VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -    - BÙI THỊ NGỌC HUỆ A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANAM TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE (Nghiên cứu chiến thuật thúc đẩy dạy kỹ nói cho sinh viên năm chuyên ngành tiếng Anh trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Hà Nam) MINOR M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Hanoi, 2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -    - BÙI THỊ NGỌC HUỆ A STUDY ON MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS TO THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANAM TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE (Nghiên cứu chiến thuật thúc đẩy dạy kỹ nói cho sinh viên năm chuyên ngành tiếng Anh trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm Hà Nam) MINOR M.A THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Văn Độ Hanoi, 2013 DECLARATION I certify that this minor thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Master of Arts is the result of my own work The data and findings in the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere Signature Bùi Thị Ngọc Huệ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To accomplish this study, I am indebted to many people for their meaningful help First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Van Do for his valuable guidance, enthusiastic support, critical feedback, and especially, his enormous encouragement for the completion of the study I am also grateful to all the lecturers of Post-graduate Department, Hanoi, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University for their enthusiastic guidance and valuable lectures during the course I would like to express my sincere thanks to all my colleagues and my students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College for their helpful participation in my questionnaires and my interviews, without which my thesis could not have been accomplished Finally, I am indebted to my friends and my family, especially my husband for his love, his care, his help and his enormous encouragement during the process of writing this thesis, and my little baby, who gave me great inspiration and spiritual support for the completion of this study ii ABSTRACT Motivation is considered one of the most important factors in helping teaching and learning gain success The majority of the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College need motivating to get effective communication in English speaking skills because of the fact that at high school they almost only focus on other skills such as reading, writing, grammatical competence to pass the entrance exam Therefore, this study aims at investigating kinds of motivation the first-year English major students are having, strategies and techniques teachers of speaking are applying to motivate their students, as well as seeking difficulties the students are facing Then, some suggestions on motivational strategies and techniques are provided for teachers and students to help them to succeed in speaking lessons The instruments employed in this study were surveyed questionnaires for teachers and first-year English major students, direct interviews and classroom observation The data collected were calculated, analyzed and the results were also drawn out iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching No: Number L2: Second language LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Components of foreign language learning motivation (Dornyei, 1994a: 280) Table 2: Williams and Burden’s (1997) framework of motivation in language learning Table 3: Students’ goal for learning speaking Table 4: Necessity to motivate students in stages of a speaking lesson Table 5: Activities teachers before a speaking task Table 6: Ways of organizing speaking activities Table 7: Ways of grouping Table 8: Activities teachers while students practice speaking Table 9: Activities teachers when students show low motivation in speaking activities Table 10: Activities teachers to encourage students to speak Table 11: Activities teachers after students finish practicing Table 12: The motivational strategies used by the teachers by frequency Table 13: Level of difficulty of speaking English well Table 14: Difficulties students encounter when participating in speaking activities Table 15: Students’ preference of being grouped iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ……………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………… iii LIST OF ABREVIATION …………………………………………………… iv LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………… iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………………………………………………… v PART I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………… 1 Rationale of the study ……………………………………………………… Aims of the study …………………………………………………………… Research questions ………………………………………………………… Methods of the study ………………………………………………………… Scope of the study …………………………………………………………… Significance of the study …………………………………………………… Design of the study ………………………………………………………… PART II: DEVELOPMENT ………………………………………………… CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………… 1.1 Theoretical background of motivation …………………………………… 1.1.1 Definitions of motivation ……………………………………………… 1.1.2 Motivation in L2 learning ……………………………………………… 1.1.3 Type of motivation in L2 learning ……………………………………… 1.1.4 The importance of motivation in L2 learning ………………………… 1.1.5 Main de-motivating factors affecting motivation in L2 learning ……… 10 1.1.5.1 Definitions of de-motivation ……………………………………… 10 1.1.5.2 Main de-motivating factors affecting motivation in L2 learning …… 11 1.1.5.2.1 Learners’ factors ………………………………………………… 11 1.1.5.2.2 Teachers’ factors ……………………………………………… 13 1.1.5.2.3 Teaching and learning conditions ……………………………… 14 v 1.1.6 Motivational strategies in teaching and learning L2 …………………… 14 1.2 Theoretical background of teaching speaking skills …………………… 16 1.2.1 Definitions of speaking ………………………………………………… 16 1.2.2 The importance of speaking skills ……………………………………… 16 1.2.3 Communicative language teaching approach ………………………… 16 1.2.4 Approaches to teaching speaking skills ………………………………… 17 1.2.4.1 Teaching interactional skills ……………………………………… 17 1.2.4.2 Integrating pronunciation teaching ………………………………… 18 1.2.4.3 Accuracy and fluency ……………………………………………… 18 1.2.5 Principles of teaching speaking ………………………………………… 18 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY …………………………………………… 20 2.1 Context of the study ……………………………………………………… 20 2.2 Participants of the study …………………………………………………… 21 2.3 Instruments of the study …………………………………………………… 21 2.3.1 Survey questionnaires ………………………………………………… 22 2.3.2 Interviews ……………………………………………………………… 22 2.3.3 Classroom observation ………………………………………………… 22 2.4 Data collection procedures ………………………………………………… 23 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ……………………… 24 3.1 Kinds of motivation in learning speaking skills …………………………… 24 3.2 Strategies and techniques applied by the teachers to motivate their students 26 3.3 Main factors de-motivating students in English speaking ………………… 36 3.4 Motivational strategies and techniques can be applied to motivate students 39 PART III: CONCLUSION …………………………………………………… 42 Summary of the findings …………………………………………………… 42 Limitations of the study …………………………………………………… 43 Suggestions for further researches ………………………………………… 43 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………… 44 APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………… I vi APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………… I APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………… IV APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………… IX APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………… X APPENDIX …………………………………………………………………… XI vii PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Today, English has become an international language It is spoken as a second language and an official language in many countries, and as a foreign language by a great number of people in the global world as well Besides, it is also a medium of communication in many fields such as aviation, technology, politics, science, commerce, internet, and so on Therefore, competence of using English accurately and fluently is of great importance to a lot of people Because English has become so important, many non-native English speaking countries including Vietnam pay more and more attention to teaching and learning English In fact, in Vietnam English is a compulsory subject in schools, colleges and universities The number of people using English to communicate is on the rise Most of the English textbooks are republished in the forms of communicative ones to meet learners’ need Also, instead of traditional methods in which grammatical competence is much more paid attention to, communicative language teaching approach has been widely applied However, there is a fact that a large number of students, even English major students cannot communicate in oral English although they are the first-year students at a college or a university One of the reasons for this issue is that most of the students only focus on grammatical competence to sit for the entrance exams, and distract communicative competence Indeed, much more attention is paid to reading skill, writing skill and language focus Whereas, speaking skill is considered as one of the most important skills to help learners to gain communicative competence As researchers and educators, what we should to help learners achieve communicative goals to meet their needs in using oral language effectively Therefore, with the study “A study on motivational strategies in teaching speaking skills to the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College”, the researcher of this study does hope that the study PART III: CONCLUSION Summary of the findings From the analysis and the findings in chapter throughout instruments such as the classroom observation, the survey questionnaires, the direct interviews, the researcher found out the main kind of motivation the majority of the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College are possessing is instrumental motivation Some of them are having integrative and intrinsic motivations The majority of the teachers of English speaking skills pay much attention to motivate their students Strategies and techniques they using are various and motivational Most of the students feel more confident, more motivated with the teachers’ activities They like the teachers’ ways of organizing the activities and group them They could learn a lot from their friends, and had more chance of practicing English as well as expressing their ideas They become more confident in standing in front of the crowd and presenting their own opinions They also stated that they were more interested in and learned English speaking skills more effectively with the modern teaching aids their teachers applied Most of the ways the teachers use to motivate their students to speak, or to encourage the students with low motivation, and the ways of controlling and checking the students’ practicing are highly appreciated However, some motivational strategies such as using humor in the class, avoiding embarrassing the students when giving them feedback, or avoiding interrupting the students when they are presenting need paying much more attention to by the teachers of speaking Besides, the teachers should equal with all the students in the class This means that they should pay attention to all the students, not ignore anyone, especially the students with lower level of proficiency Moreover, that difficulties the students often encounter are revealed in the findings of the study will also force the teachers to find out strategies and techniques to 41 motivate them more The teachers can apply some suggested motivational strategies provided in the study to help improve the speaking teaching to gain great success Limitations of the study Despite the researcher’s great efforts to find out motivational strategies and techniques in teaching English speaking skills to the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College, due to the limitation of time and experience, mistakes and limits are unavoidable in this study This first limitation is about the population of the study It was not the researcher’s intention of covering all the English major students at the college, so the study was just carried out with the student participants of all the first-year English major students (50 students at all) and all the twelve English teachers The scope of the study is the second limitation of the study Due to the time constraints, the researcher could not study motivational strategies in teaching and learning other English language skills such as listening, reading, writing skills Suggestions for further researches As proved by many researchers, motivation is one of the most important factors to gain success in teaching and learning foreign languages Therefore, future researches can further explore motivational strategies in teaching and learning reading, writing, listening skills to many different language learners both major and non-major English students with the bigger population and larger scopes Furthermore, an experimental research should be carried out to check teachers’ and learners’ success after applying suggested motivational strategies compared to the prior strategies With great efforts, the researcher finds this study useful for herself in teaching English speaking skills and hope that it is also helpful for other teachers and students of foreign languages 42 REFERENCES Alison J and Halliwel, S (2002), Challenging Classes: Focus on Pupil Behavior, London: CILT Brown, Gillian, and George Yule (1983), Teaching the Spoken Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Brown H.D (2001), Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy, New York: Longman Crookes G and Schmidt R.W (1991), Motivation: Reopening the research agenda, Language learning 41, 469-512 Csizer K., & Dornyei Z (1998), Ten commandments for motivating language learners: results of an empirical study, Language Teaching Research (3), 203229 Dornyei Z (1994), “Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom.” Modern Language Journal, 78(3), 273-284 Dornyei Z (2001a), Teaching and Researching Motivation, Harlow: Longman Dornyei Z (2001b), Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom, Cambridge University Press Dornyei Z (2002), Motivational strategies in the language classroom, Cambridge University Press 10 Dornyei Z (2005) The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum 11 Dornyei Z., & Ushioda E (2011), Teaching and researching Motivation, second ed, Harlow: Longman 12 Ellis R (1994), The study of second language acquisition, Oxford: Oxford University Press 13 Gardner R.C (1985), Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation, London: Edward Arnold Publishers 14 Gardner R C (2006), Motivation and second language acquisition, Porta Linguarum, 8, 9-20 43 Retrieved from http://www.ugr.es/~portalin/articulos/PL_numero8/1R%20C%20%20GADNER.pdf 15 Hoàng, Đức Đoàn (2007), Motivation in learning English speaking of the second-year tourism major students at Tourism and Foreign language department, Sao Do college of industry M.A Minor Thesis Linguistics: 60.14.10 16 Keller J.M (1983), Motivational design of instruction, In C.M Regelruth (ed.) Instructional Design Theories and Models: An Overview of Their Current Status (pp 383-434), Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum 17 Kikuchi K (2009), Listening to our learners’ voices: what demotivates Japanese high school students? Language Teaching Research, 13(4), 453-471 18 Kikuchi K., & Sakai H (2009), An analysis of de-motivators in the EFL classroom, System, 37, 57-69 19 Lightbown P.M & Spada N (1999), How languages are learned, Oxford University Press 20 Littlewood W T (1981), Communicative language teaching: An introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 21 Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2004), Oxford: Oxford University Press 22 Richards J C., & Rodgers T (2001), Approaches and methods in language teaching (2nd ed.), New York: Cambridge University Press 23 Trang T., Baldauf J., & Richard B, “Demotivation; Understanding Resistance to English language learning_the case of Vietnamese students”, The journal of Asia TEFL 2007, 4(I1): 79-105 24 Williams M., & Burden R (1997), Psychology for Language Teachers, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press 44 APPENDICES APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) This survey aims at searching information for “A study on motivational strategies in teaching speaking skills to the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College” The researcher highly appreciates your support by completing this questionnaire Your answer is of great value to the researcher The data collected is confidential and is used in the research paper only Please fill it out and give it back to the researcher Thank you very much for your cooperation! Please circle the option that is true to you! Why you want to learn English speaking skills? (You can choose more than one option.) A To communicate with foreigners who speak English B To travel, study or live abroad C To study about the people, culture of English speaking countries D To be interested in speaking lessons E To pass the exams and get high marks F To watch TV programs, listen to music, read newspapers, stories, or books, …… in English G For future career H For social trend I Others (please specify) …………………… What you think about speaking topics? A Interesting and appropriate with your ability B Uninteresting and unfamiliar C Too difficult with your level of proficiency D Other ideas (please specify) …………………… In your opinion, the in-class speaking activities motivate students to speak English effectively? I A Yes B No C Other ideas (please specify) …………………… How you feel when taking part in speaking activities? (You can choose more than one option.) A Interested B Confident C Shy and afraid D Confused and embarrassed E Others (please specify) ……………………… How the activities help you in speaking lessons? (You can choose more than one option.) A Feel more confident B Have more chances to practice speaking English C Learn more from classmates D Improve the ability of speaking English very much E Do not help me a lot F Others (please specify) ……………………… Do you find it difficult to speak English well? A Very difficult C A little bit difficult B Difficult D Not difficult at all What difficulties you often encounter when taking part in speaking activities? (You can choose more than one option.) A Topics are boring/ unfamiliar/ difficult B My teacher often stops me and corrects my mistakes when I’m speaking C I’m afraid that my classmates will laugh at me if I make mistakes D I cannot find exact words to express my ideas E I hardly know what I should speak because of lacking ideas and vocabularies F My teacher and other students speak almost all the time II G Many other students speak English better and express their ideas better than me H I am very shy of expressing my ideas in front of the class and often keep silent I My teacher hardly ever pays attention to me J Others (please specify) ……………… In what way you prefer participating in speaking activities? A Individually B In pairs C In groups Who you want to work with when working in pairs or in groups? A Students at the same table/ sit next to each other B Students who you like to work with C Students with the same level of proficiency D Students with higher level of proficiency E Students with lower level of proficiency 10 What would you like your teacher to to help you when you join in speaking activities? (You can choose more than one option.) A Give clear instructions B Provide necessary vocabulary C State the focus and objectives of the activities D Suggest some ideas for the discussion topics E Move around the class and support F Others (please specify) ………………… III APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR TEACHERS) This survey is designed to collect information for “A study on motivational strategies in teaching speaking skills to the first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College” Your assistance in completing the following items is highly appreciated Your information is kept confidential and will be only used for the research purpose Thank you very much for your cooperation! Please answer the following questions by circling the option(s)! What stage of a speaking lesson you think necessary to motivate students? A Warm-up stage B Pre-speaking stage C While-speaking stage D Post-speaking stage E All speaking stages What you always before a speaking task? A Do nothing and go straight to the task B Only instruct students how to the task C Give students some background knowledge about the topic D Provide some necessary vocabularies and structures related to the topic E Discuss with students to lead them to the topic F Others (please specify) …………………… In what way you often organize speaking activities for your students? (You can choose more than one option.) A Individually B In pairs C In groups Who you ask your students to work with when working in pairs or in groups? (You can choose more than one option.) IV A Students at the same table/ sit near each other B Students who they like to work with C Students with the same level of proficiency D Students with mixed level of proficiency What kinds of teaching aids you often use in teaching speaking skills? (You can choose more than one option) A Pictures B Slide projectors C Cassettes D Music E Videos F Boards What you often most while your students practice speaking? A Sit at the teachers’ desks and observe B Go around the class and support C Praise and encourage students D Take time to other things E Do nothing F Both B and C What you when students show low motivation in speaking activities? (You can choose more than one option.) A Carry out on-going assessments (giving students marks for participation) B Let them choose their favorite partners C Give them some more support about vocabulary, structures and ideas D Encourage students to willingly take part in the activities E Ignore them F Others (please specify) …………………………… What you to encourage your students to speak? (You can choose more than one option.) A Suggest interesting topics for discussion V B Give students some useful suggestions related to the topic C Let students choose topics themselves to discuss D Use other authentic materials (visual aids, stories, songs, video clips, etc.) E Involve students in the real English speaking environment F Carry out on-going assessments (giving students marks for participation) G Do nothing H Others (please specify) ………………………… What you often after your students finish practicing? (You can choose more than one option.) A Call some pairs to check B Appoint one or two groups to present C Exchange pairs to pairs / groups to groups D Check as the whole class E Don’t check at all F Others (please specify) ………………… 10 Please indicate how often you use the following motivational strategies in your speaking class, by putting a tick (V) on the appropriate option Motivational strategies Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always a Give clear instructions for activities b Encourage students to try to speak English not only in the class but also outside the classroom c Establish a good rapport with the students d Avoid embarrassing the students when giving feedback e Create a supportive classroom environment so the students feel VI encouraged to take risks f Ask students what they like about the lesson/ learning process when the lesson finishes g Use humor in speaking lessons h Remind students that making mistakes is a natural part of learning speaking i Match activities to my students’ needs/ interests j Make activities attractive by using games and competitions k Encourage the students to correct mistakes and give feedback to each other after practicing together l Tell the students that effective communication is more important than grammatical accuracy m Use a short opening activity to relax and help my students to focus n Interrupt the students to correct mistakes o Give classroom tests 11 Do you find it difficult to motivate your students to practice speaking skills? A Very difficult C A little bit difficult B Difficult D Not difficult at all 12 What difficulties your students often encounter when they take part in speaking activities? (You can choose more than one option.) A Topics are boring/ unfamiliar/ difficult VII B My teacher often stops me and corrects my mistakes when I’m speaking C I’m afraid that my classmates will laugh at me if I make mistakes D I cannot find exact words to express my ideas E I hardly know what I should speak because of lacking ideas and vocabularies F My teacher and other students speak almost all the time G Many other students speak English better and express their ideas better than me H I am very shy of expressing my ideas in front of the class and often keep silent I My teacher hardly ever pays attention to me J Others (please specify) ……………… VIII APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (FOR STUDENTS) Why you learn English speaking skills? Do you like to work individually? In pairs? Or in groups? Why? Who you want to work with when practicing a speaking task? Why? Do in-class speaking activities always motivate you to speak English? Why? Or why not? What difficulties you often have in speaking lessons? How teachers’ activities help you in speaking lessons? Do you like your teachers’ ways of organizing speaking activities? Why? What would you like your teacher to to motivate you in speaking lessons? Thank you very much for cooperation! CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN (DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN) Tại bạn học kỹ nói? Bạn thích làm việc mình? Theo cặp? Hay theo nhóm? Tại sao? Khi tham gia vào hoạt động nhóm, bạn thích làm việc với ai? Tại sao? Các hoạt động nói lớp có ln thúc đẩy bạn nói tiếng Anh khơng? Tại sao? Bạn thường có khó khăn học nói? Các hoạt động giáo viên giúp bạn học nói? Bạn có thích cách tổ chức hoạt động giáo viên không? Tại sao? Bạn muốn giáo viên làm để giúp bạn có động lực học kỹ nói hơn? Cảm ơn bạn cộng tác! IX APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (FOR TEACHERS) What you often before a speaking task? Do you often ask your students to work individually? In pairs? Or in groups? Why? How you often group your students? Why? What activities you often use in your speaking lessons? What you often after your students finish practicing? What your students often when you ask them to work in pairs or in groups? Do you find it difficult to motivate your students in speaking activities? Why? What difficulties your students often have in speaking lessons? Thank you very much for cooperation! X APPENDIX TEACHER’S OBSERVATION Date ……………………… Time …………………… Unit: …………………………………………………… Objectives: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… …… Teaching Activities ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Students’ participation in speaking activities (motivation) ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Students’ difficulties ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Others ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… XI ... language, many factors are paid attention to Among these factors, motivational strategies are the focal point of the study as a main factor in teaching speaking skills Due to the time constraints,... Context of the study Being an educational unit of Hanam Department of Education and Training, Hanam Teachers’ Training College takes responsibility of training majority of teachers teaching at. .. first-year English major students at Hanam Teachers’ Training College To be more specific, the aims of the study are:  To investigate kinds of motivation the first-year English major students at Hanam