Analysis of students’

difficulties in per forming

speaking task
MUHAMMAD HILMI CHE AHAMAD
POOVENESWARAN NADARA JAN
Summar y
Background
Problem statement
Method
Results
Future work

Outline
v

Summary
Millenials: directly related
to the outspoken attribute.

Exposed to the English

language from various
directions

Problems in speaking
- Fluency
- Pronunciation
- Vocabulary
v

Summary

EVIDENCE?
~ passing mark for speaking test
~ inability to complete speaking task
~ read rather than talk
 WHY?
Why is this happening to the students?
WHAT?
What are the factors causing this to happen?
 Background (Sample)

Students
Semester 3 to 5
from English Proficiency
As the requirement to enroll
3 class into this course is minimum
semester 3
MUET
Students with MUET result
band 4 and below F2F lesson
Two hours per week,
Speaking assessment for 14 weeks
Speaking assessment is
conducted starting from
week 11 of study
Background (Assessment)

• Group discussion
• Five people/group
• Discuss about a theme
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

University students are well

exposed to English language, but
focusing of speaking skill, there
seems to be a problem here as
they cannot perform well in
speaking assessment.

The students know what to do to

overcome their problem but their
speaking skill have not improved.
 METHOD

• Survey
• Questionaire (Likert
Scale)
• Developed based on
various theoretical
perspective on second
language speaking
(Gan 2013; Bygate 2008;
Cummins 2000)
 METHOD

20 items = five subscales

1) linguistic obstacles
2) speech processing difficulties
3) academic and conversational
English skills
4) negative affect
5) access to speaking
opportunities
RESULT
Lingustic obstacles

I make grammatical errors when speaking English 44% Sometimes

I am not good at using complex structures when 35% Often

speaking English
I get stuck with grammar or vocabulary when 39% Sometimes
speaking English to my teacher
I encounter pronunciation problems when speaking 37% Sometimes
English.
RESULT
Speech processing difficulties

I think in my mother tongue when speaking English 40% Often

I avoid using difficult words and structures when 52% Often

speaking English
I struggle to communicate effectively in English with 48% Sometimes
my teacher
I feel difficulty attending to both fluency and accuracy 44% Often
when speaking English
RESULT
Academic and Conversational
English Skills

I feel difficulty leading class discussions in English 46% Sometimes

I feel difficulty giving speeches in English in front of 46% Sometimes
the whole class
I feel difficulty participating in whole class English 52% Sometimes
discussions
I feel difficulty participating in small-group English 52% Sometimes
discussion during class
I am not good at joking and chatting in English 43% Often
RESULT
Negative effect

I am nervous when speaking English 47% Sometimes

I worry about my Grammar when speaking English 35% Sometimes

I keep silent in class because lack of confidence in 35% Sometimes
speaking English
I resist opportunities to speak English in class or 37% Sometimes
outside class
RESULT
Access to speaking opportunities

I feel lack of opportunities to speak English outside of 40% Often

class
I feel lack of opportunities to speak English in class 37% Sometimes
I feel lack of things to say when speaking English in 46% Sometimes
class or outside class
 CONCLUSION

Trapped under these factors

1) linguistic obstacles
2) speech processing difficulties
3) academic and conversational English skills
4) negative affect
5) access to speaking opportunities

Influence of L1 is strong
Better silent than ashamed
 RECOMMENDATION

1. Interview sessions are required to provide further clarification

pertaining the result
2. Conduct research at different environment
3. Find correlation between speaking ability and the sociocultural
background
4. For teachers: revise lesson plan, encourage students to talk.
 THANK YOU

MUHAMMAD HILMI BIN CHE AHAMAD

hilmi.ahamad@pbmpu.upsi.edu.my

POOVENESWARAN A/L NADARAJAN

pooveneswaran@pbmpu.upsi.edu.my