudes. We
can clearly see that learners with good extrinsic or intrinsic motivation
will have a more positive learning attitude than those without motivation
or those who view learning as an imperative task.

II.3.3.Learning strategy:
Good students are often able to self-study foreign languages very
well, they always actively plan specific learning for themselves and
confidently participate in learning activities. The weak students mainly

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depend on the teacher and can hardly manage on their own, and at the
same time, the self-discipline is not high, lack of diligence. According to
Oxford (1990), learning strategies are specific actions that learners take to
make their learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more effective, and
easily adaptable. O'Mally and Chamot (1990) argue that effective
learning strategies include planning learning, monitoring learning and
evaluating work done. Learning strategies also include being aware of
ways to handle learning such as taking notes, using dictionaries, and other
sources. It is also the interaction with classmates, pairs or the same class
in class communication activities. Student who wants to achieve good
results in study must not only have the right learning motivation and
positive learning attitude, but they also need to have the right learning
strategy. This is also the reason why many students love English, invest a
lot of time in learning English, but it is still not effective and achieve the
desired results.

III. PROPOSED RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

III.1. Research question:
To find out the English speaking status of first-year English
language students at Hanoi University of Industry, the researcher raised
two research questions: “What is the current status of students' English
speaking?” and “What are the effective solutions to improve students'
English speaking?”. By answering these two questions, the situation of
students' English speaking skill will be revealed, and many solutions will
be given to solve this.

III.2. Research Methods

This study is carried out on qualitative research methods, in which
data is collected through the use of Questionnaires.

According to Hennink, Hutter & Bailey “Qualitative research is a

broad umbrella term that covers a wide range of techniques and
philosophies; thus it is not easy to define. In broad terms, qualitative
research is an approach that allows you to examine people's experiences
in detail by using a specific set of research methods such as in - depth
interviews, focus group discussions, observation, content analysis, visual
methods, and life histories or biographies. Qualitative research, however,
is much more than just the application of qualitative methods. Simply
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applying the methods does not automatically make you a qualitative
researcher. Perhaps one of the most distinctive features of qualitative
research is that the approach allows you to identify issues from the
perspective of your study participants and understand the meaning and
interpretations that they give to behavior, events or objects. For example,
to understand their experience of illness or disability, their experience of
using a health service, or to identify their social or cultural norms. This is
referred to as the interpretive approach. To derive this information a
qualitative researcher needs to be open - minded, curious and empathic,
flexible and able to listen to people telling their own story. Qualitative
researchers also study people in their natural settings, to identify how
their experiences and behavior are shaped by the context of their lives,
such as the social, economic, cultural or physical context in which they
live. Therefore, qualitative research also seeks to embrace and
understand the contextual influences on the research issues.”

According to previous studies by author Gillham (2000), when

using survey questionnaires, respondents are not pressured for time, they
answer questions at their own time, pace, they can answer anonymously
so they will certainly feel free and comfortable answering questions.
Therefore, the information collected is objective and reliable. The author
also stated that, to collect survey data, it is very useful to apply interviews
to research participants.

III.3. Content of Questionnaires:

The content of the questionnaire will consist of two parts. The first
part will be questions about the English ability of the research subjects. In
this part, the research author will ask questions about students' basic
knowledge of English subjects, English speaking ability and high school
graduation scores in English. The second part will include questions
about the level of English speaking ability, along with questions about
students' English study habits. Through the questions, the research author
will know the level of students at each level: unable to speak, poor
speaking ability, average speaking ability and excellent in speaking.
Through the above questions, the research author will be able to make
assessments, learn more deeply about students' study habits, thereby find
the cause of the problem, as well as find solutions to help students
overcome difficulties in learning their English speaking skills.

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 III.4. Research subject:
In this study, the research subjects will be 20 freshmen of foreign
languages department of Hanoi University of Industry. These are subjects
who have just graduated from high school and are still not familiar with
the way of studying at university level. Therefore, it will be difficult for
them to get used to the new way of learning, as well as keep up with the
learning progress, thereby making it increasingly difficult for them to
learn English skills, especially English speaking skills. Moreover, these
subjects did not learn or learned very little about English listening,
speaking, reading and writing skills while studying in high schools. In the
curriculum at the high school level, most of them learn about vocabulary
and grammar, common skills only make up a very small part of the
curriculum.

III.5. Data collection and processing:

The researcher sent the survey questionnaire to the students in the
10th week of the subject via Google forms to find out the actual results of
the speaking test. After the students answered, the data will be collected,
statistical and aggregated. The researcher calculates the percentages and
output relevant charts.

IV. EXPECTED FINDINGS AND SOLUTIONS:

IV.1. The situation of students’ English learning ability:
IV.1.1. English ability:
The expected finding may be that many students are below the
average of speaking ability, and the reasons may be that English is only
considered as a subject, not a means of communication, thinking,
exchange or discussion, so it is not respected and taught. Besides,
students' language skills may still limited, especially listening and
speaking skills. The vast majority of students may not have the habit or
cannot communicate with each other in English fluently. Especially in
English speaking lessons, most of the students may not have the habit of
doing speaking practice in pairs or groups. The study level of students
may uneven and there may be a big difference in English ability between
students. In the learning process, due to fear of communicating in English
and lack of vocabulary, the implementation of speaking activities in class

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may not be smooth and creative. Therefore, the practice may still
stereotyped, unnatural.

IV.1.2. Situation of speaking ability of students:

The author of the study will survey and assess the speaking skills
of students through the scores of the speaking test (2nd test) and the author
may find that the percentage of students who do not meet the medium
score accounts for 40%. The results of the survey may show that there are
still many students who do not pay attention to speaking skills in learning
English. Through the survey question, the researcher may learn that many
students still do not clearly identify the importance of speaking skill, so
they do not spend much time on regular practice of this skill. Since then,
researcher will study the factors affecting the speaking skills of students
in order to find suitable solutions to improve the speaking ability of
students.

IV.1.3. Factors affecting students' speaking skills:

The survey results may show that students are not really investing
time to practice more speaking skills after school. Many students may not
have a rich vocabulary and may not have effective learning and practice
methods. They may be negligent in learning, passive in class, not
motivated to learn when going to class. Therefore, the results of speaking
skills may be not as expected.

Another reason may be that most students do not have an effective

way to learn, which is specifically shown as follows:

- Prepare lessons before going to class: students only focus on the

meaning of words and how to write words, not on pronunciation and
structure. In addition, they do not have the habit of preparing ideas for
situations as well as speaking topics, so when students participate in
speaking activities in class, they cannot immediately meet the
requirements of the teacher.

- Learning vocabulary: students often have the habit of knowing

words in a single way, reading and writing them over and over again to
remember words, but do not have the habit or do not know how to put
them in a specific context or learn to combine them with other words.

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This way of learning takes a lot of time, but the effect of remembering
words is very limited.

- Speaking activity in class: students receive topics/situations, then

discuss in pairs, groups or individually to come up with ideas. Usually,
they think in Vietnamese and then translate that idea into English and
write it down on paper. When the teacher asks for a presentation, the
student looks at the paper to read, it makes the speech unnatural and
fluent. Therefore, the student not only speaks poorly, but also affects the
class time, so other students in the class will not have the opportunity to
present their part.

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REFERENCES
Baker, J., & Westrup. (2003). Essential speaking skills.

Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching.

Cole P.G. & Chan L. (1994). Teaching Principles and Practice.

Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in second-language

learning.

Harmer, J. (2001). The practice of English language teaching. 401-405.

O'malley, J. Michael and Anna Uhl Chamot. (1990). Learning strategies in second language
acquisition. Cambridge university press.

Oxford, R. L. (1992). Research on second language learning strategies. Annual review of

applied linguistics 13, 174-187.

RAO, P. S. (2019). The importance of speaking skills in English classrooms.

Thornbury, Scott. (2005). How to teach speaking. Longman.

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