SKKN An investigation into students’ demotivation in learning English speaking at Tĩnh Gia 1 high school, Thanh Hóa: Problems and solutions

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study 
	Success or failure in language learning seems largely dependent on the learners’ motivation to learn the target language. In particular, motivation seems very important in the development of speaking skills. I have been an English teacher at Tĩnh Gia 1 High School since I graduated university. First, I see that students here have high motivation in learning English speaking but it is down gradually, even they have demotivation in recent years. So what are the reasons when the need to know and master English has become more and more increasing, especially since Vietnam adopted an open-door policy, teaching and learning English have been paid much attention to? It has been part of the general education and becomes a compulsory subject at high schools in most towns and cities throughout the country. As English is largely used in international settings, the ability to communicate in real-life situations is very important. Therefore, speaking plays an essential role because without it, communication cannot take place directly between people. 
	In traditional teaching, students were required to acquire English grammar. Nowadays they are required to acquire various skills and language items including English grammar, English vocabulary and English pronunciation. In the light of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), students are required not only to have good knowledge of vocabulary and eligible grammar, but also the four language skills. Accurate and fluent speaking is a must in English learning for students. Therefore, learning English speaking is of great importance to students, even for their exams. In addition, this will help them to have a good job in their future and enable them to communicate with foreigners successfully if they have a chance and the need.
	In an attempt to investigate this topic, the researcher has decided to conduct a study on “An investigation into students’ demotivation in learning English speaking at Tĩnh Gia 1 high school, Thanh Hóa: Problems and solutions”. As one of the first attempts to explore the demotivation in the context of learning English speaking at Tĩnh Gia 1 High School, this paper seeks to explore the current techniques utilized by teachers and learners in fostering demotivation in speaking learning and students’ perceptions about those techniques. The paper begins by reviewing the current literature on demotivation, speaking learning and related studies. This is a case study conducted with 90 per 950 students who undertook the triangulated data collection method of interviews, questionnaires and classroom observations. The analysis of the collected data demonstrated students’ learning realities in the demotivation within learning of speaking. The findings analyzed suggest a way to eliminate the demotivating factors in English speaking lessons in order to better students’ English learning.
2. Aims of the study
	The study is carried out to meet the following aims:
- To identify the demotivators in English speaking learning and teaching
- To suggest some feasible solutions to eliminate the demotivating factors in English speaking lessons in order to better students’ English learning
3. Research questions
	Base on the above-mention things, a hypothesis is given out: It’s the students’ attitude towards English speaking that is the demotivating factors. In order to prove that hypothesis, the following research questions were asked in the study:
1. What are the students’ difficulties in learning English speaking? 
2. What can assist students to have motivation again?
4. Significance of the study 
	 The study will be the first investigation of demotivators in English speaking teaching and learning at Tĩnh Gia 1 High School. Practically, this provides my colleagues with experience in demotivating to make students learn English speaking more effectively. In addition, it also makes the study environment more active. Furthermore, it is recommended that not just English lessons but even other subjects might be developed this way.
5. Scope of the study
	In the previous studies, demotivation in learning English is mentioned in general and they aimed at several levels of learners. In this, I only investigate students’ demotivation in learning English speaking. The survey questionnaires are only used for students, questions for interview are used for students and teachers. Truthfully, this topic cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper; therefore, the subjects chosen for this study are students and teachers at Tĩnh Gia 1 High school. Thus, it cannot be said that the results of this study are general to other language elements and Vietnamese high school students.
6. Methods of the study
 From the research questions, survey methodology is used. Survey methodology studies the sampling of individual units from a population and the associated survey data collection techniques, such as questionnaire construction and methods for improving the number and accuracy of responses to surveys [36]. It is also clearly indicated that the research is mostly qualitative because the aim of it is to investigate the percentage of each demotivated factors among students’ learning English speaking. In order to fulfill, the methods have been used to survey, such as: questionnaires for students, semi-structured interview, and observation. The following steps are involved:
Collecting data by survey questionnaires for students
Conducting an interview with teachers and students who are randomly chosen for further information of the study
Observing classes
	All comments, remarks, recommendations and conclusion are based on the data analysis. These data are hoped to confirm and support the results obtained from other sources.
7. Design of the study
	This thesis is divided into three parts.
	Part A, INTRODUCTION, gives the rationale of the study, some information about the current learning and teaching English speaking at Tĩnh Gia 1 and high schools in Vietnam, aims of the study, the research questions, the significance of the study, the scope of the study, and the method of the study. Besides, the previous studies are also presented in this chapter.
	Part B, includes three chapters:
	Chapter 1, THEORETICAL BACKGROUND, presents various concepts most relevant to the research topic such definition of demotivation, speaking, teachers and students demotivation in second language teaching and learning. 
	Chapter 2, THE STUDY, provides the methodology underlying the research which includes the general information about study subjects, the current state of teaching and learning English speaking at Tĩnh Gia 1 High School. This chapter also focuses on the methods of data collection.
	Chapter 3, RESULTS AND DICUSSION, gives a detailed presentation of data and a detailed description of data analysis. Some explanations and interpretations of the findings of the study are also presented.
	Part C, IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION, emphasizes the implication of the study in which certain techniques for improving teaching and learning English speaking to teachers and students at Tĩnh Gia 1 High School. Furthermore, this chapter also points out the limitations of the study and provides some suggestions for further studies.
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. Definition of speaking
	Speaking can be seen as the key to human communication. It is a crucial part of second language learning and teaching. There are many definitions of speaking. Speaking is “the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety contexts” (Chaney, [12, pg.13]). Another definition is proposed by Nunan [48] which states that speaking is the ability in using oral language to explore ideas, intentions, thoughts and feelings to other people as a way to make the message clearly delivered and well understood by the hearer.
	The communication purpose can be broken when both participant do not have intention to make their contribution to the conversation.
	In short, speaking can be seen as the way people interact and share information. By mastering speaking skills, students can improve the communicative competence which helps them much in the process of language acquisition. 
1.2. The role of the speaking skill in teaching and learning foreign language
	Language is what we use to “move ideas” from one person to another. The most common way to do this is by speaking. Every culture in the world uses speech. In any language, the written form always develops after the spoken form, not the other way round. Definitely, speaking is a means to convey man’s ideas through language. Many scientists have found that speaking is one of the features which distinguish us from most, if not all, animals. When we learn our first language we always learn to speak it first. We do the same when we learn a second or foreign language.
	It goes without saying that speaking is of great importance in language learning because “it is not the oral production of written language, but involves learners in the mastery of a wide range of sub-skills which, added together, constitute an overall competence in the spoken language” (McDonough and Shaw, [42, pg.151]). With the recent growth of English as an international language of communication, there is, clearly, a need for many learners to interact in a multiplicity of situations through the language. In many contexts, speaking is often seen as the skill upon which a person is judged “at face value”. To put it in another way, people may often form judgments about our language competence from our speaking rather than from any of our other language skills.
1.3. Definition of motivation and demotivation in foreign language and L2
1.3.1. Definition of motivation
	In ideal classroom, students pay attention, ask questions and want to learn. They do assignments without complaint and study without being coaxed and cajoled. This means that they have motivation in learning. The term “motivation” is used constantly in everyday and professional context but defining motivation precisely is a demanding task due to its complex and multination. As motivation plays such a crucial role in demanding process of L2 learning, there is a long history of motivation in language learning. Motivation research was first inspired and spearheaded by social psychologist Robert Gardner in Canada. According to Gardner [24], motivation is and acts of stimulating the interest of somebody to do something. He drew out a formulary of motivation: “Motivation = effort + desire to achieve goal + attitudes”. In term of Second/ Foreign language learning, Gardner [24, pg.10-11] defined motivation as: the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language. When the desire to achieve the goal and favorable attitudes towards the goal are linked with the effort or the drive, we have a motivated organism.
	Dornyei [19] divided motivation development into three main periods: the socio-psychological period, the cognitive - situated period, and the process-oriented period.
1.3.2. Definition of demotivation
	Motivation plays a very important role in L2; many teachers are looking for the best ways to motivate students. Past motivation research has mainly concentrated on the positive motivational influences as seen in the previous chapter. “A motive has been seen as a kind of inducement whose force ranges on a continuum from zero to strong. In addition to positive influences there are, however, negative effects that de-energise action” (Dornyei, [18]). The darker side of motivation, demotivation, has been found to play a crucial role in the learning process but yet it has been neglected as a research topic until recently. Christophel and Gorham [14] found that the strongest influence on motivation was not the presence of motivators in the classroom, but the absence of demotivators. At the beginning of the semester, the absence of context demotivators and teacher behavior demotivators positively affected motivation. So what is demotivation?	
	In light of Dornyei’s considerations, “demotivation” concerns “specific external forces that reduce or diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention” and describes demotivation as various negative influences cancelling out existing motivation. He introduces “demotives” as being negative counterparts of “motives on going action” (ibid: 143). A demotivated learner is someone who “motivated but has lost his or her interest for some reasons”. In terms of demotive, it decreases learners’ demotivation to the study of language while motive increases it. 
	Dornyei [18] also points out that demotivation does not mean that a learner has lost his or her motivation completely. On the contrary, the positive influences that originally made up the motivational basis of behavior can still be there. For instance, a learner may still be highly motivated to learn English; it is an important world language, even if his or her teacher were incompetent or malevolent.
1.4. Demotivation in learning speaking
1.4.1. The features of spoken language
	To be able to find out students’ demotivation to help students develop their ability in spoken production in English, it is necessary to think about some typical features of the spoken language in general. It is essential to have that insight in order to be able to find an appropriate methodology for teaching it.
	Therefore participants of such conversation spell out more and repeat what they have already said because the clear understanding depends particularly on clear production.
1.4.2. Demotivation in learning speaking
	It is clear that demotivation and speaking are among the most important issues in the process of language learning. Therefore, considering them and conducting researches like the present one about the relationship between them could help language teachers and students to be more efficient in process of language learning and teaching. To put it more clearly, by taking into account these factors, language teachers can become aware of factors which may hinder their speaking activities. From that may encourage language learners to speak.
	Demotivation has detrimental impact on students’ foreign language learning outcomes. Consequently, studying the demotivating factors of language learning is a crucial responsibility of language teachers, researchers and anyone who is somehow related to language learning and teaching process.
1.5. Factors demotivate students’ participation in speaking learning
	Students’ participation usually means students speaking activities in class, for example, answer and ask questions, make comments and join in discussion. It is also shown through interactions between students and students, between teachers - students when working together. Students’ participation can be affected by various factors coming from students, teachers, and classroom. In the following section, some of the factors will be discussed. 
1.4.1. Students’ factors
1.4.1.1. Students’ learning styles
	Every student has a learning style; therefore, there is no particular teaching or learning method that can suit the needs of all learners. If the teachers do not take care of or neglect the differences among students, for example, teachers only pay attention to good students meanwhile the rest students do not get benefit from their teachers. This makes them feel uncomfortable. This is one reason for the fact that when an activity is in progress, not all students participate in actively. 
1.4.1.2. Students’ attitude and motivation
	Clearly, motivation plays an important role in the success of language learning in general but we may wonder how much or to what extent motivation accounts for students’ participation in oral activities. We may not give the correct answer but we can see that if learners perceive a goal and if that goal is really attractive, they will be strongly motivated to do whatever necessary to reach that goal. Therefore, the more motivated students are, the more actively they will participate in oral activities. 
1.4.1.3. Students’ second language level
	It is undoubted that students’ levels in a class are not alike. There are two levels of language: the basic interpersonal communicative skills and the cognitive academic language proficiency. The basic interpersonal communicative skills concept represents the language of natural, informal conversation. Basic interpersonal communicative skills are used by students when talking about everyday things in concrete situations, that is, situations in which the context provides cues that make understanding not totally dependent on verbal interaction 
	Thus, students’ participation can be affected by their own language level. We, therefore, should choose the topics as well as techniques which are suitable for their level. This will surely encourage their participation in all speaking activities.
1.4.1.4. Personality 
	According to many language teachers, the personality of their students considers a major factor contributing to the success or failure in language learning. Lightbown and Spada [40] list a number of personality characteristics such as: extroversion, inhibition, self-esteem empathy, dominance, talkativeness and responsiveness. Hedge [32] defined that extrovert learners are more willing to participate, more willing to experiment and take risks. Although their language was not good enough, they were not afraid to make mistakes and try to communicate. And for introvert learners, they feel more comfortable when they work individually (Harmer, [31]).
1.4.1.5. Students’ anxiety
	Sufficient evidence shows that anxiety is an important factor in learning second language in general and in students’ participation in speaking activities in particular. It seems to be a factor that distributes in differing degrees in different learners.
1.4.1.6. Gender differences
	The relationship between gender differences and language learning has been mentioned in some research. Other researcher found some results when he carried out the research on the relationship between sex and language such as men talked more and took more frequent turns at talk, interrupted more often, withheld responses to women’s topics and withheld self-disclosure. Contrast to men, women tended to be more often than men to use speech strategies which supported other speakers’ contributions, initiating topics and providing feedback and information for others to participate.
	Clearly, all these above studies make us believe that sex differences may have a great effect on students’ participation. Understanding the different learning styles and strengths and weakness of male and female can help teachers better understand and work with students with disabilities and gifts and talents.
	In conclusion, those are the main factors coming from students’ side that may hinder students’ participation in classroom activities. The degrees of effect of the above factors may be different for each student. The first factor is students’ learning styles. The second factor is students’ motivation and attitude. The third factor is students’ language level including knowledge of English proficiency and knowledge of other fields. The fourth one is students’ personality. One more factor is students’ anxiety. The language anxiety of students may affect their participation because foreign language speaking anxiety in the English classroom may stem from fear of making mistakes and the consequent fear of negative evaluation, and students’ perception of low ability in relation to their peers. The last one is the gender difference.
1.4.2. Teachers’ factors
1.4.2.1. Teachers’ teaching methods
	Stern [62] lists out some main teaching methods as follows:
	Gramm