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FACTORS ENHANCING ENGLISH SPEAKING
ABILITY: EXEMPLARY CASES OF SECONDARY
SCHOOL STUDENTS
BY
MS. THANATCHAPORN TRIWITTAYAYON
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LANUGAGE TEACHING
LANGUAGE INSTITUTE
THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
ACADEMIC YEAR 2017
COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
Ref. code: 25605821042511TNR
FACTORS ENHANCING ENGLISH SPEAKING
ABILITY: EXEMPLARY CASES OF SECONDARY
SCHOOL STUDENTS
BY
MS. THANATCHAPORN TRIWITTAYAYON
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
LANGUAGE INSTITUTE
THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
ACADEMIC YEAR 2017
COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
Ref. code: 25605821042511TNR
i
Thesis Title FACTORS ENHANCING ENGLISH
SPEAKING ABILITY: EXEMPLARY CASES
OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
Author Miss Thanatchaporn Triwittayayon
Degree Master of Arts
Major Field/Faculty/University English Language Teaching
Language Institute
Thammasat University
Thesis Advisor Associate Professor Nopporn Sarobol
Academic Years 2017
ABSTRACT
Regarding the English language skills, speaking seems to be the most crucial
skill in terms of communication or interaction in daily lives (Ur, 1996). This present
study aimed to investigate factors enhancing English speaking ability, also the most
influential factor affecting speaking ability. The participants were 5 secondary school
students who had received awards from speech competitions to guarantee their English
speaking ability and 10 English teachers who had taught these students or trained them
to participate in the competition. Semi-structured interview and in-depth interview were
used as research instruments. The findings revealed that factors which enhance the
students to be fluent in speaking English were learning styles and strategies, age,
attitudes, motivation, family support, personality, exposure to the language and their
English teachers, while personality and their exposure to the language were the most
influential factors. The results of this study will benefit both teachers and students in
regard to getting insight on the factors that may have an influence on students’ English
speaking ability.
Keywords: Factors, English speaking ability, secondary school students, exemplary
cases
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research paper would not have been accomplished without the help
and support of many people.
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor,
Associate Professor Nopporn Sarobol who has generously helped me to complete this
study. I really appreciate her kind support, valuable suggestions and comments to
improve my study throughout the year.
Secondly, I am grateful to all instructors and staff at the Language Institute
at Thammasat University. They have provided me with so much useful knowledge and
helpful advice during the time I have studied in the English Language Teaching
program.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the support of my family and friends
who always encourage, understand and tell me not to give up. I really appreciate and
am grateful for all your kindness. Special thanks to Ratthasat Setthakunwadi for his
sincere assistance with the statistics used in this study. Without help and support, this
study would not have been finished successfully.
Miss Thanatchaporn Triwittayayon
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
LIST OF TABLES iii
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Statement of the problem 5
1.3 Research questions 6
1.4 Objectives of the study 7
1.5 Definitions of terms 7
1.6 Scope of the study 7
1.7 Significance of the study 7
1.8 Organization of the study 8
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Speaking ability 9
2.1.1 Definition of speaking ability 9
2.1.2 Speaking skill and writing skill 9
2.1.3 Types of speaking 10
2.2 Factors affecting English speaking ability 12
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2.2.1 Age 12
2.2.2 Attitude 13
2.2.3 Motivation 14
2.2.4 Family support 15
2.2.5 Personality 15
2.2.5.1 Self-esteem 16
2.2.5.2 Anxiety 17
2.2.5.3 Risk-taking 17
2.2.5.4 Learning styles 17
2.2.6 Exposure to the language 19
2.2.6.1 Aural medium 19
2.2.6.2 Experiences in studying abroad 19
2.2.6.3 Learning strategies 20
2.2.7 Teacher 21
2.3 Relevant research 24
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Participants 30
3.2 Research instruments 33
3.2.1 Semi-Structured interview 33
3.2.2 In-depth interview 33
3.3 Data collection procedures 34
3.4 Data analysis 35
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS
4.1 Demographic data of the participants 37
4.2 Factors enhancing English speaking ability 39
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4.2.1 The similarities between all participants 54
4.2.2 The differences between all participants 55
4.3 The most influential factor enhancing English speaking ability 55
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of the study 57
5.1.1 Objectives of the study 57
5.1.2 Subjects, research instruments and procedures 57
5.2 Summary of the findings 58
5.2.1 Factors enhancing English speaking ability 58
5.2.1.1 Learning styles and strategies 58
5.2.1.2 Age 59
5.2.1.3 Attitude 59
5.2.1.4 Motivation 59
5.2.1.5 Family support 59
5.2.1.6 Personality 60
5.2.1.7 Exposure to the language 60
5.2.1.8 Teacher 60
5.3 Discussion 60
5.4 Conclusions 64
5.5 Recommendations 64
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REFERENCES 66
APPENDICES 71
APPENDIX A (Student interview questions) 72
APPENSIX B (Student interview questions) 79
APPENSIX C (Teacher interview questions) 81
BIOGRAPHY 85
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LIST OF TABLES
Tables Page
1 The demographic data of the participants (students) 31
2 The demographic data of the participants (teachers) 32
3 The most influential factor enhancing the students’ English speaking ability 56
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
English has become a global language in the world today, since it is the language
that can link the whole world together. Also, English is the universal language which
is used by most people around the world to communicate in all fields such as business,
education, and travel; thus, English proficiency is essential and required in every field.
Darasawang (2007) stated the objectives of learning a foreign language, in this case
English, are to facilitate communication, education and business. Moreover, it is
important for people to be able to communicate in English in order to gain economic
competitiveness for their country in the era of globalization. Therefore, it is inevitable
that English is vital to be learned since it is considered as a means of communication
and knowledge. Furthermore, Khamkhien (2010) stated that the demand for speakers
using English effectively is evident in every country. Consequently, the use of effective
English can lead people to achievement in terms of attaining a desirable position in
their career and/or having an opportunity to study further.
In Thailand, English has been used as a foreign language which means it is not
commonly spoken in daily lives. Consequently, the people have less exposure to
English language in an authentic situation (Khamkhien, 2010) . Also, learners do not
have many opportunities to communicate by using English in daily lives. Several
research studies have revealed that to increase the exposure to English and provide more
opportunities to practice speaking English could enhance learners’ speaking ability
(Boonkit, 2010; Srisang, 2014). Similarly, Lightbown and Spada (2013) pointed out that
opportunity to interact with native speakers is beneficial for all language learners. Thus,
the second or foreign language learners who have never communicated with the native
speakers might not be able to speak English fluently.
Obviously, it is necessary for Thai people to be able to communicate in English
effectively. One of the reasons is Thailand has been a part of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 2015, so there have been more people from
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other ASEAN countries come to Thailand freely for various purposes such as travel,
work, and business. Importantly, English has been used as an official language among
people in ASEAN. Furthermore, in order to be competitive in ASEAN community,
Thai people should be competent in English language (Srisang, 2014). Also, Khamkhien
(2010) emphasized the importance of English as it has become the requirement for both
career and further study, since most job positions require English language competency,
while English language is used as a medium of instruction in higher education.
The Thai Ministry of Education put the great emphasis on English language by
specifying that English must be the first foreign language which all Thai students learn
at school. Certainly, English is considered as one of the core subjects and is regarded
as a necessity in Thai society (Wongsothorn, Hiranburana and Chinnawongs, 2003). In
addition, Thai government has pushed in a substantial effort for every school to start
teaching the English subject to students since grade 1. The Basic Education Core
Curriculum (2005) has specified the framework and the main contents for learners to
learn a foreign language which refers to English language.
Language for Communication: Learners have to be able to use the
foreign languages in four skills (listening, speaking, reading and
writing) in order to exchange data and information, express feelings,
present ideas and use the language to create interpersonal
relationships.
Language and Culture: Learners have to be able to use the foreign
languages accordingly with the culture of native speakers and Thai
culture. Also, they have to be able to apply it appropriately.
Language and Relationship with Other Learning Areas:
Learners have to be able to use the foreign languages as a means to
connect to other knowledge and seek knowledge to broaden
learners’ views.
Language and relationship with Community and the World:
Learners have to be able to use the foreign languages in different
situations. Also, being able to use it as a tool for a higher education
and exchange what has been learned with the community.
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Regarding the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, speaking is
stated to be the most important skill, since being able to speak a foreign language
requires knowing other skills of that language (Ur, 1996) . Likewise, many language
learners assess their success in learning a language from their ability to speak the target
language fluently and appropriately ( Mahripah, 2013; Nunan, 2003) . Additionally,
Zaremba (2006) pointed out that for being able to communicate in daily life or interact,
speaking seems to be the most essential skill. Therefore, to help the learners to be more
proficient in speaking English will be a massive advantage to them.
In terms of teaching speaking in Thailand, according to Khamkhien (2010), there
are a range of methods that educators and language teachers have used to teach learners
in order to improve English speaking ability. Initially, Grammar-Translation and
Audio-lingual methods were employed. Based on the Grammar-Translation method, it
puts greater emphasis on teaching written language more than spoken language. As a
consequence, learners rarely improve speaking skill due to focusing too much on
grammar and accuracy. For the Audio-lingual method, it focused on repeating the texts
rather than teaching speaking per se. Consequently, learners may not receive sufficient
input to be able to speak English effectively as well as deliver the conversation in their
daily lives naturally (Kongkerd, 2013).
Furthermore, Kongkerd (2013) also elaborated that emphasis too much on
accuracy could reduce learners’ confidence and motivation. This is in line with the
several research studies which indicate that confidence and motivation are the factors
affecting English speaking ability (Boonkit, 2010; Sa-adpan, 2008; Khamkhien, 2011).
Besides, there are other methods that have been used to teach speaking skill, such as
task-based instruction and content-based instruction. While task-based instruction has
provided some meaningful tasks for learners to practice by using the target language,
content-based instruction is another method that focuses on the subject matter, content,
rather than the language. Moreover, there is another method which could encourage
learners to use the language as a means of communication namely Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT).
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According to the CLT approach, the role of an English teacher will be changed
from a drill leader to be a facilitator, since a teacher has to provide opportunities for the
learners to use the target language to communicate. Likewise, this approach is
consistent with the notion of learner-centeredness, which the teacher is not a center of
the learning process, thus, it seems to be an alternative and appropriate way of teaching
speaking to the students ( Wanich, 2014) . Consequently, it is suggested that this
approach, CLT, is preferable for teaching the speaking skill.
Despite the fact that CLT is a preferable approach, it leads to insufficient
teaching results. According to Teng and Sinwongsuwat (2015) , there might be some
reasons affecting this teaching approach. Firstly, the teachers have inadequate English
competency, particularly in oral skill, thus, they use Thai language to convey the
contents in teaching. Secondly, there is insufficient time to provide all the CLT
activities in a given period; there will normally be 50 minutes in one class in Thailand
which is not enough for the teachers to present any effective activity they have prepared.
Next, Thai learners usually focus more on accuracy than fluency which is opposed to
the CLT concept. In addition, learners and teachers also pay much attention to grades
and examinations. A fourth factor is the number of learners exceeding 40 people in one
class and they are in different levels. Therefore, it is fairly difficult for the teachers to
provide suitable activities which match all of the abilities.
Moreover, some learners are uncomfortable with this type of teaching approach
since it is in contrast with the Thai culture, which children should pay respect and listen
to the seniors. Thai learners are used to acting the passive roles in a classroom. Lastly,
there is a misconception that only native speakers can become proficient in English
language. Hence, non-native English speakers as Thai teachers are being abandoned in
the learning process. All of these factors might be part of the reasons that have led to
unsatisfactory results in using the CLT approach.
Besides, there might be some factors that have prevented or affected the
development in speaking ability. Therefore, it is necessary for the learners to know what
the factors are in order to become proficient in speaking.
Based on a whole series of studies and theories, there are several factors related
to learners’ oral proficiency. According to Shumin ( 1997) , the factors that affect
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speaking ability are age or maturational constraints, aural medium, sociocultural factors
and affective factors. This is in line with Lightbown and Spada (2013) who suggested
that age, attitude, and motivation are the factors that influence the acquisition of a
second language. Additionally, Lightbown and Spada ( 2013) further described that
personality, exposure to English and aptitude also affect the acquisition of a second
language learner. Moreover, there are a range of previous studies which state that the
teacher is another important factor affecting learners’ speaking ability.
Clearly, some language learners have struggled and found it difficult to be able
to speak English. On the other hand, some groups of learners can speak English
proficiently and fluently. Some of these learners have competed in several English
speech competitions and received awards. Without a doubt, there may be some specific
factors that could enhance these learners’ speaking ability and make them outstanding
in speaking English. As a consequence, this present study, an exemplary study, will
investigate what are those factors as well as which is the most influential factor. The
research study will disclose the results in detail because to know those factors would
be beneficial to both teachers and learners. For the teachers, they could help promote
the factors that enhance learners’ speaking ability and prevent the impact of factors that
might reduce the speaking ability of the learners, while learners could be made aware
of the factors that might affect their speaking ability. Finally, this understanding could
lead to the improvement of Thai learners’ English speaking ability.
1.2 Statement of the problem
As English plays a significant role in the world today, including in Thailand, it
is undeniable that to be able to communicate in English will lead to more opportunities
in life. For example, there are many jobs which require proficiency in English. In
addition, English language can be used as a means to explore knowledge or access to
the information from various sources because English language is commonly used as a
major language in many fields. Hence, it is crucial to develop Thai learners to
communicate in English effectively.
Speaking seems to be the most important skill in terms of the skill that is used
to interact or communicate with other people. According to interviews with the English
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high school teachers, they agreed that most of the students in their classes are ineffective
in speaking English. Even if some learners may be good at grammar, they find difficulty
in speaking. The teachers further stated that the students fear making mistakes and lack
confidence. Moreover, they only had the chance to speak English in the classroom.
Nonetheless, there were a few students who were outstanding in English speaking skill.
Although there are several research studies which investigate factors enhancing
English speaking ability, there is rarely any research which use exemplary cases to find
the factors improving English speaking ability in outstanding students. Therefore, this
present study will employ qualitative methodology to reveal more in-depth information
regarding factors that enhance student English speaking ability.
The results would be beneficial for other students to know what factors might
influence their English speaking ability in order to improve their speaking skills.
Additionally, it would be a great advantage for the teachers to be aware of the factors
that might affect their students’ speaking ability to help or facilitate the learners to
become competent in speaking English.
1.3 Research questions
1.3.1 What are the key and supporting factors that enhance English speaking
ability of the students?
1.3.2 What is the most influential factor that enhances English speaking ability?
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1.4 Objectives of the study
1.4.1 To investigate the key and supporting factors that enhance students’
English speaking ability.
1.4.2 To find out the factor affecting students’ English speaking ability most.
1.5 Definitions of terms
1.5.1 Factors refer to something that contribute to or have an influence on the
outcome of something, which in this study are age, attitude, motivation, family support,
personality, exposure to the language and teacher.
1.5.2 English speaking ability refers to the ability of an individual to speak or
perform in an acquired language. The speakers will demonstrate both accuracy and
fluency, and used a variety of communication strategies in language (Sa-adpan, 2008).
1.5.3 Exemplary cases refers here to the cases of secondary school students
who serve as desirable models, representing good examples of the speaking ability.
1.6 Scope of the study
The present study aims to investigate factors which could enhance students’
English speaking ability. There were 5 students and 10 teachers as the participants in
this study. The data was collected during September-November, 2017. In addition, the
study focused only on the speaking skill.
1.7 Significance of the study
The intention of this study is to investigate factors that enhance the English
speaking ability of the secondary school students who are the good speakers. The results
will be beneficial as following:
1.7.1 The findings will be helpful for students in regard to getting insight on the
factors that could enhance their English speaking ability
1.7.2 The findings will help teachers to be aware of some factors that might
influence students’ speaking abilities, so that teachers can provide some activities or
lessons to help students improve their speaking abilities.
1.7.3 The findings will benefit other researchers who would like to conduct a
study related to English speaking skills.
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1.8 Organization of the study
The study of the factors enhancing English speaking abilities of secondary
school students in this paper is divided into five chapters.
Firstly, chapter one consists of background of the study, statements of the
problems, research questions, objectives of the study, definitions of terms, scope of the
study, limitations, significance of the study, and the organization of the study.
Secondly, chapter two is a review of literature which summarize theories
and previous studies relevant to this study. Additionally, there are the studies conducted
in Thailand and international studies conducted aboard.
Next, chapter three will focus on the research methodology which includes
participants, the instruments used to collect the data, procedures of data collection and
data analysis.
Fourthly, chapter four presents the results of the findings which were
collected from the data.
Finally, chapter five covers a discussion of the study, conclusions and
recommendations for further study.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The present study aims to investigate factors which enhance English
speaking abilities. Consequently, this chapter will review related literature in three main
areas: 1) speaking ability 2) factors 3) relevant research.
2.1 Speaking ability
2.1.1 Definition of speaking
According to the experts and scholars, there are several definitions of
speaking as follows:
Chaney and Burk (1998) stated that speaking was the process of
building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols.
Similarly, Brown (1994) described speaking as an intuitive procedure
of producing meaning that includes creating, decoding and encoding messages.
Nunan ( 2003) defined speaking as producing systematic verbal
utterances to convey meaning.
Cornbleet and Carter ( 2001) gave the definition of speaking as a
combination of sounds which were produced in a systematic way. The procedure was
carried out by combining phonemes into words, then, words are placed together in order
to make a meaningful communication.
2.1.2 Speaking skill and writing skill
To learn a second language, Nunan (2003) pointed out that many
people may find speaking skill is more difficult than other skills ( reading, writing or
listening) . It is due to the fact that speaking happens in real time, since there will
normally be another person waiting for the feedback or response. Furthermore, after
speaking, people can not edit or revise what has been said. Moreover, Luoma ( 2004)
also stated that it takes time to make people to be competent in speaking a foreign
language.
However, Brown and Yule (1983) pointed out the difference between
written language and spoken language that written language is more complicated and
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difficult than spoken language, since it is the language of literature and scholarship,
whereas the spoken language is more simple. Firstly, vocabulary used in the spoken
language is normally less specific and unstructured. Secondly, the speaker also uses
pausing, rhythm, intonation and incomplete sentences to mark out for the listener,
which parts of the speech need to be co-interpreted. Moreover, general non-specific
words and phrases as well as interactive expressions (well, oh, uhuh) are often used in
spoken language. Similarly, Bygate (1987) stated that oral or spoken language is
different from written language in terms of grammatical, lexical and discourse patterns.
Brown and Yule (1983) further added a major difference between spoken language and
written language which is the density of information since more information may be
packed into the written language.
2.1.3 Types of speaking
According to Brown and Yule (1983), there are different functions of
speaking, namely, talk as interaction, talk as transaction and talk as performance.
Additionally, each type of speech is distinct in terms of form and function. Also, they
require different teaching approaches in order to master any type of speaking (Richards,
2008).
Firstly, talk as interaction refers to a conversation related to a social
function. It happens when people meet and they wish to communicate to make or
maintain a relationship. As a consequence, they could greet or exchange some small
talk. Richards (2008) stated that talk as interaction mainly focuses on the speakers and
how they want to present themselves. For the listeners, they can also give immediate
feedback because the conversation happens in real time. To be proficient in this kind of
talk, learners may need a wide range of topics in order to continue the conversation to
an interlocutor (Richards, 2008).
Unlike talk as interaction, the content or information is the main key
in talk as transaction. People normally use this type of talk when they wish to deliver
or receive the information such as ordering some food, asking for directions or buying
things. As a consequence, the language accuracy is less important than the message.
Lastly, talk as performance is the talk which is focused on in this
study. Talk as performance usually is one way communication. People normally use
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this type of talk when they give a speech, lecture or present something formally,
therefore, the language used is formal. In addition, both the speakers and message are
important. According to the importance of accuracy in talk as performance, it may
create anxiety for some second language speakers. As a consequence, it would be
helpful for the learners to know how to reduce the anxiety while giving a talk as
performance. Kostić (2007) suggested 9 ways to help reducing anxiety from public
speaking as follows:
Calming yourself by taking a deep breaths when feeling
nervous.
Listening to some music.
Laughing when feeling worried.
Encouraging yourself to take some risks in learning a
language.
Rewarding yourself when you have achieved something from
learning.
Paying attention to your signs of stress.
Making a list of your feelings, motivation and attitudes
regarding learning English language.
Writing a diary about experiences in learning a language.
Finding someone to talk to in order to share your feelings.
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2.2 Factors affecting English speaking ability
To be able to speak a foreign language proficiently, not only do the learners
need to know about grammatical and semantic rules, but they also have to understand
and acquire knowledge of how native speakers use the language in authentic
conversation naturally (Shumin, 1997). According to the scholars, there are a range of
factors involved in English speaking ability which are age, attitude, motivation, family
support, personality, exposure to the language and teacher.
2.2.1 Age
According to Shumin (1997) , learners who start to acquire a foreign
language early, while they are still young, are more likely to achieve native-like accent
than learners who start at an older age. Moreover, Krashen, Long and Scarcella (1982)
pointed out that young learners who begin to learn a second language through natural
exposure will tend to achieve higher proficiency since they have more time to learn
than adults, therefore, it could help them achieve higher proficiency. Furthermore,
Shumin ( 1997) also mentioned the reason that children are better than adults,
particularly in oral performance, since adults are more concerned about making errors
than children; consequently, adults can feel more nervous and think too much when
they produce any utterance. However, Shumin (1997) also stated the opposite idea in
terms of grammatical competence whereby adults may learn or achieve grammatical
competence faster and better than children in some cases. This is due to the fact that
adults may generally have more grammatical knowledge so they can produce a sentence
more effectively than children.
Similarly, Lightbown and Spada ( 2013) stated that age exerts an
influence on second language acquisition. The proper timing for learners to learn a new
language effectively is when they are already acquiring the speaking/listening and
literacy skills in their native language. Additionally, Lightbown & Spada ( 2013) also
pointed out the Critical Period Hypothesis ( CPH) which refers to periods of human
development. It means that to succeed in language learning, there is an optimum
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specific time, partly related to brain development. For example, there is strong evidence
revealing that young learners can master pronunciation in second language better than
adult learners. It happens with immigrant families in which the children come to speak
the new language with native-like fluency, while their parents often fail, particularly in
the spoken language. However, there might be other factors or conditions involved. For
young learners, they have more time and opportunities to experience the language in
relaxed situations. While older learners often use language to express complex or
complicated ideas, additionally, they might feel embarrassed or in a pressure
environment. These kinds of negative feelings may affect their motivation to speak or
use the language.
Moreover, Lightbown and Spada further pointed out that there are
some studies which reveal that older learners are more efficient than young learners
since they use their metalinguistic knowledge and memory strategies as well as
problem- solving skills. Therefore, the appropriate age to acquire or learn a second
language may depend on the goals of learning. Furthermore, proficiency in a second
language cannot focus only on the age, since reaching a high level of second language
proficiency also involves aptitude, motivation and social condition.
2.2.2 Attitude
Rubin and Thompson ( 1994) defined attitude as the important key
that brings success or failure to learners. It refers to the way learners feel about the
foreign culture and the people. Similarly, Minghe and Yuan (2013) stated that attitude
plays a crucial role in language learning success because only people who have a
positive attitude will tend to make the required effort in their learning. Additionally, a
positive attitude may encourage learners to participate more, so then they will get more
practice which will in turn leads to the better results, whereas the learners who have a
negative attitude towards the language may not put much effort into learning or
practicing. Therefore, a positive and negative attitude to speak English is a factor that
is associated with learners’ speaking ability. Khamprated (2012) stated that to have a
positive attitude towards English language is good start for a second language learner.
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2.2.3 Motivation
The Oxford Dictionary of English defines motivation as a reason or
reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way (Oxford Dictionary of English, 1989).
According to Brown ( 1980) , motivation is an inner drive, impulse, emotion or desire
that moves one to a particular action.
Gardner ( 1985) divided motivation into two categories, namely
integrative orientation and instrumental orientation: these orientations refer to different
reasons for learning a second language. Integrative orientation reflects a goal to learn a
second language because of a favorable interest in the language communication and to
become familiar with members of the language community, whereas instrumental
orientation refers to a desire to learn the language to get a better job, position or status
or pass an exam.
Dornyei ( 1998) pointed out that without sufficient motivation, even
individuals with the most remarkable abilities can not accomplish long-term goals. This
is congruent with Ellis ( 1997) who stated that both types of motivation are essential
elements of learning success; however, particularly integrative motivation was found
to sustain long term success. Similarly, Gardner and Macintyre (1993) described how
integrative motivation could motivate learners to learn more.
Lightbown and Spada ( 2013) further stated that motivation is a
complex phenomenon which refers to two factors namely, learners’ communicative
needs and good attitudes toward the second language community. According to
learners’ communicative needs, it means either the need to speak for social situations
or fulfil their professional ambitions. The latter means the learners who have good
attitudes toward the community will be more likely to contact or communicate with the
speakers of the language. Gardner and Lambert ( 1972) coined the terms instrumental
motivation and integrative motivation. Even though integrative motivation is predicted
to be the stronger motivation that leads to successful learning, instrumental motivation
is found to be a better motivation in some contexts. Therefore, both types of motivation
are related to success in second language learning.
In conclusion, the researchers and scholars put a great emphasis on
motivation as it is a crucial factor that could lead to successful language learning.
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Therefore, encouraging and enhancing motivation are beneficial for learners to improve
the effectiveness of their speaking.
2.2.4 Family support
Mahripah (2013) pointed out that environment and family
background play a vital role in learning a foreign language, especially when in the
performance of oral speaking. Moreover, Latha and Ramesh (2012) found that students
who were from a poor educational background tended to fail to perform when they were
asked to speak, whereas Mahripah ( 2013) stated that students who grew up in a more
educated background tended to be more confident. In addition, Shumin ( 1997)
elaborated that cultural characteristics of a language could affect second and foreign
language. Hence, to speak a language, learners must know how the language is used in
a social context to avoid misinterpretation. Moreover, it also related to non- verbal
communication of the language; without understanding, non- verbal messages might
lead to misunderstanding. Furthermore, regarding culture and status, when learners
learn a language which in their own culture has a lower status, it will make the progress
slower ( Lightbown and Spada, 2013) . Another sociocultural aspect is social class,
which is determined by income, level of education and occupation. Society is normally
divided into four groups, namely lower class, working class, lower middle class and
upper middle class. There is a relationship between social class and second language
achievement. It is shown that children from lower socio-economics groups are less
successful in second language learning than children from higher groups. It may be not
the socio-economic class that makes the difference, however; it may link more to the
experience of the world that different social classes confront.
2.2.5 Personality
There are a number of personality characteristics that may affect
second language acquisition. Personality denotes personal traits, such as extroversion
and introversion, social skills, inhibition and the intrinsic side of factors which could
influence learners’ behavior, such as self-esteem, inhibition, risk- taking, anxiety and
empathy ( Wenden, 1991 as cited in Khamkhien, 2011) . Furthermore, Lightbown and
Spada (2013) stated that personality variables are more related to conversational skills
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than the acquisition of grammatical accuracy or academic language. Importantly,
Lightbown and Spada (2013) further elaborated that a qualitative approach is more
appropriate to investigate the personality variables since it is needed to capture depth
and complexity as they emerge and evolve over time. One of the personal traits that has
been discussed in many studies is extrovert and introvert. According to Lightbown and
Spada (2013), the extroverts are sociable, risk- taking and active; however, it does not
always lead to success in second language acquisition. Nevertheless, Sa-adpan (2008)
pointed out that it may be a trait that encourages people to continue with their studies,
which in turn, brings about success in learning. While introverts and anxious learners
usually make slower process, particularly in the development of speaking skills,
probably they take time to think carefully before they talk and prefer to be quiet.
Lightbown and Spada gave the reasons that these kinds of learners are less likely to
take advantage of opportunities to speak. On the other hand, outgoing learners will be
more likely to seek and grab any chances to speak, and additionally, they are not afraid
of any mistakes. Therefore, it might be a supportive reason why extroverts are better
than introverts since they take more chances to practice which could finally lead to
success.
2.2.5.1 Self- esteem
Shumin (1997) stated that self-esteem was one of the affective factors
that related to second language or foreign language learning. Brown (2000) explained
the importance of self-esteem as the most pervasive aspect of any human behavior,
since without some degree of self-esteem it might be difficult to succeed affectively in
any activity. The self-esteem also means self-confidence and a belief in one’s own
ability to carry out a task. Furthermore, Lightbown and Spada ( 2013) described self-
esteem as a feeling of self-worth which is divided into 3 types, namely, overall self-
assessment, specific self-assessment and task-assessment. According to Brown (2000),
overall or global self- esteem derives from the collecting of inter and intrapersonal
experiences and from assessments which people make of the external world. It is the
general evaluation that one makes of oneself over time and across a number of
situations. Specific or situational self-esteem is related to one’ s personal opinion on
something in certain life events such as work, education and home or traits such as oral
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ability and intelligence. Task or global self-esteem is connected to specific or particular
tasks in particular circumstances.
2.2.5.2 Anxiety
According to Horwitz, E., Horwitz, M. and Cope (1986), anxiety was a
main obstacle which needed to be overcome in order to speak another language
proficiently. Furthermore, Lightbown and Spada (2013) described anxiety as a nervous
feeling that a learner might feel when he/she learned another language. However, a
certain amount of anxiety could benefit or facilitate the learning. Latha and Ramesh
(2012) explained that speaking a second or foreign language might lead to a feeling of
anxiety to a learner; consequently it could make a learner forget some words and lead
to discouragement eventually. In addition Xiuqin (2006) pointed out that speaking
probably was the most concern which could lead students to anxiety. Then, it may make
a learner less likely to practice a target language. As a result, providing relaxing
atmosphere and activity are necessary in order to reduce a learner’s anxiety and increase
the fluency and efficiency in speaking English.
2.2.5.3 Risk- taking
Risk taking is another characteristic of a good language learner. A
risk taker is willing to make a guess in order to produce an utterance in the language.
However, a risk taker might appear foolish sometimes when communicating or
expressing an idea. Besides, Latha and Ramesh ( 2012) also described a personality
which opposes risk taking and inhibition. An inhibited learner is normally nervous or
worried, which he/she might make a mistake. Therefore, this type of personality could
be discouraged from risk taking, which is an essential to make positive progress in
language learning, since he/she is afraid to be criticized or of losing face in front of
other people. Obviously, there is a positive correlation between a high risk taking
behavior and acquiring English skill proficiently.
2.2.5.4 Learning styles
Learning styles in this study refers to the learning style preferences of learners
to learn a language. According to Oxford (2003), there were 9 aspects related to a
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second language learning; however, there were 4 aspects were the most relevant aspects
as follows:
Sensory preferences
Sensory preferences are the learners’ preferences for particular
perceptual learning channels. There can be divided into 4 areas: visual, auditory,
kinesthetic and tactile. For the visual learners, they prefer to learn things through their
eyes while the auditory learners may not wish for a visual input but rather an auditory
reception. Lastly, the kinesthetic and tactile learners may enjoy moving their bodies or
touching things since this can help them learn more quickly and easily.
Personality types
There is another learning analysis of styles which are believed to have
an effect on second language learning. It consisted of 4 strands.
1) Extraverted versus Introverted
Extraverts are the learners who normally receive energy from
interaction or communication with people. They love having friends. On the contrary,
introverts could gain the energy from themselves: they enjoy being alone. Unlike
extroverts, they do not tend to make many friendships.
2) Intuitive versus Sensing
In learning, intuitive learners tend to make their own learning and
creating of new possibilities. In addition, they may not like thinking in logical order but
prefer abstract and futuristic. On the other hand, sensing learners like facts and specific
instruction: they need a clear instruction to guide them.
3) Thinking versus Feeling
Thinking learners like to say things directly even though it might hurt
another person’s feelings. For the feeling learners, their feelings may come first and
they often judge people by using their feelings.
4) Closure oriented versus Open oriented
The closure oriented learners are defined as the serious and
hardworking learners. They prefer to finish a task quickly within the deadlines. For the
open oriented learners, they do not like deadlines since they like to take time to enjoy
their learning. It is said that this type of learners are advantaged in improving fluency
in a second language.
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Desire degree of generality
In regard to the learners’ learning preferences, some learners prefer
to look at the main idea whereas some learners like to focus on the details. The first
type are holistic learners who enjoy making interaction or communication; thus, they
can see the whole picture of what they are learning. The latter are called analytic
learners, referring to those who enjoy learning in detailed pieces even though they do
not have all the information.
Biological Differences
According to biological difference in learning, there is a favorable
time when learners prefer to learn since they believe that it is an appropriate time to
make them learn best. For example, some learners think they could learn best in the
morning while some learners prefer to learn in the afternoon and some learners can
concentrate best at night.
2.2.6 Exposure to the language
2.2.6.1 Aural medium
Mendlsohn & Rubin (1995 as cited in Shumin, 1997) pointed out that
speaking and listening are related since people need to understand what they hear before
producing any utterance. Otherwise, they would not be able to speak or provide any
meaningful response. Furthermore, Nillo ( 2014) stated the importance of listening
because it could improve speaking ability. Similarly, Renukadevi ( 2014) stated that
listening to the target language could develop speaking ability in terms of sound,
rhythm, intonation and stress. These abilities could be enhanced through listening.
Moreover, Boonkit ( 2010) the researcher of “Enhancing the development of speaking
skills for non-native speakers of English”, has investigated factors which could enhance
speaking skills of Thai undergraduate students. The findings indicated that listening to
English materials such as music, radio and movie could help the participants to improve
pronunciation. Besides, listening to English materials also gave the participants
confidence to speak the language.
2.2.6.2 Experiences in studying aboard
According to Briere (1987 as cited in Jindathai, 2015), the amount of
time in exposure to a target language, in both informal and formal linguistics
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environment, could influence second language acquisition. There are several studies
which have found the importance of exposure to the language or experience of the
language since these could lead to success in the second language learning, particularly
in speaking. Certainly, the students who have chances to acquire the language through
natural exposure will tend to be more successful in using a language to communicate.
As a consequence, increasing the exposure to English will give students opportunities
to use the language which is crucial for students who wish to enhance their English
ability ( Khamprated, 2012) . Nevertheless, some students hardly use the language
outside the classroom so the classroom activity should encourage students to practice
or use the language. Srisang (2014) also reported that limited opportunity to practice
was another inhibition to enhance the speaking ability. Additionally, Jamila (2014) and
Boonkit (2010) gave some suggestions in their studies that to enhance the development
of students’ speaking skills, students should get more exposure to listening and
speaking English. Last, and importantly, not only should learners get the exposure to
the target language, but also access to native speakers is another important aspect.
Lightbown and Spada ( 2013) pointed out the opportunity to interact with native
speakers is beneficial for language learners.
2.2.6.3 Learning strategies
Learning strategies in second language is defined as a specific action
which is used to improve learning in a second language. Even though there are several
types of strategies, it is often found that the learners use various strategies to support
each other, rather than using a specific strategy itself. According to Oxford (2003), there
are 6 main categories of second language learning strategies as follows:
Cognitive strategies
The learners are able to operate their learning directly such as taking
notes, outlining, summarizing and arranging their learning.
Metacognitive strategies
The learners are able to conduct or plan the process of their learning.
They could identify their learning styles and needs. Also, they could plan, spot the
mistakes and evaluate their learning.
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Memory- related strategies
The learners are able to use some techniques related to the second
language items in order to help them remember such as using gestures, rhyming,
creating images in their heads.
Compensatory strategies
The learners are able to guess the meaning from the contexts. It might
be using synonyms, gestures and pausing to aid the learning.
Affective strategies
The learners are able to specify their feelings and emotions; they
know when they feel anxious. Also, they could encourage themselves when they feel
down.
Social strategies
The learners are able to communicate to other people in order to ask
or clarify what they do not understand clearly.
2.2.7 Teacher
Latha and Ramesh (2012) pointed out the importance of teachers: that
teachers must be certified, qualified and competent in English language. Moreover,
they ought to participate in seminars or conferences to keep updated with the recent
trends. In addition, not only the linguistics competence is important, but also building
the rapport and good relationship with learners are essential. The friendly and relaxed
atmosphere can make the learning become effective as well as enable learners to shed
shyness and inhibitions.
Harmer ( 2007) also suggested that teachers should have role as a
controller, prompter, participator or tutor and facilitator to assist the learners. There are
many roles used to describe the teacher since the language process heavily depends on
how a teacher manages the classroom. Furthermore, Minghe and Yuan (2013) pointed
out that English teachers should take into consideration that learners have different
personalities’ types, so the teachers can design activities in the class that could persuade
all learners to take part in the class. Consequently, the teacher is a key important factor
to form the oral English proficiency in the learners.
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Regarding teaching speaking, one of the reasons that makes it
ineffective is lack of genuine activity ( Thornbury, 2005) . For many years, teaching
speaking has been taught through repetition of drills or memorization of dialogues.
However, according to today’s world, the goal of teaching speaking has been changed
to improve communicative skills ( Kayi, 2006) . In speaking, learners should not only
know how to produce specific points of language such as grammar, pronunciation or
vocabulary, but they also have to understand when, why and in what ways to produce
a language (Florez, 1999) . Shumin (1997) suggested a communication practice to
improve speaking ability which is small talk. It refers to any conversation that does not
have to be important, often between people who do not know each other well. For
instance, speakers can talk about weather, rush hour traffic, vacations, etc. This kind of
talk will help learners to develop speaking skills by creating a sense of social
communion through interactional talk.
In addition, in every speaking activity, fluency and accuracy should
be equally focused. Fluency is one of the goals in using a language which could be
practiced or developed in classroom activities. Nunan (2003) give the definition of
fluency as the ability to use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural
pauses. Richards (2008) suggested that students can develop fluency by using
communication strategies such as negotiating meaning and avoiding communication
breakdown. However, to practice fluency may be opposite to accuracy practice, since
accuracy mainly focuses on creating the correct examples and does not focus on
meaningful communication. Lastly, students need extensive exposure to authentic
language which is essential to enhance speaking ability and improve both fluency and
accuracy (Shumin, 1997).
Furthermore, Kayi (2006) suggested some classroom activities in
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) to promote speaking skills. There are a
range of interactive activities which can help improving speaking ability as follows:
1) Discussions
Regarding discussions, the students can be put into a group to talk or share their
opinions about a topic with their friends in a class. Consequently, they will have a
chance to practice speaking a language. The essential key to make this activity more
effective is that there should not be a lot of students in one group; otherwise, every
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student will not have an equal chance to speak, or the quiet students might avoid
speaking out. Also, students need to be reminded about the topic of discussion in order
to make them discuss only the relevant contents. Moreover, the teachers could
encourage students to speak by asking them guided questions to clarify the answers and
explain their ideas. There are additional advantages of using this activity. Not only the
students could develop their speaking skill, but they will also get to develop their critical
thinking skills from this activity.
2) Role Play
In a role play, the students will be given a role in order to pretend to be someone.
They might receive a script about what they have to say or act; therefore, they will get
to speak and perform to be someone else. Moreover, this activity could also build up
their confidence.
3) Simulations
The simulation is similar to role play, but it is more realistic since the students
will be given props and materials when they perform.
4) Information Gap
Referring to information gap, the students will be put in pairs and each of them
will have a different set of information. They have to communicate by using the target
language in order to exchange the information to complete the task. Therefore, the
students will have an equal opportunity to speak since all of them play an important
role.
5) Brainstorming
For brainstorming, all students will get to express their ideas freely. It could be
done individually or as a group. After this activity, the teacher could do a follow up
task by asking some questions.
6) Reporting
For reporting, the teacher could assign the students to read a newspaper or watch
some movies before the class. Then, the students will have to report about what they
have read or watched to the class. It is also an exciting activity since they will have a
chance to speak in public. Moreover, the teachers may ask the students to share other
ideas related to what they have done.
7) Storytelling
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In storytelling, the students will either read a story or create their own story,
then they will tell a story to the class. Therefore, it will not only develop the speaking
skill, but also help improving their creative thinking as well.
2.3 Relevant research
Pal (2015) conducted a study to investigate factors affecting students’ learning
speaking skills in the government college in Ethiopia. The participants were four
teachers and thirty-one students. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the
participants. The researcher used mix- method which employed questionnaire,
interview and observations as the data collection. The same set of the questionnaires
was delivered to both teachers and students. For the semi- structured interview, all
teachers were selected, however, there were only five students who relatively have good
performance in English speaking were chosen to be interviewed. The researcher set
major study dimensions which were teachers- related factors, students- related factors
and learning environment factors. As to the results, it was found that all three
dimensions were related factors which affected students’ learning English speaking
skills. According to the findings, teachers did not let students to practice and learn
English speaking skills through individual or group presentation. Teachers did not let
students to listen to the record and clarify some pronunciation points to help students.
Lastly, teachers had poor speaking ability, gave less time for the speaking exercise and
scold students who did not speak correctly. For the next dimension, students- related
factor, they only used English in the classroom and they were not motivated due to the
teachers’ speaking activity design. Finally, learning environment was not effective. The
classes were overcrowded and the seating was not proper in the way that could facilitate
students’ learning English speaking skills. Furthermore, there were no language
laboratory and other language resources centers.
Another study was aimed to identify the factors which affected English
speaking problems of engineering students at Thai-Nichi institute of technology. This
study was conducted by Jindathai (2015) . The study looked at five aspects which were
attitude, motivation, personality, exposure to English and management in teaching and
learning English. Besides, this research further studied the cause of English speaking
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problems among genders. The participants were one hundred and fifty- four students
who were in first and second year in Faculty of Engineering. They were selected
through stratified random sampling technique and all of them were non-English major,
however, they were required to take English conversation course as the compulsory
subject. Questionnaire was used to collect the data. As to the findings, it was found that
the main causes of the students’ English speaking problems were management in
teaching and learning English, exposure to English and personality. In terms of gender,
there was no significantly difference between male and female students in English
speaking problems.
In addition, there was one study held in Bangladesh by Jamila in the year of
2014. The study focused only on a psychological factor, lack of confidence, inhibited
learners to speak English. It aimed to help learners to overcome the lack of confidence,
which would lead to a better oral communication. The target group used in this study
was eighty- three students who enrolled in listening and speaking course. They were
randomly selected from various departments which are English, Law and Business
Administration. For collecting data, there were questionnaire, interview and
observation employed in this study. Firstly, the participants were asked to rank the
factors which were the barriers in the speaking and write freely in the second part of
the questionnaire in the same topic. Besides, the researcher also conducted some
interviews with some of the participants. Moreover, the researcher also interviewed
some colleagues to gain an insight into the opinion of the colleagues. Another technique
employed is observation, the researcher observed some of colleagues’ classes to see the
participants’ performances. As a result, participants ranked lack of confidences as the
first barrier, lack of practice and lack of vocabulary respectively. Furthermore, there
were some suggestions to help improving the learners’ oral communication. From the
learners’ views, teachers should be friendlier while the learners should get more
exposure to the English books or other English sources to widen the knowledge of the
target language. In addition, the classrooms should be more enjoyable. According to
the teachers’ views, the teachers suggested that an English class should contain 20-25
learners to ensure all of them received equal opportunities to practice. Learners should
not practice only in the classroom, but also outside the classroom as well. Lastly, the
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traditional mind set about teacher’s role should be changed to either friends or guides
who could share some difficulties in learning.
Mazouzi (2013) conducted a study in Algeria. The researcher aimed to analyze
the factors which caused oral performance of students in the third year at a middle
school. This is a case study that conducted with twenty- eight students and the teachers
as the participants. There were two techniques using to collect the data. Firstly, the two
sets of questionnaire were carried out to collect the data about feelings, attitudes,
experiences and standpoints toward speaking from both teachers and students’ views.
Secondly, five students were randomly chosen to the unstructured- interview. However,
the interview questions were similar to the questions from the questionnaire. Thus, the
interview was held to triangulate the data and clarify the questions. According to the
results, the teachers stated that the main factors affecting learner’s oral performance
were more psychological than linguistic.
In addition, poor vocabulary was another factor affecting learners’ oral performance.
From the learners’ views, all of them realized the importance of affective factors,
particularly, self-esteem, motivation and anxiety. It was due to the fact that those factors
enhanced their oral performance in the foreign language. Furthermore, the learners
pointed out that the teachers neither motivated them enough nor the learning condition
interested them. Lastly, they added that they hardly received any compliments from the
teachers. It was a main inhibitor that linked to less self-confident and less comfortable
in the classroom.
The next study was held in Indonesia which aimed to find psychological factors
that hinder students from speaking in an English class (Juhana, 2012) . The researcher
also aimed to find out the causes of the factors and the solutions to overcome the factors.
The participants in this study were sixty-two students. They studied at a senior high
school in Banten province. In order to answer the research questions, there were three
techniques using to collect the data. Firstly, classroom observation was carried out to
find out students’ participation and response during the speaking activity. Next, the
questionnaire was distributed to all participants. In addition, the questionnaire consisted
of five psychological factors which were lack of confidence, shyness, anxiety, lack of
motivation and fear of making mistakes. Moreover, the participants were asked to select
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the most factors that hindered them from speaking English in the class. They had to
write the cause of that factor as well as the suggesting solution to overcome the factor.
Finally, the interview was conducted to gain more data. However, there were only
twelve participants who were selected to be interviewed by reference of their English
teachers. The findings showed that fear of making mistakes was the most factor that
hindered students from speaking English, followed by shyness, anxiety, lack of
confidence and lack of motivation respectively. Finally, most students suggested the
solution to overcome the factors which was motivated them to be more confident and
encourage them to participate in speaking in an English class.
Besides, Khamkhien (2011) studied the views of Thai EFL learners’ learning
oral communication skills. The researcher focused five variables which may affect Thai
learners’ development of oral proficiency. The variables are motivation, personality,
attitude towards teacher, classroom environment and instructional media and attitude
towards English language. The participants in this study were three hundred and
twenty-seven Thai EFL learners, from Kasetsart University, who took the foundation
English course for the academic year 2009. Questionnaire was used to collect the data.
To triangulate the results, semi-structured interview was also employed. There were
five participants who were randomly selected to have the individually interviews with
the researcher. According to the findings, it was indicated that most of Thai learners
had high extrinsic motivation in studying English. Furthermore, they had positive
attitudes toward English language, teachers and English instructions since these
variables enabled them to learn English speaking as well as improve English speaking
proficiency. The results further revealed that English teachers play an important factor
affecting Thai students’ development of oral proficiency. Furthermore, in terms of
personality, it revealed that some personalities affected the majority of the participants.
They were worried about making mistakes as well as feeling embarrassed when they
had to speak in front of people. Besides, risk- taking and lack of confidence also played
a crucial part in their speaking ability.
Boonkit ( 2010) conducted qualitative research which aimed to investigate the
factors enhancing the development of speaking skill of Thai undergraduate students.
The participants of the study were eighteen students who enrolled in a course, listening
and speaking for special communication. All of them were either major or minor in
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English in the Faculty of Arts. To collect the data, there were two research instruments
employed. Firstly, the researcher chose to record one of the speaking tasks to analyze
the strengths and weaknesses of participants when they were speaking. Furthermore,
all of the participants were invited to answer structured-interview questions. As a result,
the researcher found that building up confidence in speaking was a main factor to
enhance speaking performance. According to a task-based approach, it also helped the
participants to feel more confident when speaking since this approach had provided a
variety of meaningful topics. In addition, there were some factors that enhanced
participants’ speaking, which were listening to English materials (music, radio, movies)
and arranging the activity to give opportunities to participants for more exposure to
listening and speaking in real situations.
There is another study which aimed to investigate the factors affecting the
English acquisition ability of non-native English speaking students at Asian Institute of
Technology (AIT) . This study was held by Sa-adpan (2008) who conducted the study
with seventy-seven non-native English graduate students who were in the second year
in the School of Environment, Resources and Development at AIT, Master Degree
program. Additionally, they were from different fields of study and were selected
randomly. The researcher used questionnaire as a research instrument. The results
clearly revealed that attitude and motivation had positive relationship with acquiring
the English proficiency. Furthermore, the students agreed that English proficiency
would help them to get a better job and higher education. Therefore, the results
indicated that both positive attitude and good motivation affected their English
acquisition ability. Moreover, the exposure to English also helped them to gain a
proficiency of the language. The findings further explained that not only academic
exposure, social exposure also played a positive role in the improvement of their
English skills.
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In conclusion, according to the above theories and studies, there are a range of
factors affecting English speaking abilities. Some positive factors help to enhance
speaking ability whereas some factors reduce the ability in speaking English. From the
theories and studies, it is found that positive attitude and high motivation enhance
learners’ speaking ability. Likewise, more exposure and listening to the language could
also help learners to widen their skills which eventually could improve their speaking
ability. Moreover, the support from the family and teachers are a crucial part for the
learners to become proficient speakers, while less self-esteem and anxiety have a
negative effect on the competence in speaking the target language.
In terms of age, the proper time to learn to speak a second language depends on
the goal of learning; however, the earlier the learners acquire the language, the better
they become naturally in speaking the language. Finally, there are a wide variety of
personality factors which affect speaking ability. It is believed that high self-esteem,
less anxious and risk-taking personality characteristics could enhance English speaking
ability.
.
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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study aims to investigate factors which enhance English speaking
ability of secondary school students and to find out the factor which is the most
influential factor for students to be fluent in English speaking. The four main areas will
be described in this chapter: 1) participants 2) research instruments 3) data collection
procedures and 4) data analysis.
3.1 Participants
The participants in this study were 5 student participants and 10 teacher
participants. Five student participants were selected through a purposeful sampling
method. They hold a qualification to meet the criteria of having received some awards
from a speech competition to guarantee their speaking abilities. Each participant was
studying in a government secondary school, in the academic year 2016, and they came
from different schools.
Moreover, there were ten teachers who were participants in this study. Two
teachers were selected from the reference of each student. All of the teacher
participants had known their students’ English speaking abilities well. They were
either the students’ English teachers or the teachers who had helped the students to
practice their English speaking ability for the English speech competition.
The demographic data of the student participants and teacher participants
can be seen in Table 1 and Table 2.
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Table 1. The demographic data of the student participants (S)
Student
Participants Gender Age Grade
Experiences
in Studying
Abroad
Awards from Speech
Competition
S1 Male 15 9 - - The first runner-up
(Impromptu Speech, 2012)
- The winner (Speech Competition, 2015)
- The winner (Speech Competition, 2016)
S2 Male 17 11 - - The third runner-up
(Speech Competition, 2016)
S3 Female 17 11 Australia
(1month)
Canada
(1month)
Singapore
(2 weeks)
- The winner
(Debate ,2016)
- The winner (Debate, 2017)
S4 Female 18 12 U.S.A (1 year)
Vietnam (1 year)
- The winner
(Debate ,2015)
- The second runner-up
(Speech Competition, 2016)
S5 Female 8
12 U.S. A (1 year)
- The second runner-up (Speech Competition , 2015)
- The third runner-up
(Speech Competition , 2016)
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Table 2. The demographic data of the teacher participants (T)
Teacher
Participants
Gender Age Education Experience in
Teaching (years)
Major
T1 Female 29 B.Ed.
4 English
T2 Female 34 B.Sc.
6 Environment
T3
Female 28 B.Ed. 4 English
T4 Male 27 B.Ed.
3 English
T5 Female 27 B.Ed. 3
English
T6 Male 29 B.Ed. 5
English
T7 Female 34 B.Ed. 9
English
T8 Female 41 B.Ed. 8
English
T9 Female 30 B.Ed. 5
English
T10 Male 29 B.Ed. 4
English
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3.2 Research instruments
The research design in this study was qualitative method. The data were
collected from a semi-structured interview and in-depth interview which asked about
the factors enhancing English speaking ability. Importantly, there were two sets of the
research instruments; one set was used to collect the data from the student participants
while the other set was used to collect the data from the teacher participants in order
to triangulate the data.
All of the interview questions were created by the researcher after reviewing
previous studies and related theoretical concepts. Then, the questions were checked
by an advisor. Later, all of the questions were sent to three experts in the field in order
to check the appropriateness of the questions and to validate the questions by using
the Item Objective Congruence Index (IOC) method. The result was 0.79 for the
students’ questions and 0.77 for the teachers’ questions. After that, the researcher had
developed all the interview questions, and they were reviewed by the advisor again
before collecting the data.
3.2.1 Semi-structured interview
The semi-structured interview was used to collect the data regarding
factors that helped the students to improve the English speaking abilities and covered 8
main areas: 1) learning styles and strategies 2) age 3) attitude 4) motivation 5) family
support 6) personality 7) exposure to language 8) teacher. This type of instrument, a
semi-structured interview, was employed to collect the data from both student
participants and teacher participants, and it could help the researcher to answer the first
research questions of this study. (See Appendix A and C)
3.2.2 In-depth interview
The other research instrument used in this present study was an in-
depth interview which was used for only student participants. This instrument allowed
the students to say or express their opinions and feelings in their own words without
any guidance from the researcher. Therefore, the in-depth interview in this present
study might help the researcher to receive or gain better data regarding factors
enhancing the participants’ English speaking abilities which were not asked in the semi-
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structured interview questions. Moreover, it helped the researcher to answer the second
research question in this study. (See Appendix B)
3.3 Data collection procedures
This study was conducted as to the following steps:
1) The researcher sent the questions about the demographic
information to the students through e-mail. They were requested
to fill out and return responses back to the researcher.
2) The researcher made an appointment with each student
participant to conduct a semi-structured interview and in-depth
interview individually. The interview session took about 30-40
minutes for each participant. In addition, the researcher asked for
permission from each participant to record the data during the
interview.
3) After the interview with each student participant, the researcher
also asked each participant to refer to two English teachers who
knew their English speaking ability well in order to participate in
this study as teacher participants.
4) The researcher contacted each teacher by phone and asked them
to be a teacher participant in this research study. The researcher
informed them the objectives of the study. All the teachers
accepted to be teacher participants and give the information about
themselves, including the students’ information.
5) The researcher interviewed each teacher participant on the phone,
which took approximately about 20-30 minutes for each
interview.
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3.4 Data analysis
There were two sets of data gathered from the data collection which were from
the students and from the teachers. The content analysis was used to analyze the data.
Firstly, the data were transcribed from voice recording. The researcher started
to read through all the raw data. Then they were categorized and grouped by the
researcher into 8 main areas: 1) learning styles and strategies 2) age 3) attitude 4)
motivation 5) family support 6) personality 7) exposure to language 8) teacher. Lastly,
the researcher sent all the data to the participants to review in order to confirm the
correctness of the data again.
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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
This chapter displays the results of the factors enhancing English speaking
ability of secondary school students. The findings were gathered from the five selected
student participants who were outstanding in English speaking ability as well as having
experience or participating in an English speaking competition. In addition, there was
another set of findings which was obtained from the teacher participants in order to
cross check the triangulation of the data. Semi- structured interview and in-depth
interview were used to collect the data from the participants and the data were analyzed
by using content analysis.
The data obtained from the interview reveals findings to answer the
following research questions:
1. What are the key and supporting factors that enhance English
speaking ability of the students?
2. What is the most influential factor that enhances English speaking
ability?
The results are reported and analyzed into 3 parts:
4.1 Demographic data of the participants
This part reports the general information of the participants.
4.2 Factors enhancing English speaking abilities
This part reveals the factors that enhanced the participants’ English
speaking ability. The factors which were investigated were learning styles and
strategies, age, attitude, motivation, family support, personality, exposure to the
language and teacher.
4.3 The most influential factor that enhanced English speaking abilities
This part discloses the factor which enhanced the participants’ speaking
ability the most.
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4.1 Demographic data of the participants
The participants included 5 students and 10 teachers who had either taught or
trained these students while the students were studying in their secondary school.
The first participant (S1) was homeschooled since kindergarten until grade 1 by
his mother in his hometown, Phetchaburi. He learned every subject through English
language. When he was in grade 2, he went to a government school where he found his
English skills higher than the other students; therefore, he was chosen to participate in
a speech competition in which he received the first place. During his secondary school
( grade 7-9) , he studied in a well- known school in his province. While attending this
school, he was sent to compete in several speech competitions. Regarding his English
Grade Point Average (GPA), he received 4.00. Furthermore, he stated that he normally
listened to English songs, news, and English talk shows every day and every time when
he had free time.
The second participant (S2) studied in a bilingual elementary school. In
addition, he went to the United States for a month when he was in grade 5 to visit his
aunt, where he greatly improved his English skills, particularly listening and speaking
skills. He had competed in the English competition occasionally during his lower
secondary school. When he moved to upper secondary school, he started to compete
more in the speech competitions. Also, his English Grade Point Average (GPA) was
4.00. In terms of listening, he revealed that he enjoyed listening to everything in
English, especially English songs. He further elaborated that he started to listen to more
English songs when he was in grade 5 since he joined the English song club in his
school.
The third participant (S3) had learned English with the native speakers as an
extra class for a few years when she was in grade 1. Moreover, she had always taken
summer courses in English speaking countries where she stayed with a host family.
Moreover, she had been a member of the school debate club since she was in grade 10,
where she had practiced speaking skills and competed in several speech competitions.
Furthermore, she disclosed that she listened to English songs and English news every
day. She also listened to an English talk show once a month. Regarding her English
Grade Point Average (GPA), she received 4.00.
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The fourth participant (S4) went to an international school in Vietnam, studying
in grade 5-6. Due to her father’s business, her family had to stay in Vietnam for two
years. After that she went back to Thailand and studied in a government secondary
school in an English program through her secondary school. Furthermore, she received
a scholarship to be an exchange student in the United States for almost a year.
Regarding her Grade Point Average (GPA), she received 4.00. Besides, she disclosed
that she liked listening to English, especially English songs. She further explained that
she usually listened to English songs every day.
The last participant (S5) was also an exchange student in the United States for
a year. She had studied in a government secondary school; additionally, she was the
most outstanding in English speaking skills. As a consequence, she had been chosen to
compete in several speech competitions. Moreover, she revealed that she enjoyed
listening to English songs, and she listened to them every day. Also she normally
listened to English talk shows when she had free time in order to practice her listening
skill.
Apart from five students who were the participants in this study, ten teachers
were also the participants in this study. According to S1, he referred to two of his
English teachers (T1 and T2). Also, S2 referred to two of his English teachers (T3 and
T4). While S3 referred to one of her English teachers (T5) and one English trainer who
trained her to compete in the English speech competition (T6). Similarly, S4 referred
to one English trainer (T7) and one of her English teachers (T8). Lastly, S5 referred to
one of her English teachers (T9) and one English trainer (T10).
Seven of the teacher participants are female and the rest are male. All of the
teacher participants were in the same range of age, which were 27-30 years old.
Moreover, there were two teacher participants who were 34 years old and one teacher
participant who was 41 years old. The majority of the teacher participants graduated
from Faculty of Education, majoring in English in bachelor degree. There was only one
teacher participant who graduated from Faculty of Science. Most of them started to
teach English language in school as soon as they graduated except for T2 and T6 who
had worked in other fields before becoming English teachers. Regarding the
relationship between teachers and students, teacher participants were either the student
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participants’ English teachers or teacher trainers who trained the students to compete
in the English speech competition.
4.2 Factors enhancing English speaking ability
The researcher interviewed five student participants and ten teacher participants
and it was found from the interviews that the followings were the factors that could
improve the students’ proficiency in speaking English.
The first student participant (S1)
Learning Styles and strategies
According to learning style, S1 revealed that he could learn faster and better if
he moved his body while learning the new things, so he was a tactile learner. This is
what he mentioned:
“I found that if I moved my body, it could help me to understand things more
quickly.”
Regarding his learning strategy, he normally used metacognitive strategy to
help his learning. Here is what he said:
“I usually plan my learning process before learning everything because it helps me to
see the whole picture of what I have to do.”
Age
S1 informed the researcher that he started to acquire English language since he
was in a kindergarten. His mother, who owned a kindergarten school, communicated
with him in English while he studied every subject at school through English. Besides,
there was also a foreign teacher who stayed at his house; therefore, he had to
communicate with him in English at all times.
Attitude
Regarding the attitude towards English language, S1 had a positive attitude
towards the language as he said that he really loved listening to everything in English.
He further mentioned that he listened to English songs, news and talk shows more than
Thai. Here is what he said:
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“I obsess with listening to English music, I do it every day.”
Motivation
In terms of motivation, S1 revealed that he wished to be proficient in speaking
English because he thought that it would help him to have more opportunities in seeking
for a job. Furthermore, he said that he actually needed a scholarship to study abroad,
and English language was one of the requirements. Here is what he said:
“The main reason that pushes me to be skillful in English is that I wish to have a
scholarship to study abroad.”
Family support
Referring to family support, S1 mentioned that he got full support from his
mother. His mother had provided the English environment for him by using English to
teach him lessons and communicate with him. Here is what he stated:
“I could say that I have become a fluent English speaker today because of a great
support from my mother.”
Personality
Based on the findings, S1 had high self- esteem; he was really confident in
speaking English. Also, he revealed he did not feel anxious even though he was in a
competition as he stated below:
“I am confident that I can communicate in English well, for me; there was no
different feeling between speaking English and Thai.”
Moreover, it was obvious that S1 was a risk taker since he stated that even if he
was not sure about what he was going to say, he would certainly say it. Here is what he
said:
“If I want to say something but I am not sure about the grammar, I would say it
anyway. And if it is incorrect, I do not feel any embarrassed. I think it is normal to
make a few mistakes since it is not our native language. Sometimes, even a native
speaker could make a grammatical mistake.”
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Exposure to the language
S1 had much exposure to English language; he always listened to English songs
every day and tried to find an opportunity to speak the language. Here is what he said:
“Since I am staying in the tourist area, when I see a foreigner, I will normally go and
talk to them.”
Teacher
Based on the teacher factor, S1 thought that teachers at school focused too much
on teaching grammar; however, he found it useful and it could enhance his English
speaking ability. Here is what he said:
“Even if a teacher always focuses too much on teaching us about grammar, it is
helpful to my English speaking ability since it would make me speak correctly.”
This student participant (S1) was requested to answer freely about what factors
had enhanced his English speaking ability the most. He said family and exposure to the
language were the factors which enhanced his speaking ability, due to his background
and experience. During kindergarten, he was homeschooled by his mother who used
English language as a medium of instruction. Additionally, his mother usually
communicated with him in English language. Regarding exposure to the language,
besides using English language with his mother and a foreign teacher who stayed at his
home, his mother often took him to a guesthouse where there were a lot of foreign
tourists; therefore, it gave him an opportunity to communicate with the foreigners.
According to the findings from two teachers of the first participant (T1 and T2),
both teachers agreed that S1 was really outstanding in speaking English language.
Moreover, T1 mentioned that S1 was the best English speaker in the class because he
had used English language since he was young. This teacher reported that he once saw
S1 communicated with his mother through English language. Both teachers reported
that undoubtedly S1 had a positive attitude toward English language. He had always
used English in his daily life such as for watching movies, listening to music etc. T2
added that S1 was also interested in English culture. In terms of his personality, both
teachers strongly agreed that he was a confident person and he seemed to be more
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mature than his friends, according to how he behaved. Furthermore, T1, who personally
knew his mother, said that if he was interested in something, he would stick to it.
Regarding an anxiety, T2 revealed that when there was a competition, S1 might
sometimes be anxious because he was worried about getting the award; however, in a
normal conversation he could do it naturally. Finally, both T1 and T2 said that the
family and environment was surely the deciding factor which made him become a fluent
English speaker.
The second student participant (S2)
Learning styles and strategies
Based on learning style, S2 revealed that he could learn better if he saw
pictures or real things, so he was a visual learner. Here is what he said:
“In a class, if the teacher shows the image of a text or a picture, it will really help me
to understand easily.”
Regarding his learning strategy, S2 often arranged his own learning process by
preparing the environment that helped him to learn best, and specified the learning
objective since he believed that it was the best strategy to make him succeed in learning.
Age
S2 told the researcher that he had listened to English songs and watched English
cartoons before he entered kindergarten, which he really enjoyed. He further stated that
he could remember the English alphabet before the Thai alphabet. Here is what he said:
“I had listened to English songs and watched English cartoon since I was young.”
Attitude
Regarding the attitude towards the language, S2 stated that he had a really
positive attitude. He loved to listen to English songs and watched English movies. Also,
English was his favourite subject at school. Here is what he said:
“I really love English language; I speak English every day. If no one talks to
me in English, I will talk to myself!”
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Motivation
For motivation, S2 strongly had an integrative motivation to be fluent in
English as he revealed that he would love to settle in the United States because he
loved English culture and would like to be a part of the community. Here is what he
mentioned:
“I was always told by my father that if I could speak English well, he would send me
to the United States to stay with my aunt, which I think it is terrific and it is my
dream!”
Family support
In regard to family support, S2 received full support from his family. This is
what he mentioned:
“My father will send me to stay with my aunt and study in the USA.”
He further revealed that it really inspired him to be competent in English
language. Also, his family had provided an English environment to him since he was
young. They let him listen to English songs and watch English cartoons.
Personality
Referring to personality, S2 had high self-esteem about his English speaking
ability. He was confident that he could speak English fluently. Here is what he
mentioned:
“I had a high self-esteem about my ability to speak English, also I think it is my
strength.”
Furthermore, he stated that he used to be worried about his English speaking
when he was in a primary school. This is because he felt that his friend could speak
English fluently, therefore it affected his self-confidence. However, at this moment he
was not worried anymore when he had to communicate in English. Here is what he
said:
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“I used to be anxious about my speaking ability since my friend could speak very well,
so I did not want to speak English because I was not fluent as him. But now, there is
not such a kind of feeling at all.”
Exposure to the language
In addition to listening to English songs, S2 always tried to find an opportunity
to speak the language. He often spoke English to his foreign friends through video call,
five to six times a week, and used English to communicate with some of his friends at
school. Interestingly, he usually talked to himself in English every day because he
wanted to continually practice his English speaking. Here is what he stated:
“I speak English to myself in front of the mirror every day.”
Teacher
Referring to the teacher factor, S2 said that teacher was a factor enhancing his
English speaking ability. He talked about a Philippine teacher who taught him English
since he was in primary school. Here is what he said:
“When I was in a primary school, my Philippine teacher knew that I really liked
English, therefore, he often asked me to speak English with him. I think that my
English speaking skill had improved a lot during that time.”
For S2, the factors that enhanced his speaking ability most were personality and
attitude. He believed that his personality such as talkative, high self-esteem and risk-
taking were the positive personality traits which had helped him to be proficient in
speaking English language. Moreover, these characteristics also brought about his good
attitude towards the English language, which he thought was a key factor making him
be a proficient English speaker.
Regarding the results from the teachers of the second participant (T3 and T4),
T3 started by saying that she first saw S2 presenting in front of the English class, which
he could do it perfectly. Furthermore, T4 added that S2 always spoke English language
confidently which made him outstanding. Both teachers agreed that S2 had a positive
attitude towards English language. T4 elaborated that he often saw him teaching and
speaking English language on Facebook. While T3 further added that S2 always asked
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for a speech competition to join. In regard to his personality, both teachers also reported
that S2 was talkative, ambitious and confident; also, he was generous to his friends.
Even though this student participant was a talented student, he normally taught and
helped his friends when they needed help. Finally, both teachers thought that because
of his personality, it led him to become proficient in speaking English language.
The third student participant (S3)
Learning styles and strategies
In terms of learning style, S3 revealed that she preferred to learn things through
the visual image since it could help her to understand the content quickly. Therefore
she is a visual learner. Here is what she mentioned:
“Seeing the texts through my eyes will help me to learn and understand quickly than
listening to the teacher.”
For the learning strategy, S3 also disclosed that she normally first made a plan
about what she was going to learn, then she would follow the plan. Here is what she
said:
“When I study, I always plan first, then, I will follow step by step.”
Age
S3 mentioned that she started to acquire English when she was young. She had
studied English with a native speaker for two years since she was 7 years old. It made
her feel familiar with the English language. Here is what she said:
“I learned English with the native speaker since I was young. I think it was a great
factor that enhanced my English speaking ability.”
Attitude
In terms of attitude, S3 enjoyed listening to English songs. Also, she said that
English was her favourite subject since she was young. Moreover, she found an
opportunity for herself to speak English when she applied to join the school’s debate
club. Here is what she said:
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“English is always my favourite subject and I love to speak English, so I decided to
join the school debate club in order to have a chance to participate in the English
speech competition and keep practicing my English speaking skill.”
Motivation
Regarding motivation, S3 accepted that she wanted to be competent in English
since she wished to have a good job. She further explained that she wished to work
abroad, in a developing country. Here is what she said:
“I wished to get a great job, well-paid, and I know if I was proficient in English I can
reach my dream.”
Family support
In regard to family support, S3 stated that her parents did not communicate with
her in English. However, they did financially support her by sending her to study a short
course in an English speaking country. Here is what she said:
“My parents support me by sending me abroad to study English language several
times. I have been to Singapore, New Zealand and Canada. Without their supports, I
would not have been proficient in English as I am now”
Personality
According to personality, S3 had high self-esteem. She was confident that she
could speak English well. Also, she was not anxious when she had to speak English,
both in the daily conversation and the speech competition.
Furthermore, she was a risk taker; she stated that even though she was not sure
about the correctness of the sentence, she was going to say; she would definitely say it.
Here is what she told the researcher:
“I will still say it. If it is incorrect, people will correct us, therefore, we will
know what the correct one should be.”
Exposure to the language
In terms of exposure to the language, S3 had the experience of study in several
English speaking countries. She had been to Singapore, Australia and Canada to study
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in summer courses where she stayed with a host family. Also, she often listened to
English songs, news and talk shows. Here is what she said:
“I normally went to study a short English course in an English speaking country and I
found my speaking ability improve every time I came back. Also, listening to English
songs and news improve my vocabulary in speaking English as well.”
Teacher
In terms of teacher factor, S3 thought that her English speaking ability had not
improved much from learning with the teachers at school. However, she stated that
learning with a native speaker could improve her listening skill due to the familiarity
with accents.
According to the in-depth interview, S3 found that exposure to the language,
personality and attitude were 3 main factors enhancing her English speaking ability the
most. Firstly, she had a great exposure to the English language since she had been in
several English speaking countries for studying, where she always stayed with the
native English speaking families. Therefore, she felt that exposure to the language in
the authentic situation had helped her to become a fluent English speaker. Furthermore,
S3 revealed that personality and good attitude towards the English language were the
main parts enhancing her speaking ability.
Referring to the teachers of S3 (T5 and T6). Both teachers were in the debate
club. In this club, the student must pass an audition to be a member of the club. A
member would be selected to compete in a speech or a debate competition.
Consequently, all students in this club were qualified in speaking skill, including this
participant. Regarding English speaking ability, both teachers thought that S3 was
outstanding in speaking English. T5 said that S3 had good pronunciation, while T6
added that she could speak English fluently and also she was good at choosing the
proper word to be in a sentence and she could speak English language without anxiety.
In terms of personality, both teachers revealed that S3 normally seemed to be a quiet
girl; however, when she performed she had confidence. In addition, she had good
manners and generosity toward teachers and her friends. The influential factors that the
teachers thought enhanced this participant speaking ability were family support and her
personality. T5 mentioned that her parents were well-educated; additionally, they
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supported her in English language, particularly in financial support. Finally, T6 further
said that a big factor was her personality because she was eager to learn, which made
her fluent in speaking English. Even though she could communicate in English well,
she never stopped practicing.
The fourth student participant (S4)
Learning styles and strategies
According to learning style, S4 stated that she could learn easily when she had
to read or see things, so she was a visual learner. Here is what she said:
“When I learn the new things, it would be easier for me to understand if I can see or
read a text by myself.”
Regarding the learning strategy, S4 mentioned that she loved to know the
objective of what she was learning. Then, she would make a plan of what she had to do
in order to accomplish the learning. Here is what she mentioned:
“To learn the new things, I always want to know the objective first, then I could make
a plan to accomplish the objective.”
Age
S4 stated that she had acquired English language during her childhood. It was
due to the fact that her father wished her to be competent in English, he had always let
her listen to English songs and watch English cartoons. Here is what she said:
“I had listened to English songs and watched English cartoons a lot since I was
young.
Attitude
With regard to the attitude towards English language, S4 revealed that she had
a positive attitude towards the language since she was young. She loved English
language and enjoyed communicating in English. Here is what she said:
“English is always my favourite subject.”
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Motivation
Regarding motivation, S4 wished to be fluent in English because she wanted to
have a foreign friend. Also, she liked the British accent. Therefore, she wished to have
that accent. Here is what she said:
“I really like British accent and I wished I could have that accent.”
Family support
Her parents always let S4 listen to English songs and watch English cartoons
since she was young, which made her feel familiar with the language. Here is what
she said:
“Even though my parents could not communicate in English, they tried so hard to
encourage me to be able to communicate in English.”
Personality
S4 strongly felt that she could speak English fluently and she had a high self-
esteem for herself. Here is what she stated:
“I am confident that I can speak English well and fluently.”
Moreover, S4 was not anxious about speaking English, even if it was in a
competition. Here is what she said:
“I was not anxious when I have to speak English. I feel like it is the same as I speak
Thai.”
For making a mistake, S4 was not worried at all since she found that mistakes
are normal. Consequently, she would always take a risk to say what she wanted to
express even though she was not sure about the grammar.
Exposure to the language
In terms of exposure to the language, S4 revealed that she had experienced
listening to English songs and watching English cartoons since she was young. In
addition, she went to an international school in Vietnam for 2 years and was an
exchange student in the United States for a year. Here is what she said:
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“According to my exposure to use the language in an authentic situation, it has
helped me improve my English speaking a lot. I often copy the accent and
pronunciation from the native English speakers.”
Teacher
S4 disclosed that teachers were not a factor that enhanced her English speaking
ability. However, she mentioned that a native English teacher could help her to improve
her listening skill which she found related to speaking skill. Here is what she said:
“Learning English with the native English teachers could help me improve my
listening skill which I think it is related to my speaking skill.”
According to the in-depth interview, S4 said that exposure to the language,
personality and attitude were the factors enhancing her speaking ability the most;
additionally, she added that exposure to the language was really useful to her since it
helped her to be familiar with the language. Also, she believed that her high self-esteem
personality was a main factor which helped her while she was speaking. Furthermore,
a positive attitude towards the language was another factor as she believed that having
a good attitude towards something would make people do things passionately which
would bring the best outcomes.
Regarding the results from the teachers of S4 (T7 and T8), both teachers
strongly agreed that S4 was not only fluent in speaking skill, but all four skills (listening,
speaking, reading and writing) . T7 explained that S4 got C1 level in the Common
European Framework of Reference for Language test (CEFR) which was the highest
level of all six levels. Furthermore, there were only a few students in the school
receiving this high level. In terms of attitude towards the English language, T7 and T8
reported that S4 had a positive attitude towards the English language due to her
participation in every activity of the English department. Besides, both teachers seemed
to admire her personality since T7 stated that she was kind, humble and generous to the
teachers and friends. T8 added that she was always being helpful; moreover, she also
had leadership skill since she received a role as a head of her class. In terms of her
English speaking ability, both teachers agreed that she could speak English naturally
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and respond automatically. T7 thought that it may be because she studied in an
international school in Vietnam for two years and received a full scholarship as an
exchange student in the United States for a year. As a consequence, it may be a factor
which made her become competent in speaking the English language. In addition, T8
stated that her positive attitude might be a key factor which enhanced her speaking
ability.
The fifth student participant (S5)
Learning styles and strategies
S5 disclosed that she preferred to learn new things from reading a text by herself
since it helped her to understand an idea quickly and easily, so she is a visual learner.
Here is what she said:
“I think I prefer to read from the slides rather than listen to what the teacher says.”
Referring to learning strategy, S5 said that she knew how to make herself
understand any new lesson quickly which was about organizing what she had to do.
She further explained that it was the helpful strategy she normally used. Here is what
she responded:
“When I am learning the new thing, I always organize what I have to do first, then I
follow my plan.”
Age
For the age factor, S5 said that she acquired English language even before she
went to a kindergarten since her parents normally let her listen to English songs.
Therefore, she revealed that it made her familiar with the language. However, she had
never communicated in English with anyone when she was a child.
Attitude
S5 had a positive attitude towards English since she stated that she liked English
culture. Moreover, English was her favourite subject, but, she preferred to learn English
by herself rather than learning with the teachers. S5 further disclosed that she admired
the British accent and she would love to have that accent. Here is what she told the
researcher:
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“I love English language even though I do not quite like the English class at school.
English is still my favourite subject.”
Motivation
S5 revealed that the motivation pushed her to become proficient in speaking
English. This is because she wished to have a foreign friend. She knew that English
was needed as a means to communicate. Also, she wanted to live in England to work
as a pharmacist. Here is what she said:
“I would love to live in England after I finish my degree since I think the quality of
life there is better.”
Family support
Regarding family support, S5 mentioned that she received full support from her
parents, especially financial support. S5 was sent to study in English speaking countries
which gave her great exposure to the experience of using the language in an authentic
situation. Here is what she stated:
“My parents always give a fully support by sending me to be an exchange student in
the U.S., also they always allow me to buy any English materials such as CD., movies
and books.”
Personality
Based on personality, S5 had really high self-esteem. She was quite confident
that she was competent in speaking English. Here is what she said:
“In an English class, I am always the one who answer the teacher’s questions.”
Furthermore, she did not have any anxiety at all when she spoke English,
especially when it was for a competition. Here is what she said:
“There is no anxiety for me at all. I know what I have to say then I just say it.”
Also, she was not afraid of making any mistakes. If she wanted to say something
but she was not sure about the correctness, she would give a try.
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Exposure to the language
According to exposure to the language, S5 usually listened to English songs and
watched English talk shows. Also, she had been to several English speaking countries
to study in short English courses. Here is what she said:
“I enjoy listening to English songs; I always do it every day for entertaining and
practice my listening skill.”
Teacher
S5 did not think that teachers were a factor in improving her English speaking
ability, especially the Thai teachers since she found that lessons at school were not
useful for her. In addition, the teacher normally focused on the tests instead of how to
communicate effectively. Here is what she stated:
“I feel like I haven’t improved any skills from the class at school!”
Regarding the factors enhancing English speaking ability, S5 believed that
exposure to the language and personality were the factors enhancing her English
speaking ability the most. S5 was also an exchange student in the United States for a
year where she had a great opportunity to experience the authentic language. Moreover,
she stated that listening to authentic language could help her speaking skill in terms of
getting familiar as well as copying the utterances. Finally, she disclosed that she had
high self-esteem which helped her to speak English proficiently.
According to the results from the teachers of this participant (T9 and T10), both
of them reported that S5 was confident and had high self-esteem. The teachers believed
that these characteristics made her outstanding in speaking. T9 revealed that S5 had
really high self-esteem and she might be the most confident student in school which
meant some Thai teachers thought she was aggressive. Similarly, T10 mentioned that
in terms of English speaking skill, S5 was the best one in her class. Furthermore, both
teachers agreed that S5 had a good attitude towards English language due to the fact
that she usually showed her attention to learn more as well as asking a question when
she did not know. In terms of anxiety, T9 said that in a speech competition S5
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sometimes got nervous when she saw how well other competitors could do, whereas
T10 stated that S5 was not anxious at all since she thought and spoke automatically.
4.2.1 The similarities between all participants
Referring to the factors that could enhance the participants’ English speaking
ability, these are the factors they have in common.
Firstly, all of them started to acquire the language in their childhood. They had
listened to English songs and watched English cartoons since they were very young,
which makes them feel familiar with the language. In addition, it also relates to another
helpful factor, attitude; some participants said that to acquire the language when they
were young, in a relaxed atmosphere, could bring a positive attitude to the language
learning. Moreover, they all had a motivation to speak English fluently even though
there were different types of motivation.
Furthermore, they all received full support from their family. Their parents let
them listen to English songs before they entered kindergarten, while some parents
provided financial support by sending them to study in an English speaking country.
Interestingly, their personalities are quite similar. They all have high self-esteem
in speaking English and they are confident that they can communicate in English
proficiently. Additionally, they are not worried when they have to speak English, either
in a daily conversation or a speech competition. Also, they are not afraid of making
mistakes. They are willing to take a risk and try to communicate even though they are
not certain about the correctness of the language. Moreover, all of them do not feel
embarrassed if they make some mistakes. In terms of learning style, the majority of the
participants revealed that they are visual learners since they could understand more
easily and quickly if they read a text or see an image.
Furthermore, all participants had significant exposure to the English language.
They often found an opportunity to use English language, such as listening and
watching English stuff, using English to communicate with people and joining in a
speech competition. Finally, they preferred the same learning strategy, which is a meta
cognitive strategy. They liked to make a plan of their own learning in order to know
what they have to do, then they will follow the steps. Also, some participants stated that
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they like to know the objectives of the learning. They believed that to apply this strategy
helps them to learn effectively and successfully.
4.2.2 The differences between the participants
Although the participants had several things in common, there were few things
which were different.
Firstly, not all of them had a chance to study in an English speaking country.
There were only two participants who had been exchange students - both in the United
States for almost a year. In addition, there was a participant who went to study in a short
course in English speaking countries three times. Therefore, there were two participants
who had never studied abroad. However, they tried to find other opportunities for
exposure to the language. Interestingly, these participants really obsessed about
listening to English songs and seeking a chance to speak English language every day.
Significantly, they had different opinions about the teacher factor. Two
participants who had never studied abroad thought that the teacher is a helpful factor in
enhancing their English speaking ability. However, the three participants who had been
broad strongly agreed that teachers were not a helpful factor that improved their
speaking ability, particularly the Thai teachers.
4.3 The most influential factor enhancing the students’ English speaking ability
According to the second research question, this part is concerned with the report
from the student participant in terms of most influential factor enhancing their English
speaking ability. The student participants were asked to reveal the factor which
enhanced their speaking ability the most.
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Table 3. The most influential factor enhancing the students’ English speaking ability
Table 1 reports the influential factor which the participants thought could
enhance their English speaking ability the most. It was found that personality, including
self-esteem, less anxiety, and risk taking, were the key factors. They thought that they
became proficient in speaking English due to their own personalities.
Also, exposure to the language was another influential factor which helped the
majority of the student participants to be proficient in speaking English. They believed
that having more opportunities to experience the language had helped them to improve
their abilities in speaking English. Interestingly, none of the student participants
thought that learning styles and strategies, age and teacher factor were the influential
factor enhancing English speaking ability.
Factors enhancing English speaking
ability the most
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 TOTAL
Learning styles and strategies A A -
-
Age -
Attitude ✓ ✓ ✓ 3
Motivation -
Family support ✓ 1
Personality ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4
Exposure to the language ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4
Teacher -
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of the study
5.1.1 Objectives of the study
The main objectives of this study were to find the key and supporting factors
which enhanced the participants’ English speaking ability, and additionally, the most
influential factor which affected their speaking ability.
5.1.2 Subjects, Research instruments and Procedures
Subjects
The student participants of this study were 5 students from different secondary
schools who had high ability in speaking English. All of them had been selected by
their schools to participate in various national speech competitions and they got the
awards from those events to guarantee their English proficiency in speaking. In order
to get data from the study, those students were asked to do both semi- structure
interview and in-depth interview.
In addition, there were 10 English teachers or English trainers (the teacher who
trains the students to compete in the English speech competition) of those students who
were the participants in this study. The teachers were also interviewed in order to
receive more data about the students. All of them are non-native English teachers.
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Research Instruments
The research design in this study was qualitative method. Semi-structured
interview was used to collect data from both student participants and teacher
participants. Also in-depth interview was employed to collect data from the student
participants. The questions for interviewing the student participants consisted of 35
items (See Appendix A). The questions for interviewing the teacher participants
consisted of 12 items (See Appendix C). The questions for in-depth interview for the
student participants included 3 items (See Appendix B). Procedures
After the literature review, first, the questions for an interview were designed
by the researchers and were checked by three experts in the field to validate. The result
from Item Objective Congruence Index (IOC) method was 0.79 for the students’
questions and 0.77 for the teachers’ questions. Then, the questions were revised from
the comments by those experts. After that, the researchers made the appointment with
both students and their teachers to interview them. Although this study was conducted
in English, Thai was used when interviewing as the researchers and the participants are
Thai. This allows the participants to express their feelings and opinions more directly,
which increases the quality of the data received. All of the data from the interview were
audio-recorded and transcribed. Finally, the qualitative data were analyzed by content
analysis approach.
5.2 Summary of the findings
5.2.1 Factors enhancing English speaking ability
According to the results from the findings, there were several factors enhancing
English speaking ability which are summarized in this section.
5.2.1.1 Learning styles and strategies
Regarding learning styles factor, it was seen that the majority of the
participants were obviously visual learners. They understand better and learn easier if
they see things through their eyes.
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5.2.1.2 Age
Regarding the age factor, it was seen that all the participants started
to learn English language in their childhood (before entering kindergarten). Most of
them had listened to English songs or watched English movies when they were young.
Interestingly, one of the participants had communicated with his mother in English in
daily life since he was in kindergarten.
5.2.1.3 Attitude
In terms of attitudes factor, it was found that all participants had
positive attitude towards English language since they were young. Furthermore, most
participants agreed that English was their favorite subject except for one of the
participants who disclosed that her favorite subject was mathematics.
5.2.1.4 Motivation
The findings indicated that all participants were motivated to become
fluent English speakers even though they displayed different kinds of motivation. There
were two participants who wished to be fluent in speaking English since they need more
opportunities in seeking a job, while three participants wished to speak English fluently
since they admire the culture, intend to settle down in an English speaking country and
would like to have foreign friends.
5.2.1.5 Family support
Referring to family support factor, all participants revealed that they
had full support and encouragement from their parents since they were young. There
were two participants whose parents had communicated with them in English language.
In addition, their parents encouraged them to listen to English songs and watch cartoons
in English when they were young. Besides, even though the other participants had never
spoken English to their parents, their families had provided financial support and sent
them to study a short course in the English speaking countries.
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5.2.1.6 Personality
According to the findings, all participants had high self-esteem in
speaking English. They believed that they could communicate in English fluently like
their first language. They were confident when they had to speak English. Furthermore,
they were risk- takers. Even though they were not sure about the grammar of the
sentence they were going to say, they would still say it. In addition, it was reported that
they were not anxious in speaking English, particularly in the daily conversation.
5.2.1.7 Exposure to the language
All participants thought that the more they expose themselves to the
language, the more they improve. They knew more vocabularies, improved their accent
and pronunciation and became more familiar with the language. In addition, the
majority of participants had often listened to English materials and had experienced in
studying abroad.
Besides, the teachers also disclosed that the students had much
exposure to the language by listening to English songs and seeking an opportunity to
speak the language.
5.2.1.8 Teacher
In terms of teacher factor, there were only two participants who
accepted that their teachers were a factor enhancing their English speaking ability.
Three participants reported that teachers rarely helped them improve their English
speaking ability, especially Thai teachers.
5.3 Discussion
This section concerns the key and supporting factors which enhanced English
speaking ability for the students, including the most influential factor. Moreover, the
findings of the study will be discussed in relationship to previous studies.
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5.3.1 Research question 1: What are the key and supporting factor that
enhance English speaking ability of the students?
This present study revealed that the following factors are factors affecting the
students’ speaking ability: learning styles and strategies, age, attitude, family support,
personalities, exposure to the language and teachers.
In terms of learning styles and strategies, the researcher noticed that all of the
participants tried to improve their speaking skill with self-study strategies. Regarding
their learning styles, it was obviously seen that the participants were visual learners.
They agreed that they were visual learners. They could learn quickly and easily through
visual resources. This is in line with Uthaiphetra (2014), who found in a study that Thai
EFL learners normally are visual learners. It is due to the fact that seeing images can
help the learners to link new knowledge to learning easily. All participants admitted
that they normally used metacognitive strategy to develop their English speaking
ability. The result is congruent with the study of Saengaroon (2015) who found that
metacognitive strategy was used the most by the learners in his study. It is noticeable
that planning and evaluating their own learning process, for the participants in this
study, was key to their success in speaking English.
Referring to age, all participants in this study had experiencd in using English
language naturally since they were young. This finding is consistent with Shumin
(1997), and Lightbown & Spada (2013), who pointed out that young learners who
started to learn a second language through natural exposure tend to succeed more than
an adult, due to opportunity and time. It may be explained that learning a second
language since childhood gives learners more time to practice without pressure, which
could bring about the best results.
Furthermore, it could related to another positive factor, attitude. It is due to the
fact that having a chance to learn a language since childhood could give a learner a
more positive attitude towards a language. Certainly, the participants had positive
attitudes towards English language. The findings of this study are also congruent with
the study of Sa-adpan (2008) which disclosed that a positive attitude could enhance the
students’ English acquisition ability. Furthermore, Rubin & Thompson (1994) stated
that attitude was a key to make learning successful since it will encourage learners to
practice more. Certainly, it could be concluded that there is a significant relationship
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between positive attitude and the second language speaking ability. A learner who has
positive attitude towards English language will tend to be more active and participate
in practicing and take opportunities to get into an English environment which
eventually could make him/herself become proficient in speaking English.
According to the data on family and teacher support, it is revealed that all
participants had been supported by their family, whereas only two participants pointed
out that teachers were also a factor enhancing their English speaking ability. For
instance, the family provided the English environment by letting their children listen to
English songs or watch English cartoons and they also gave financial support by
sending them to study abroad. This is in line with the study of Mahripah (2014) who
revealed that family support was important to the learner to learn a foreign language,
especially in speaking skill. It is obvious that the family had a great impact on learner’s
speaking ability. Due to the fact that learning initially starts at home, additionally, this
factor could build up the other positive factors such as positive attitude, motivation and
more exposure to the language, and there may be an important cumulative effect on
learner’s speaking ability. Regarding the teachers, three participants said that they
didn’t think that teachers could help them to develop their speaking ability, especially
the Thai teachers. This is consistent with the study of Mazouzi (2013) who found in his
study that teachers neither provided enough interesting learning condition nor
motivated the students. Furthermore, Jamila (2014) suggested in his study that teachers
should be friendlier in order to create a relaxed atmosphere for the learners while
learning a second language.
On the other hand, there are several studies supporting the case that teachers are
a beneficial factor to develop learners’ speaking ability, such as the study of Khamkhien
(2011) who found that the teacher factor was a crucial one in enhancing the proficiency
of the learners’ English speaking ability.
5.3.2 Research question 2: What is the most influential factor that enhances
English speaking ability?
The findings from this study show that personality and exposure to the language
were the factors enhancing the participants’ English speaking ability the most. In this
study, personality referred to self-esteem, lack of anxiety, and risk-taking. Surprisingly,
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it was found that all participants had the similar personalities, which reflected high self-
esteem, less anxiety and acceptance of risk taking in their language production. This
result is consistent with Shumin (1993) and Lightbown & Spada (2013) who stated that
the traits of a good language learner are high self- esteem, less anxiety and be a risk
taker.
In addition, this is supported by a study of Mazouri (2013) which revealed that
a high self-esteem student achieved better results in speaking English than a low self-
esteem student. It is noticeable that high self-esteem learners are more likely to succeed
because they think positive about themselves, which could drive them to do what they
wish since they believe in their potential.
Moreover, Horwitz et al (1986) stated that anxiety could be an obstacle to
speaking a second language since it might discourage a learner. Similarly, the findings
of the study of Xiuqin (2006) and Juhana (2012) also found that anxiety was a negative
factor which affected speaking a second language. Hence, a language learner must not
be much worried in speaking the target language since it might be a barrier to progress
in speaking ability.
All participants in this current study admitted that they were the risk takers.
Even though they were not confident about the grammar of the sentence, they would
definitely say it. This result is congruent with Latha & Ramesh (2012) who described
risk taking as a necessary trait in order to make progress in language learning, also there
was a positive correlation between a high risk taker and an English proficient speaker.
Regarding exposure to the English language, the findings disclosed that all
participants had had a lot of exposure to English. They often put themselves into the
English environment by listening to English songs, finding opportunity to speak
English, studying in English speaking countries and using particular learning strategies
in learning English. This finding is consistent with Boonkit (2010) who found that
listening to English materials could improve the learners’ speaking skill in terms of
sound, rhythm, intonation and stress in that language. Similarly, Mendlsohn & Rubin
(1995 as cited in Shumin, 1997) claimed that listening and speaking were related. As a
result, it could be noted that learners who wish to be competent in speaking English
should have more exposure to the language, both receptive and productive skills are
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worthwhile. Certainly, the more the learners have exposure to a language, the better
they can speak the language.
5.4 Conclusions
It can be concluded from the findings of this study that personality and exposure
to the language are the most influential factors enhancing students’ English speaking
ability. In terms of personality, this refers to high self-esteem, less anxiety, and
acceptance of risk taking in language production. Successful learners have a positive
personality that helps the students to become proficient in speaking English.
The high self-esteem trait makes the students feel confident about themselves
when they speak the language and allows them to speak it confidently. Also, being less
anxious is the beneficial trait of a competent language speaker because worried and
nervous feelings could discourage the learners from speaking the target language.
Additionally, risk taking is an advantageous trait since it gives students more chances
to speak the language. Without a doubt, the more the students get to speak, the more
they become proficient.
This also links to another influential factor, exposure to the language. The
participant students in this study believed that more exposure to the language, such as
listening to English songs, watching English cartoons and movies, speaking English in
daily lives etc., could develop their speaking ability. Moreover, there are several key
and supporting factors which can improve student English speaking ability. They are
acquiring the second or foreign language since childhood, a positive attitude towards
the language, seeking motivation and support from family and teachers. As a result,
students who wish to speak English proficiently should follow and imitate some of the
behavior of these exemplary students.
5.5 Recommendation for future research
Since there are only 5 students who are participants in this study, further
research is recommended to be conducted with more participants. Also, the purpose of
this research is to find out factors enhancing learner’s English speaking ability.
However, further research might investigate factors that reduce their proficiency in
speaking English. It will benefit learners to be aware of this and will help teachers to
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avoid these factors. Moreover, further research could study about the useful tips on
English speech competition. It will be particularly helpful for the students who will
participate in the English speech competition.
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX A
Semi- Structured Interview for student participants
แบบสมภาษณกลมตวอยาง (นกเรยน)
This interview questions were created to collect the data about factors enhancing
English speaking ability of the secondary school students. The data obtained from this
interview will be a great advantage to develop the students’ English speaking ability
effectively.
This interview is a part of research paper required for completing a Master of
Arts in English Language Teaching, Language Institute, Thammasat University. The
data obtained from this interview will be kept confidential and only used for academic
purposes.
แบบสมภาษณนท าขนเพอเกบขอมลเกยวกบปจจยทมสวนชวยพฒนาความสามารถดานการพด
ภาษาองกฤษของนกเรยนระดบมธยมศกษา ขอมลทไดจะน ามาใชเพอประโยชนในการพฒนาทกษะดานการพด
อยางมประสทธภาพ
แบบสมภาษณนเปนสวนหนงของวทยานพนธของหลกสตรศลปศาสตรมหาบณฑตโครงการการสอน
ภาษาองกฤษ สถาบนภาษา มหาวทยาลยธรรมศาสตร ขอมลทไดจะถกปกปดเปนความลบและใชเพอจดประสงค
ดานการวจยเทานน
The interview questions consist of two parts:
ค าถามแบงออกเปน 2 สวน
Part 1 Personal information of the student participants
สวนท 1 ขอมลทวไปของผถกสมภาษณ
Part 2 Factors affecting English speaking ability
สวนท 2 ปจจยตางๆทเกยวของ
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Part 1 Personal information of the student participants
สวนท 1 ขอมลทวไปของผถกสมภาษณ
1) Gender เพศ Female หญง Male ชาย
2) Age อาย _______ years ป
3) Grade ระดบชนทก าลงศกษา _______
4) School’s name ชอสถานศกษา _________________
5) Secondary school’s name (In case, you are studying in a college)
จบมธยมศกษาจากโรงเรยน (กรณทก าลงศกษาในระดบอดมศกษา) _________________
6) What program do you study in your high school?
โปรแกรมทคณเรยนในโรงเรยนมธยม
Regular โปรแกรมปกต
English program โปรแกรม EP
Others อนๆ_______
7) Have you ever studied in an English speaking country?
คณเคยไปศกษาในประเทศทใชภาษาองกฤษในการสอสารหรอไม
Yes เคย
No ไมเคย
Country ประเทศ ___________ Period ระยะเวลา ___________
Country ประเทศ _________ Period ระยะเวลา ___________
Country ประเทศ _________ Period ระยะเวลา ___________
8) English grade you have got last semester เกรดวชาภาษาองกฤษในภาคเรยนทผานมา _____
9) How do you grade your English speaking ability?
คณคดวาทกษะการพดภาษาองกฤษของคณอยในระดบใด
Excellent ระดบดมาก Goodระดบด Fair ระดบพอใช
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10) How often have you participated in a speech competition?
คณเคยเขารวมประกวดพด _______ ครง ไดแก
Name of the competition ชอรายการทเขารวมประกวด _____________________
Venue สถานท __________________
Award received ไดรบรางวลหรอไม Yes ได
No ไมได
Name of the competition ชอรายการทเขารวมประกวด _____________________
Venue สถานท __________________
Award received ไดรบรางวลหรอไม Yes ได
No ไมได
Name of the competition ชอรายการทเขารวมประกวด _____________________
Venue สถานท __________________
Award received ไดรบรางวลหรอไม Yes ได
No ไมได
Name of the competition ชอรายการทเขารวมประกวด _____________________
Venue สถานท __________________
Award received ไดรบรางวลหรอไม Yes ได
No ไมได
Name of the competition ชอรายการทเขารวมประกวด _____________________
Venue สถานท __________________
Award received ไดรบรางวลหรอไม Yes ได
No ไมได
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Part 2 Factors enhancing English speaking ability
สวนท 2 ปจจยทมผลกระทบตอทกษะการพดภาษาองกฤษ
1) Have you listened to anything in English? What do you listen?
คณฟงสอภาษาองกฤษบางหรอไม ถาฟง ฟงอะไรบาง
2) Why do you listen to those materials?
เพราะเหตใดคณถงฟงสอเหลานน
3) What do you like to listen to the most?
คณชอบฟงสอภาษาองกฤษอะไรมากทสด
4) How could listening to those materials improve your English speaking ability?
คณคดวาการฟงสงตางๆเปนภาษาองกฤษมสวนชวยพฒนาการพดภาษาองกฤษของคณหรอไม อยางไร
5) Do you like learning English subject? Why or why not?
คณชอบเรยนวชาภาษาองกฤษหรอไม เพราะเหตใด
6) Do you prefer to learn English with a Thai teacher or a foreign teacher? Why?
คณชอบเรยนภาษาองกฤษกบครไทยหรอครตางชาตมากกวา เพราะเหตใด
7) What is your attitude towards learning English with a Thai teacher?
คณมทศนคตอยางไรเมอไดเรยนภาษาองกฤษกบครไทย
8) What is your attitude towards learning English with a foreign teacher?
คณมทศนคตอยางไรเมอไดเรยนภาษาองกฤษกบครตางชาต (ทสอนภาษาองกฤษ)
9) What is your attitude towards the English cultures?
คณรสกอยางไรกบวฒนธรรมตะวนตก (ประเทศทใชภาษาองกฤษ) เชน องกฤษ อเมรกา เปนตน
10) To compare with the other subjects, is English your favourite subject? Why?
เมอเปรยบเทยบกบวชาอนๆ คณชอบวชาภาษาองกฤษมากทสดหรอไม เพราะเหตใด
11) Do you think you are a proficient English speaker? Why do you think like
that?
คณคดวาคณสามารถพดภาษาองกฤษไดดหรอไม เพราะเหตใดถงคดเชนนน
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12) What do you still need to improve in order to be more proficient in speaking
English?
คณคดวาอะไรคอสงทคณตองพฒนาเพอทจะพดภาษาองกฤษใหดขน
13) What are your strengths in speaking English?
คณคดวาอะไรคอขอดหรอจดเดนในการพดภาษาองกฤษของคณ
14) What are your weakness in speaking English?
คณคดวาอะไรคอจดออนหรอขอดอยในการพดภาษาองกฤษของคณ
15) Do you think you can speak English better than your friends? How?
เมอเปรยบเทยบกบเพอน คณคดวา คณมทกษะในการพดภาษาองกฤษดกวาหรอไม อยางไร
16) While you speak English, do you feel confident?
คณคดวาคณมความมนใจในขณะทคณพดภาษาองกฤษมากนอยเพยงใด
17) Are you worried when you have to communicate with people in English?
คณรสกกงวลหรอไม เมอตองใชภาษาองกฤษในการสอสารกบผอน
18) Are you worried when you are on the English speech competition?
คณรสกกงวลหรอไม ในขณะทท าการแขงขนพดภาษาองกฤษ
19) Does anxiety affect your English speaking ability? And how do you deal with
it?
ความกงวลมผลกระทบตอการพดภาษาองกฤษของคณหรอไหม และคณมวธจดการกบความกงวล
เหลานนอยางไร
20) How do you feel when you find out that you make a mistake in speaking
English?
คณรสกอยางไรเมอคณพบวาคณพดภาษาองกฤษผด
21) After graduation, would you like to work in a career that requires English
skills? Why or why not?
ถาเรยนจบ คณอยากท างานทไดใชภาษาองกฤษหรอไม เพราะเหตใด
22) Do you want to become proficient in speaking English? Why?
คณอยากพดภาษาองกฤษเกงหรอไม เพราะเหตใด
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23) Which of these two reasons makes you want to speak excellent English: to
have a foreign friend or to have a great job?
คณอยากพดภาษาองกฤษเกง เพราะคณอยากมเพอนตางชาตหรอเพราะอยากไดงานทดๆ
24) Do you want to work or study in an English speaking country? Why?
คณอยากไปเรยนตอหรอท างานในประเทศทใชภาษาองกฤษในการสอสารหรอไม เพราะเหตใด
25) Does any member in your family speak English with you? How often?
บดา มารดา หรอบคคลในครอบครวของคณพดภาษาองกฤษกบคณหรอไม ถาพด พดบอยแคไหน
26) How does your family support your English speaking?
ครอบครวของคณมสวนชวยสนบสนนหรอสงเสรมการพดภาษาองกฤษของคณหรอไม ถาม ดวยวธการ
ใด
27) Have you ever communicated with your friends by using English? Which
situation?
คณพดหรอใชภาษาองกฤษกบเพอนบางหรอไม ในสถานการณใด
28) Do you prefer to work alone or in a group?
คณชอบท างานคนเดยวหรอชอบท างานรวมกบผอน
29) Do you like going out or staying at home?
คณชอบท ากจกรรมนอกบานหรอชอบอยบาน
30) Do you consider yourself a listener or a speaker?
คณเปนคนชอบพดหรอชอบฟงมากกวากน
31) If you have to speak an English sentence, but you are not sure about the
grammar, would you still say it? Why or why not?
ถาคณจะตองพดภาษาองกฤษ แตคณไมแนใจวาประโยคทจะพดถกตองหรอไม คณจะลองพดหรอไม
เพราะเหตใด
32) Have you ever used English in any activity? What are they?
คณเคยท ากจกรรมอะไรบางทตองใชภาษาองกฤษในการสอสาร
33) How does the teacher support your English speaking ability?
คณคดวาครเปนปจจยทท าใหคณมความสามารถในการพดภาษาองกฤษหรอไม
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34) What are the activity that your English teacher use in teaching English,
particularly speaking, and could enhance your English speaking ability the
most? How?
คณคดวากจกรรมใดทครใชสอนมสวนชวยพฒนาการพดของคณมากทสด (discussion, role play,
information gap, brainstorming, storytelling) และมสวนชวยอยางไร
35) Have an English teacher used English language in the English class?
การเรยนการสอนในหองเรยนของคณ ครไดใชภาษาองกฤษเปนสอในการสอนบางหรอไม
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APPENDIX B
In-Depth Interview for student participants
ค าถามเชงลกส าหรบนกเรยน
This interview questions were created to collect the data about factors enhancing
English speaking ability of the secondary school students. The data obtained from this
interview will be a great advantage to develop the students’ English speaking ability
effectively.
This interview is a part of research paper required for completing a Master of
Arts in English Language Teaching, Language Institute, Thammasat University. The
data obtained from this interview will be kept confidential and only used for academic
purposes.
แบบสมภาษณนท าขนเพอเกบขอมลเกยวกบปจจยทมสวนชวยพฒนาความสามารถดานการพด
ภาษาองกฤษของนกเรยนระดบมธยมศกษา ขอมลทไดจะน ามาใชเพอประโยชนในการพฒนาทกษะดานการพด
อยางมประสทธภาพ
แบบสมภาษณนเปนสวนหนงของวทยานพนธของหลกสตรศลปศาสตรมหาบณฑตโครงการการสอน
ภาษาองกฤษ สถาบนภาษา มหาวทยาลยธรรมศาสตร ขอมลทไดจะถกปกปดเปนความลบและใชเพอจดประสงค
ดานการวจยเทานน
The interview questions consist of one part:
ค าถามแบงออกเปน 1 สวน
Part 1 In-depth interview questions
สวนท 1 ขอมลเชงลก
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In-depth interview questions ค าถามเชงลก
1) What are the factors that could enhance your English speaking ability?
(learning styles and strategies, age, attitude, family support, personality, exposure
to the language and teacher)
คณคดวาปจจยขอไหนทมสวนชวยพฒนาภาษาองกฤษของคณ ( เชน ลกษณะและกลยทธในการเรยนร,
อาย, การมทศนคตทดตอวชาภาษาองกฤษ, การสนบสนนจากครอบครว, ลกษณะนสยของตวคณเอง, การ
ไดพบเจอหรอไดใชภาษาบอยๆ และครผสอนภาษาองกฤษ)
2) In your opinion, which factor enhances your English speaking ability the
most?
ส าหรบตวคณ ปจจยขอไหนทมผลหรอชวยพฒนาการพดภาษาองกฤษของคณมากทสด อยางไร
3) What are the suggestions to improve English speaking ability?
คณมขอเสนอแนะอนๆอกหรอไม ในการทจะพฒนาทกษะการพดภาษาองกฤษ
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APPENDIX C
Semi- Structured Interview for teacher participants
แบบสมภาษณกลมตวอยาง (คร)
This interview questions were created to collect the data about factors enhancing
English speaking ability of the secondary school students. The data obtained from this
interview will be a great advantage to develop the students’ English speaking ability
effectively.
This interview is a part of research paper required for completing a Master of
Arts in English Language Teaching, Language Institute, Thammasat University. The
data obtained from this interview will be kept confidential and only used for academic
purposes.
แบบสมภาษณนใชเพอเกบขอมลเกยวกบปจจยทมสวนชวยพฒนาความสามารถดานการพด
ภาษาองกฤษของนกเรยนระดบมธยมศกษา ขอมลทไดจะน ามาใชเพอประโยชนในการพฒนาทกษะดาน
การพดอยางมประสทธภาพ
แบบสมภาษณนเปนสวนหนงของวทยานพนธของหลกสตรศลปศาสตรมหาบณฑตโครงการ
การสอนภาษาองกฤษ สถาบนภาษา มหาวทยาลยธรรมศาสตร ขอมลทไดจะถกปกปดเปนความลบและใช
เพอจดประสงคดานการวจยเทานน
The interview questions consist of two parts:
ค าถามแบงออกเปน 2 สวน
Part 1 Personal information of the student participants
สวนท 1 ขอมลทวไปของผถกสมภาษณ
Part 2 Factors affecting English speaking ability
สวนท 2 ปจจยตางๆทเกยวของ
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Part 1 Personal information of the teacher participants
สวนท 1 ขอมลทวไปของผถกสมภาษณ
1) Gender เพศ Female หญง Male ชาย
2) Age อาย _______ years ป
3) Degree วฒการศกษา ________________
4) Major สาขา __________________ University สถาบนทจบ _________________
5) Experience in teaching English ประสบการณในการสอนภาษาองกฤษ __________ years ป
6) What grade did you teach this student? ระดบชนทสอนนกเรยน ___________
7) What subject did you teach this student? วชาทสอนนกเรยน____________
8) The relationship between you and the student (you can choose more than 1)
ความสมพนธระหวางอาจารยและนกเรยน (เลอกไดมากกวา 1 ขอ)
English teacher อาจารยประจ าวชาภาษาองกฤษ
Help or train the student to compete in an English speech competition
อาจารยฝกซอมนกเรยนในการแขงขนทกษะการพดภาษาองกฤษ
Others อนๆ ___________
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Part 2 Factors enhancing students’ English speaking ability
สวนท 2 ปจจยทมผลกระทบตอการพดภาษาองกฤษของนกเรยน
1) To what extent was your student outstanding in speaking English?
อาจารยคดวานกเรยนมความโดดเดนในทกษะดานการพดภาษาองกฤษมากนอยเพยงใด
2) When you teach your student, how is his/her behavior?
ในขณะสอน อาจารยสงเกตเหนวาพฤตกรรมของนกเรยนเปนอยางไร
3) Do you think if your student has positive attitude towards English language?
How?
อาจารยคดวานกเรยนมทศนคตทดตอภาษาองกฤษหรอไม อยางไร
4) Do you think if your student is self- confident when he/she speaks English?
How?
อาจารยคดวานกเรยนเปนเดกทมความมนใจเวลาพดภาษาองกฤษหรอไม อยางไร
5) Do you think if your student is anxious when he/she speaks English? How?
อาจารยคดวา นกเรยนมความกงวลหรอมความประหมาเวลาพดภาษาองกฤษหรอไม อยางไร
6) Do you think if your student is a risk taker when he/she speaks English?
How?
อาจารยคดวานกเรยนเปนคนทชอบเสยงในการทจะพดภาษาองกฤษหรอไม อยางไร
7) What is your student’s personality?
อาจารยคดวา นกเรยนมนสยหรอบคลกเปนอยางไร
8) Does your student have different personality from his/her friends? How?
อาจารยคดวา นกเรยนมบคลกเหมอนหรอแตกตางจากเพอนนกเรยนคนอนหรอไม อยางไร
9) Do you think if family support could help improve your student’s ability in
English?
อาจารยคดวาครอบครวของนกเรยนมสวนชวยท าใหนกเรยนพดภาษาองกฤษเกงหรอไม
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10) According to your opinion, what are the factors that make your student good at
English speaking?
อาจารยคดวา มปจจยอะไรบางทท าใหนกเรยนมทกษะการพดภาษาองกฤษทด
11) Why did you choose this student to participate in the Speech Competition?
การทอาจารยเลอกนกเรยนมาแขงขนประกวดพดภาษาองกฤษ เปนเพราะเหตใด
12) What are your suggestions for the students to be fluent in speaking English?
อาจารยมขอเสนอแนะอยางไร ทจะแนะน าใหนกเรยนมทกษะการพดภาษาองกฤษทด
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BIOGRAPHY
Name Miss Thanatchaporn Triwittayayon
Date of Birth August 28, 1989
Educational Attainment
2013: Bachelor in Education
(B.Ed.) – English major
Work Position 2017- Present: Lead Teaching Assistant
Harrow International School Bangkok
Bangkok, Thailand
Work Experiences 2016-2017: Japanese assistant
Hongo Tsuji and Chavalit Limited
Bangkok, Thailand
2013-2016: English teacher
Make a Wit company
Bangkok, Thailand
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