DIFFICULTIES AND STRATEGIES IN IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR SENIOR ENGLISH MAJORS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PHAN THIET

Tóm tắt

English speaking skill is highly important moreover for English majors because it is one of human ability to take part in communicating and deliver information directly to other people by verbal in daily life and social interaction. However, many students still encountered problems in speaking activities due to some factors. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the status of English speaking and difficulties in improving speaking skills which the Senior English majors at the University of Phan Thiet faced. In the academic year 2022-2023, the population of senior English majors from two classes amounts to 77 students. However, only 65 students (35 from K12NNA1 and 30 from K12NNA2) actively participated in responding to the research questions, while the last others were in various situations such as absenteeism, temporary leave, or personal private reasons. A mixed method design was adopted, questionnaires and interviews. Two data collection instruments were questionnaire and survey. The author analized the factors affecting on speaking skills concentrated on two problems such as: Linguistic factors (lack of topical knowledge and ideas, have difficulty making completed sentences to express ideas, lack of vocabulary and grammar poor pronunciation ability, mother tongue comes first in mind, problem in choosing an appropriate word in different contexts) and non- linguistic factors (ineffective self-learning methods, fear of making mistakes, feeling shy and lack of confidence, lack of motivation, lack of practicing environment and teaching methods and Classmate's interaction is not good). The findings gives some strategies as well as methods to help students improve and develop their speaking skills. That why, the author chose the topic: “Difficulties and Strategies in Improving English Speaking Skills for Senior English Majors at the University of Phan Thiet”.