VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FALCUTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THÙY DUNG DIFFICULTIES FACED BY VIETNAMESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH AT EQUEST ACADEMY (HANOI) IN LEARNING IELTS SPEAKING SKILL NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN NGƯỜI VIỆT HỌC TIẾNG ANH TẠI CÔNG TY CỔ PHẦN HỌC THUẬT EQUEST HÀ NỘI GẶP PHẢI KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI CỦA IELTS M A Combined Program Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI – 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FALCUTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THÙY DUNG DIFFICULTIES FACED BY VIETNAMESE LEARNERS OF ENGLISH AT EQUEST ACADEMY (HANOI) IN LEARNING IELTS SPEAKING SKILL NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN NGƯỜI VIỆT HỌC TIẾNG ANH TẠI CÔNG TY CỔ PHẦN HỌC THUẬT EQUEST HÀ NỘI GẶP PHẢI KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI CỦA IELTS M A Combined Program Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Dr Tô Thị Thu Hương HANOI - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATIONS AND TABLES vi INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1 The IELTS Test Battery and the Speaking Sub-test Previous studies on the IELTS Speaking Sub-test Factors influencing Speaking Test performance of EFL/ ESL learners 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 24 Research approach/questions 24 Research Participants 24 2 Data Collection Instruments and Procedure 26 2 Data collection instruments 26 2 Data collection procedure 28 Data Analysis 30 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33 Types of difficulties that lower and upper-intermediate students encounter in IELTS Speaking preparation courses at Equest 33 iv 1 Difficulties encountered by lower intermediate students (IELTS A students) 33 Difficulties encountered by upper- intermediate students (IELTS B students) 40 The extent to which IELTS A & B students shared similar types of difficulties 43 3 Reasons of Difficulties 46 Solutions by students in class 51 Teacher‟s helps in class 53 Students‟ expectation about themselves and the teacher in classes 54 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 57 For Equest 57 For teachers of IELTS Speaking class at Equest 59 For students of IELTS Speaking class at Equest 61 CONCLUSION 63 REFERENCES 67 APPENDICES I Appendix - Profiles of research participants I Appendix - Consent on participating in the research III Appendix - Narrative Frame IV Appendix - Guided questions for interviews VI v LIST OF SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATIONS AND TABLES Symbols =: The same : Having difficulties 1: Narrative Frame 2: Interview Abbreviations FL: foreign language SL: second language EFL: English as foreign language ESL: English as second language L1: first language L2: second language Tables Table 1: Format of the IELTS Speaking Sub-test Table 2: Difficulties encountered by lower intermediate students (IELTS A students) in IELTS Speaking preparation classes at EQuest Table 3: Difficulties encountered by upper- intermediate students (IELTS B students) in IELTS Speaking preparation classes at EQuest Table 4: The extent to which IELTS A & B students shared similar types of difficulties Table 5: Reasons of difficulties encountered by lower and upper-intermediate students in IELTS Speaking classes at EQuest Table 6: Solutions by students in class Table 7: Teacher‟s helps in class Table 8: Students‟ expectation about themselves and the teacher in speaking classes vi INTRODUCTION The International English Language Testing Systems (IELTS), since its born in 1989, has been widely accepted in the world as a „must-take-exam‟ for those who want to study or work where English is the primary language of communication As the demand of studying and working in developed countries – those English speaking nations has been continuously increasing as a global trend, it therefore comes as no surprise that a large number of non-native English speakers, among whom students occupy a considerable part, sit for the exam every year The candidates, in fact, invest a lot of time and money for the preparation However, not everyone taking the preparation courses can gain satisfactory proficiency in IELTS due to the obstacles they face in learning for the exam Vietnamese learners are obviously the case The following tables show the extent to which Speaking band score of Vietnamese candidates is lower than the other three skills Listening VNM 5.90 2010 VNM 5.83 2011 VNM 2011 Thailand Taiwan China Korea Reading 6.10 Writing 5.60 Speaking 5.70 OVERALL 5.90 6.04 5.56 5.68 5.84 Listening 5.90 5.90 5.80 5.70 6.10 Reading 6.10 5.90 5.90 5.90 6.10 Writing 5.60 5.30 5.40 5.20 5.30 Speaking 5.70 5.80 5.80 5.30 5.70 OVERALL 5.90 5.80 5.80 5.60 5.90 (http://www.ielts.org/researchers/analysis_of_test_data/test_taker_performance_201 0.aspx) Looking at the statistics above, speaking is probably the area where there has been the least improvement over the year Though speaking band score is not the lowest, it still implies that Vietnamese learners may meet more difficulties in learning IELTS Speaking compared to learning Reading and Listening Comparing results against other countries in the region such as Thailand, China, Taiwan and Korea, it is noticeable that Vietnamese candidates‟ scores in speaking are generally lower than those from Taiwan and Thailand This is to explain that it is of great necessity to find out what difficulties Vietnamese learners face when learning IELTS Speaking skill, which more or less resulted in their unsatisfactory band score Among the four macro language skills of English assessed by IELTS, speaking is without doubt the most problematic to the researcher who has spent four years as an undergraduate learning for IELTS and is currently teaching IELTS at an English center in Hanoi This problem of the reseacher is also shared by the vast majority of her learners It is not uncommon that when asked what the most difficult language skill in IELTS is, almost all of her students claim that it is the speaking skill that causes them the most trouble Furthermore, quite a few students advance in other three skills, but remain „low level‟ in speaking This is, thus, necessary to find out what difficulties faced by learners for the sake of both teachers and students Last but not least, few studies have ever been done in this field and in Vietnam in particular despite the seriousness of the issue This is to argue that the conduct of this research is apparently of certain help In this study, the researcher made attempts to seek answers to the following questions: What types of difficulties (lower and upper intermediate) students encounter in IELTS Speaking preparation courses at EQuest? 2 To what extent these lower and upper-intermediate students share similar types of difficulties? What should be done to help students overcome the difficulties for even better teaching and learning of IELTS Speaking skill at EQuest? This research paper first begins with an introduction to the background, rational, aim, scope as well as the significance of the research It then goes on to review theoretical backgrounds including the brief overview of the IELTS Test Battery and the Speaking Sub-test in particular, previous studies in the field and a number of factors influencing the speaking performance of EFL/ ESL learners Next, the paper presents the findings gathered by means of narrative frame and interviews, together with the discussions made to interpret the findings The research paper concludes by some feasible solutions to the difficulties experienced by research participants, limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter reviews relevant essential theoretical foundation for the current study The chapter starts with a brief introduction to the IELTS Test Battery and the speaking sub-test in particular in which the format, requirements and marking criteria are made clear, continues with previous papers relevant to the topic of the present research together with comments and opinions made by the researcher on the findings of those studies and ends with factors influencing the learning of speaking skill and speaking performance of EFL/ ESL learners 1 The IELTS Test Battery and the Speaking Sub-test The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an international standardised test of English language proficiency “designed to assess the language ability of candidates who need to study or work where English is the language of communication” (IELTS Handbook 2007, p 2) It is jointly managed by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, the British Council and IDP Education Pty Ltd, and was established in 1989 There are two versions of the IELTS: the Academic Version and the General Training Version:  The Academic Version is intended for those who want to enroll in universities and other institutions of higher education and for professionals such as medical doctors and nurses who want to study or practice in an English-speaking country  The General Training Version is intended for those planning to undertake non-academic training or to gain work experience, or for immigration purposes IELTS is accepted by most Australian, British, Canadian, Irish, New Zealand and South African academic institutions, over 3,000 academic institutions in the United States, and various professional organizations It is also a requirement for immigration to Australia, New Zealand and Canada This is one of the tests that can be used to satisfy English Language requirements for a long-term visa to the United Kingdom No minimum score is required to pass the test An IELTS result or Test Report Form is issued to all candidates with a score from (no knowledge) to (expert user) and each institution, employer or government agency sets a different threshold Institutions are advised not to consider valid a report older than two years, unless the user proves that he has worked to maintain his level All candidates must complete four Modules - Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking - to obtain an individual band score for each sub-test and an overall one, the average of the four individual bands, which is shown on the IELTS Test Report Form All candidates take the same Listening and Speaking Modules, while the Reading and Writing Modules differ depending on whether the candidate is taking the Academic or General Training Versions of the Test (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IELTS) The Speaking Sub-test is one of the four skills-focused components which made up the IELTS Test Battery The Speaking Paper consiting of a one-to-one, face-to-face oral interview with a single examiner and candidate between 11 and 14 minutes aims to assess whether candidates can communicate effectively in English especially on programmes in English-speaking universities of “candidates who need to study or work where English is used as the language of communication” (www.ielts.org.handbook.htm) Table 1: Format of the IELTS Speaking Sub-test PART Nature of Interaction Introduction and Interview After introductions and identity check, the examiner asks the candidate questions about familiar topics Long turn The candidate receives a task card with a topic S/He then has minute to prepare and make notes before speaking about the topic for to minutes Discussion The examiner discusses with the candidate more abstract aspects of the topic in part (British Council IELTS Study Guide, p 23) Timing – minutes – minutes – minutes ... EQUEST ACADEMY (HANOI) IN LEARNING IELTS SPEAKING SKILL NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN NGƯỜI VIỆT HỌC TIẾNG ANH TẠI CÔNG TY CỔ PHẦN HỌC THUẬT EQUEST HÀ NỘI GẶP PHẢI KHI HỌC KỸ NĂNG NÓI CỦA IELTS M A Combined Program... students) in IELTS Speaking preparation classes at EQuest Table 3: Difficulties encountered by upper- intermediate students (IELTS B students) in IELTS Speaking preparation classes at EQuest Table... providing non-personal information; comparing; expressing opinions; summarising; explaining; conversation repair; suggesting; contrasting; justifying opinions; narrating and paraphrasing; speculating;