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Identify Factors That Negatively Influence: Non-English Major Students’ Speaking Skills

Received: 9 January 2017    Accepted: 20 January 2017    Published: 21 February 2017
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore five main factors related to teachers, learners, content, teaching methods, and learning environment that negatively affect the speaking skills of students under Vietnamese higher educational context. The participants were 108 non-English major students at Hanoi University of Technology, at different level of English proficiency. The research instruments employed to collect data were questionnaire and classroom observation. The study generated ten major findings: (1) Teachers let students use much Vietnamese to express the ideas; (2) Teachers do not emphasise English as the medium of instruction; (3) Students’ background knowledge of English is low; (4) Students are shy and afraid of making mistakes and speaking in public; (5) Students lack motivation to speak English; (6) The curriculum and textbooks do not contain sufficient amount of exercise for speaking skills; (7) Students are not given enough time for speaking practice; (8) Teachers do not frequently organize communicative task to enhance students’ speaking skills like role-plays, discussion, debates; (9) The environment in speaking class is not really exciting and motivating; and (10) The large class size impede the efficacy of students’ speaking performance. Based on such findings, pedagogical implications are presented for both teachers and students.

Published in Higher Education Research (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.her.20170202.12
Page(s) 35-43
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Factors, Speaking Skills, Non-English Major Students

References
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  • APA Style

    Dao Thi Thanh Hao. (2017). Identify Factors That Negatively Influence: Non-English Major Students’ Speaking Skills. Higher Education Research, 2(2), 35-43. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20170202.12

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    ACS Style

    Dao Thi Thanh Hao. Identify Factors That Negatively Influence: Non-English Major Students’ Speaking Skills. High. Educ. Res. 2017, 2(2), 35-43. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20170202.12

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    AMA Style

    Dao Thi Thanh Hao. Identify Factors That Negatively Influence: Non-English Major Students’ Speaking Skills. High Educ Res. 2017;2(2):35-43. doi: 10.11648/j.her.20170202.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.her.20170202.12,
      author = {Dao Thi Thanh Hao},
      title = {Identify Factors That Negatively Influence: Non-English Major Students’ Speaking Skills},
      journal = {Higher Education Research},
      volume = {2},
      number = {2},
      pages = {35-43},
      doi = {10.11648/j.her.20170202.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.her.20170202.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.her.20170202.12},
      abstract = {The purpose of this study is to explore five main factors related to teachers, learners, content, teaching methods, and learning environment that negatively affect the speaking skills of students under Vietnamese higher educational context. The participants were 108 non-English major students at Hanoi University of Technology, at different level of English proficiency. The research instruments employed to collect data were questionnaire and classroom observation. The study generated ten major findings: (1) Teachers let students use much Vietnamese to express the ideas; (2) Teachers do not emphasise English as the medium of instruction; (3) Students’ background knowledge of English is low; (4) Students are shy and afraid of making mistakes and speaking in public; (5) Students lack motivation to speak English; (6) The curriculum and textbooks do not contain sufficient amount of exercise for speaking skills; (7) Students are not given enough time for speaking practice; (8) Teachers do not frequently organize communicative task to enhance students’ speaking skills like role-plays, discussion, debates; (9) The environment in speaking class is not really exciting and motivating; and (10) The large class size impede the efficacy of students’ speaking performance. Based on such findings, pedagogical implications are presented for both teachers and students.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    Y1  - 2017/02/21
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    AB  - The purpose of this study is to explore five main factors related to teachers, learners, content, teaching methods, and learning environment that negatively affect the speaking skills of students under Vietnamese higher educational context. The participants were 108 non-English major students at Hanoi University of Technology, at different level of English proficiency. The research instruments employed to collect data were questionnaire and classroom observation. The study generated ten major findings: (1) Teachers let students use much Vietnamese to express the ideas; (2) Teachers do not emphasise English as the medium of instruction; (3) Students’ background knowledge of English is low; (4) Students are shy and afraid of making mistakes and speaking in public; (5) Students lack motivation to speak English; (6) The curriculum and textbooks do not contain sufficient amount of exercise for speaking skills; (7) Students are not given enough time for speaking practice; (8) Teachers do not frequently organize communicative task to enhance students’ speaking skills like role-plays, discussion, debates; (9) The environment in speaking class is not really exciting and motivating; and (10) The large class size impede the efficacy of students’ speaking performance. Based on such findings, pedagogical implications are presented for both teachers and students.
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Author Information
  • International Education Center, Hanoi University, Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Hanoi, Vietnam

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