A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INTO ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL OF NON-ENGLISH IMAJORS AT QUY NHON UNIVERSITY
DOAN THI THANH HIEU% DOAN THI MINH TRANG^
BUI THI MINH NGUYET'^
1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the Elementary New Headway and Pre-Intermediate New Headway by John and Liz Soars (2000) have been used as the course books for non-English majors at Quy Nhon University (henceforth QNU). The ultimate goal of these two books is to help students develop communicative competence. However, it can hardly be said that those non-Engbsh majors have attained this goal. Most of them shake their heads or say that they have no idea when asked to speak even a simple English sentence. In other words, they seem not to be confident when they have to use English for communication.
This problem has set an alarm for improvement solutions.
The impetus for this study comes from that sad reality. The study aims at identifying the reality of practicing the Engbsh speaking skill of QNU non-English majors as well as looking into the students' attitudes, motivations, and expectations towards their studying the skill at university so that the teachers can make innovation in their teaching methods on the basis of the findings.
2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
It is clear that to be able to make an improvement in teaching methods, teachers need to bear in mind some learners' characteristics. The first important factor is students' needs. Indeed, ''meeting learners' needs is part of being a good teacher" (Spratt, Pulvemess, and WUbams, 2005: 57). Talking about the language learners need in the modem world, Nunan (1999: 71) emphasizes: "m world that is increasingly intermeshed economically, environmentally, and electrically, the ability to communicate effectively is crucial" There is no doubt that communicative abibty is the goal of foreign language learning. For all these things, learners need to learn language as communication, not just as a bst of facts to be memorized or a set of symbols to be manipulated (Nunan, 1999:71).
Additionally, learners' motivation is worth considering because it is considered "a key to learning" (Domeyei, 1998: 34). Strongly motivated students tend to spend more time working outside the class and to participate actively in class as well. Harmer (1991:
75) divides learners' motivation into two main categories: extrinsic motivation, which is related to factors outside the classroom and intrinsic motivation, which is related to what
122 DOAN THI THANH HIEU°, DOAN THI MINH TRANG\ BUI THI MINH NGUYET takes place inside the classroom. Cleariy, learners' intrinsic motivation depends very much on the teacher and the atmosphere sbe/be creates, the method she/be uses, the activities she/he designs and the personality sbe/be shows. In other words, the goal of everything she/be does is to establish a close relationship with students, to give them confidence, and to satisfy their expectations. In short, the role of the teacher is crucial in students' success or failure.
Language teachers are easily aware of the stress involved in learning a foreign language, tiie learners' feeling of anxiety. Learners, especially adult ones are very cautious of mistakes, for they are afraid of "losing face" This gives the explanation for their unwillingness to speak English. It is the teacher's correction that can give much help in taking away their anxiety. Undoubtedly, mistake correction "is a vital part of the teacher's role, and something which the teacher is uniquely able to provide" (Harmer, 1991: 62). It has to be done with tact. The teacher has to measure what is appropriate for a particular student in a particular situation.
3. SURVEY RESULTS 3.1. Participants and data-gathering instruments
Responding to the questionnaire were 224 second-year and third-year students at the ages of 19-23 from six randomly chosen classes in six departments at Quy Nhon University. Of the respondents, 91 students (40.6%) were male and 133 (59.4%) were female. The majority of them, 189 students (84.4%), have finished high school with seven years learning English as a foreign language. Among the rest, 31 students (13.8%) have studied English for three years and only 4 students (1.8%) have never learned Engbsh before. The questionnaire (please see Appendix) was delivered to 224 students in the six classes thanks to the assistance from the teachers in charge of General English classes. It consists of two parts, one of which helped to find out students' personal information such as sex, age, and years of studying English. The main part includes 12 questions on four aspects: (1) students' motivation for learning English; (2) students' level of confidence in speaking English and their difficulties; (3) students' attitudes towards speaking error treatment; (4) students' expectation in university English courses.
3.2. Data analysis and flndings
3.2.1. Students' motivation for learning English
Questionnaire item 1, "Why do you study English?" sought to know students' motivations for learning English. Six answers were provided, and the participants were asked to respond to each answer by circling one of the four choices: (1) very important, (2) important, (3) littie important, and (4) not important. The participants' choice of responses to this motivational question is presented in table 1.
Table 1: Motivation for learning English Items
(a) It is a compulsory subject at university.
(b) It is necessary for the future job.
(c) I want to read professional books.
(d) I like to know about cultures of English-speaking countries
(e) I want to talk to foreigners.
(f) I like to enjoy English music.
Quantity of the chosen items 1
124 (55.4%)
163 (72.8%)
66 (29.5%)
18 (8.0%)
44 (19.6%)
27 (12.1%)
2 60 (26.8%)
43 (19.2%)
75 (33.5%)
50 (22.3%)
93 (41.5%)
79 (35.3%)
3 26 (11.6%)
14 (6.2%)
58 (25.8%)
103 (46.0%)
64 (28.6%)
81 (36.2%)
4 14 (6.2%)
4 (1.8%)
25 (11.2%)
53 (23.7%)
23 (10.3%)
37 (16.5%) The overwhebning majority of the students (82.2%) considered "a compulsory subject at university" the highest motivation for them to study Engbsb. It sounds reasonable because thek Engbsb marks make up more than 30% of then- total grade at the end of each semester.
In addition, the present situation in society offers more job opportunities for graduates who have a good knowledge of English, so almost all of the students (92%) regarded their learning Engbsb at university very important or important to thek fiiture jobs. According to 63% of tiie students, they learned English because they wanted to read professional books.
Quite interestingly, 30.3% learned Engbsb because they wished to know more about the cultures and values of Engbsb-speaking countries. With the tendency of worldwide integration these days, it is possible that they desire to widen their knowledge about other cultures so that they can easily adjust themselves to the globabzation. One effective way to broaden minds about the world is communicating with native speakers or foreigners.
That is also the reason why 61.1% attended university Engbsb classes. It is particularly surprising that about a half of the students (47.4%) needed English to satisfy their personal needs. Thus, it is clear that the students at Quy Nhon University have various purposes for learning English.
3.2.2. Students' attitudes towards speaking skill
Figure 1 shows that the great number of the students asked (43.3%) was fond of studying speaking skill. It is likely that most of them realize the importance of speaking among the four practical language skills. This fact impbes that a lot of students look forward
124 DOAN THI THANH HIEU», DOAN THI MINH TRANG^ BUI THI MINH NGUYEP
to chances to practice English speaking. However, because of the immediate purpose, that is passing final exams, some of them (21 % and 20.5%) focused on writing, and reading comprehension. 14.7% of them liked all of the four skills and listening was the favorite skill of only 29 students (13.4%).
50%
Speaking Writing Reading 4 skills Listening
Figure 1: Students' attitudes towards speaking skill
With regard to the parts taught much in class (figure 2), a slight majority of the respondents (71.4%) chose grammar. Writing and reading were also paid attention to, but not much according to 22.4% and 4.6% of the students, whereas speaking and listening were almost ignored in General Engbsh courses. Certainly, botii teachers and students are not surprised at this fact. On the one band, speaking and listening are not tested in tiie end-of-semester tests. On the other band, tiiey may suppose tiiat fiiture jobs of non-Engbsh majors do not need English much.
80%
70%
50%- 40%- 30%- 20%
10% ] 0%
?4>4%
J * " * ^ - ^.jgMB^^astaJ^
grammar writing reading speaking listening
Figure 2: The parts taught much in class
3.2.3. Students' level of confidence in speaking English and their difficulties
The students were asked how often they experienced a lack of confidence in speaking English. As can be seen in figure 3, nearly three quarters of the students clauned that they were often (40.6%) and always (31.3%) unconfident when speaking English. A quarter of them assumed that they sometimes felt so. The number of students who seldom
bad such a feeling took up only a small ratio (2.7%). The result showed a sad reality that no students felt confident in their English speaking ability.
.• , . : ! #' ^
often always sometimes seldom never
Figure 3: The level of confidence in speaking English
There are several reasons why students feel afraid of speaking English (table 2). A remarkable percentage (75.9%) of the students did not like speaking Engbsb because they lack Engbsh words to express their opinions. Vocabulary turns out to be the biggest problem of non-Engbsh majors. It is certain that this fact gives teachers much help when designing speaking tasks for non-majors. According to 20.5% of the respondents, their difficulty in speaking came from the fact that they were not used to speaking Engbsb in front of a lot of people. It cannot be denied that there is a remarkable link between students' level of confidence and their experience in speaking Engbsb in the past. Most of students did not use English as a means of communication during 7 years at high school. They seldom or never expressed their ideas orally in front of their teachers or friends. Maybe it is also the reason why they feel strange and indifferent to speaking activities in class. In addition to these two factors, as for 15.2% of the students, their obstacle is that they "don't understand what the teacher has just said" 9.8% and 7.1% of the respondents were afraid of wrong grammar and losing face respectively. These figures certainly make Engbsb teachers put some thought into their teaching style.
Table 2: Students' difficulties in speaking English
Difficulties in speaking English I don't have enough words
I am not used to speaking English in front of a lot of people.
I don't understand what the teacher and friends have just said.
I am afraid of wrong grammar.
I am afraid of losing face ifl say something wrong.
Percentage of students
75.9%
20.5%
15.2%
9.8%
7.1%
126 DOAN THI THANH H1EU\ DOAN THI MINH TRANG^ BUI THI MINH NGUYEP
3.2.4. Students' attitudes towards speaking error treatment
Figure 4 revealed students' high appreciation of speaking mistake correction. The largest number of them (70.5%) expected their teacher to correct their mistakes as much as possible (always). Neariy a quarter (24.1 %) of the respondents hoped that their mistakes were often corrected while 5.4% thought teachers should sometimes or seldom pay attention lo their mistakes.
SO'/r 70%
50%
4()'/f
2Q7r
10%
0%
'iiyii
<-.
"t'v j y i ^ itftMh
always often sometimes seldom never
Figure 4: Students expectations of speaking mistake correction
English teachers need to consider their ways of mistake correction because over a half of the respondents (54.5%) assumed that they only understood from 30 to 50% of what their teachers explained. A smaller number of students (41.5%) realized their mistakes fully after being corrected. However, a few students (47r) felt that they could not learn anything from correction.
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%- 10%- 0%
JahaSm
< I J / V
-/"
100^ .^O'-; - 5()''i
Figure 5: Level of understanding after mistake correction
3.2.5. Students' expectation in university English courses
The non-majors have high hope for English speaking practice at university; therefore, the vast majority of them (73.2%) expected their teacher to pay more attention to communicative skills and spend more time on training speaking. In the meantime, a large
percentage of the students (55.7%) hoped their teacher to give enough encouragement and good preparation for speaking tasks so that they would feel more interested in doing them. Obviously, most of the students realized the absence of communicative tasks in Engbsb classes at high school. They were waiting for a great change in their university Engbsb classes. They found it necessary to improve their communicative skills in learning Engbsb. Of the respondents, 60.3% would like to do some extra speaking activities that are suitable for their level of English apart from the ones available in the course books.
This number disclosed that a lot of students expected for something different from what was available in the "New Headway" series. Another factor that makes students more interested in speaking tasks is playing communicative games. Neariy a half (49.1%) of the students looked forward to the moments they could not only relax their minds but also have a chance to practice English effectively. However, about one fifth of the students (21%) expected their teacher to ignore speaking tasks and give them only exercises on grammar and reading comprehension so that they could get high marks in the end-of- semester tests. Obviously, they were strongly affected by the pressure of passing the final exams. This reality justified some problems the teacher faced when motivating students to take part in speaking activities.
4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1. Conclusions
With the aim of finding out practical and meaningful ways to teach Engbsb speaking skill to non-majors, the authors carried out an investigation into the reabty of practicing speaking of non-majors at Quy Nhon University as well as their opinions of this skill. The findings lead to the following conclusions.
® The majority of the non-majors are instrumentally and extrinsieally motivated to leam English. Knowledge of Engbsb provides them more opportunities for better jobs and good results in exams. It is apparent that non-majors bring no intrinsic motivation to Engbsb classes. As a mater of fact, the teacher plays a very important role in class. It is her/bis techniques, methods, and activities that decide her/bis success in teaching speaking.
® Most of the non-Engbsh majors are well aware of the necessity of speaking skill in learning English. Among the four English skills, they like speaking skill the best and expect to be able to speak English well. However, because of the burden of the final tests, both teachers and students switch their focus to grammar and writing.
(D Although most of the non-majors have studied English for 7 years, they assume that their vocabulary is not enough for them to exchange ideas with their teachers and friends. More importantly, many of them feel uncomfortable when they speak English in front of the class and it is probably due to their passive learning style at high school.
Actually, they are not accustomed to using Engbsb as a means of communication; therefore.
128 DOAN THI THANH HIEU°, DOAN THI MINH TRANG^ BUI THI MINH NGUYET they frequentiy lack confidence in speaking English.
0 Concerning mistakes, neariy all of the non-majors have a positive attitude towards speaking mistake correction. Nevertheless, not all of them can leam something from the correction because they do not understand what the teacher explains to them. Clearly, the present ways of mistake correction seem not to be very effective.
® The non-English majors hope to have many more chances to practice English speaking. Besides, they expect to receive great encouragements as well as interesting speaking tasks, especially communicative games, from their teacher.
4.2. Recommendations
On the basis of the findings and conclusions, the following recommendations are submitted.
® First, at the very beginning of the English course, the teacher should train the non-majors for a habit of asking and answering questions in Engbsh. Second, one way that seems to be very effective to enhance non-majors' motivation is giving marks on their speaking performances. Their speaking ability is graded continually during the semester.
To get high marks, at the end of the semester they have to force themselves to attend speaking tasks actively and attentively. Third, small gifts or high marks for good performances help to enhance motivation within students.
® With tactful treatments, the teacher can build up students' confidence. First of all, the teacher should tell the students in advance that making mistakes is a natural part in learning any language. Therefore, a frank, sympathetica!, and humorous remark will be highly appreciated in dealing with this issue. Besides, tiie teacher should pay frequent attention to students' shortcomings by suitable and effective ways of correction.
CD To partly meet students' demand, the teacher should spend more time on Engbsh speaking practice and use well-prepared tasks, especially games so that students feel interested in speaking activities. More importantiy, she/he should bear in mind tiie fact that every single compliment will have a great influence on students' attitude or performance.
This is only a preliminary survey on a small scale, so the results cannot be highly persuasive. However, hopefully, the findings can serve as background information for teachers of English to make adjustments in tiieir ways of teaching English speaking for non-majors.
QUESTIONNAIRE I. Personal information
Sex: D male D female
)rtar 1 1 1
1 1 1
It
2 2 2
2 2 2
4. not 3 3 3
3 3 3
important 4 4 4
4 4 4 Age:
Years of studying Engbsh: D over 7 years D over 3 years D never II. General information
Motivation for learning English
1. Why do you go to Engbsb class at university? (please circle the best choice to each answer)
1. very important 2. important 3. littie important O because it is a compulsory subject at university
O because it is necessary for my future job.
O because I want to read professional books.
O because I like to know about cultures of Engbsb-speaking countries.
O because I want to speak to foreigners.
O because I want to enjoy Engbsb music.
Other answers:
Attitudes towards speaking skill
2. Which Engbsb skill do you like practicing in class? (please tick as many as appbeable)
O speaking O listening O writing O reading 3. Which part is taught much in class?
O bstening O speaking. O reading O writing Ogrammar Level of confidence in speaking English and the difficulties
4. How often do you lack of confidence in speaking English?
0 always Ooften Osometimes Oseldom Onever 5. Which of the following is the reason for your lack of confidence? (please tick as many as applicable)
0 1 am afraid of losing my face ifl say something wrong.
O I do not have enough words to express my ideas.
0 I do not understand what the teacher has just said.
0 1 am not used to speaking Engbsb in front of many people.
130 DOAN THI THANH HIEU", DOAN THI MINH TRANG^ BUI THI MINH NGUYEP O 1 am afraid of wrong grammar.
Other reasons
Attitudes towards speaking error treatment
6. How often do you like your teacher correct your speaking mistakes?
O always O often Osometimes O seldom O never 7. How much do you realize your mistakes after being corrected?
O 100% O 30-50% O 0%
Expectation in university English courses
8. Which of the following do you expect in university English courses? (please tick as many as applicable)
O The teacher pays more attention to communicative skills and spends more class time for students to do communicative tasks.
O Apart from communicative tasks available in the course book, there should be some extra speaking activities suitable for their level of proficiency in English.
O There aren't any speaking activities in the classroom because speaking skill is not tested at the end of the term.
O The teacher gives enough encouragement and good preparation for each speaking task so that students feel keen on doing it.
O The teacher only gives exercises on grammar and reading comprehension and sample tests so that students can get good results in the end-of-term test.
O There are some communicative games in class.
TAI LIEU THAM KHAO
[1] S. Coppersmith, The Antecedents of Self-Esteem. San Francisco: WH. Freeman & Co, (1967).
[2] Z. Domeyei, Motivation in Second and Foreign Language Learning, Language Teaching, Vol.31, No.4, 117-135, (1998).
[3] R. Garder, Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and Motivation, London: Arnold, (1985).
[4] I. Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teachin. Essex: Longman, (1991).
[5J C. Mureia, E. Olshtain, Discourse and Context in Language Teaching: A Guide for Language Teachers. Cambridge: CUP, (2000).
[6] D. Nunan, Second Language Teaching and Learning, NY: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, (1999).
[7] M. Spratt, A. Pulvemess, M. WilHams, The TKT Course, the UK: CUP, (2005).
TOM TAT
NH0NG KHAO SAT BLfCfC DAU VE KY NANG NOI TIENG ANH CUA SINH VIEN KHONG CHUYEN TIENG ANH CUA TRLfCJNG DAI HOC QUY N H O N
Dodn Thi Thanh Hiiu, Dodn Thi Minh Trang, Bui Thi Minh Nguyit
Bai bao tim hieu thUc trang cua viee thUc hanh ky nang ndi tie'ng Anh cua sinh vien khong chuyen tie'ng Anh cung nhuf lam ro thai do, dong lye va nguyen vong cua sinh vien khi hoc ky nang nay. Ngoai ra, bai bao con dtfa ra mot so' de xuat doi vdi giao vien day ky nang ndi tie'ng Anh cho sinh vien khong chuyen tie'ng Anh.
"Khoa Ngoai ngff trffdng Dai hoc Quy Nhdn
•^ Trung tam ngoai ngff SG
Ngay nhSn bai: 24/01/2010; Ng^y nhan dang: 10/03/2010.
