Full name: Nguyễn Hiền Anh

Date of birth: 18/09/2003

Group: K28A01

IMPROVING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS FOR TEENAGERS IN

VIETNAM THROUGH YOUTUBE PLATFORM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

This project would not have been possible without the support of many people. My
endless gratitude goes to my adviser, Dr. Le Phuong Thao, for her encouragement,
constructive advice on my questions throughout all of the parts of this dissertation.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of the secondary and high school
students, who have participated in my surveys and took the time to answer every
question.

Lastly, I’d like to mention the constant support of my family and friends.  Their
faith in me has maintained my spirits and motivation during this process.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale of the study:

Nowhere in the world, including Vietnam, could deny the importance of English in
modern days. For Vietnamese people, in particular, English is a required subject and
a popular skill. In reality, teenagers in Vietnam mostly prioritize grammar and
vocabulary, as being the compulsory curriculum, over listening and speaking skills,
so there is an alarming rate of them lacking English speaking abilities. The good
news is that this is the best age to learn a new language. According to Smiths
(2018): "There are three main ideas as to why language-learning ability declines at
18: social changes, interference from one’s primary language, and continuing brain

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 development." Moreover, with the advent of technology in our present days, it is so
much easier to access a huge amount of learning material than ever before.
Especially for teenagers, who have been used to utilizing tools on the Internet
without any difficulties. Youtube is recommended as one of the most useful tools
when it comes to learning English speaking skills.

Although numerous studies have shown how efficient YouTube is for learning
English, few of them have examined the benefits of it to the teenager market in
Vietnam. This has given the researcher the desire to carry out a research study on
this issue.

2. Aims and objectives:

This study has a definite Aim and Research objectives :

-        Aim: To improve the speaking skills of teenagers in Vietnam

-        Research objectives:

 Determine what causes teenagers' English speaking challenges.

 To propose the remarkable qualities of Youtube when it comes to aquiring
English speaking skills.

3. Research questions:

In the light of the goals of the study, the following research questions are posed:

 What causes teenagers English speaking difficulties?

 What are the remarkable qualities of Youtube that can help teenagers
overcome the difficulties in studying  English speaking skills?

4. Scope of the study:

Due to limited time and experience, this study will focus on the most significant
difficulties teenagers face in state-owned secondary and high schools.

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 The teenagers mentioned are the ones who have sufficient gadgets in order to use
Youtube effectively. Additionally, how some of the qualities Youtube can bring
them in doing so. The study also provides recommendations for optimizing the
usage of the YouTube platform in developing English speaking abilities.

5. Methods of the study:

 The research is based on the researcher's knowledge and the supervisor's help. To
fulfill the above goals, many research methods are used, including a questionnaire
to collect data, which is sent to random state-owned secondary and high school
students aged 13 to 18-year-olds. All of this was done through Google Forms.

Data analysis was done to identify difficulties in the 13 to 18-year-old age range
and offer ways to use YouTube to improve English speaking skills.

6.     The design of the study:

The study is divided into 3 chapters:

Chapter 1, " INTRODUCTION" presents the fundamental information such as the

rationale, the aims and objectives, the research question, the scope, the methods and
also the design of the study.

Chapter 2, "DEVELOPMENT" consists of three parts:

Part one, LITERATURE REVIEW, presents views of English speaking skills, the
definition of speaking, the difficulties in acquiring English speaking skills, and the
notion of Youtube and its benefits in learning English speaking skills.

Part two, ………

Part three, ……..

Chapter 3. "CONCLUSION" …..

CHAPTER 2: DEVELOPMENT

I. LITERATURE REVIEW

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1. Overview of previous studies:

Researchers have found some of the most recent studies on using Youtube in
acquiring English speaking skills, namely Sari (2019), who studied " YouTube as a
Learning Media to Improve the Student’s Speaking Ability in the 21st Century,"
using a quantitative method, which used books and other studies. This study
observed a lack of explanation on how to produce a video based on students'
creativity and get them speaking actively. In conclusion, he recommended using
YouTube and other teaching approaches to create a more fun and difficult language
learning activity.

Asti & Alvi (2021) conducted a study titled "The Use of YouTube Video in
Encouraging Speaking Skills" using qualitative methods as the main method. The
research involved students in 40 classes of 2018 English education at the
Technocrat University of Indonesia, answering speaking questions via surveys, and
questionnaires. The surveys indicated that students lack the fluency to talk about
their ideas. To solve this, study suggested choosing a good source on YouTube to
enhance English speaking abilities, such as watching movies and listening to music
in English, to practice fluency and related skills like vocabulary, grammar,
pronunciation, etc.

Likewise, the same solution is applied in Truong & Le (2022) study: "Utilizing
YouTube to Enhance English Speaking Skill: Teenagers’ Practices and
Perceptions". The data was collected through a Google form survey emailed to 106
EFL university students. The result said that there is a lack of EFL university
students' perceptions and practices towards the utilization of Youtube.

Plenty of research has touched on the benefits of Youtube in improving English

skills. But not much about how YouTube can help teenagers in Vietnam improve
their English speaking skills.

In light of this, the researcher was interested in studying a research topic with the
title "Improving English speaking skills for teenagers in Vietnam through the
Youtube platform."

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2.    Theoretical framework:

a. The definition of the speaking skills:

According to the researcher’s findings, there have been numerous definitions of

"speaking skills". In the Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2009), speaking is
“The action of conveying information or expressing one’s thoughts and feelings in
spoken languages.” The online Merriam-Webster dictionary provided a general
definition for speaking:

Speaking is uttering words or articulating in sounds with the ordinary voice.

Speaking is the way to convey thoughts, opinions, exchange orally, or to express
oneself.

Chaney (1998) however,  viewed communication as a process: “Speaking is the

process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal or non- verbal
symbols in a variety of contexts”.

b. Factors Affecting teenagers in Vietnam learning English Speaking Skill :

There are various factors affecting Vietnamese teenagers' English speaking ability,
but there have been two key explanations.

There is a lack of confidence in teenagers. Nunan (1999) said that “Students who
lack confidence about themselves and their English necessarily suffer from
communication apprehension” . According to this study, this often occurs when
there is a misunderstanding of others, then silence remains. In response to this,
Chen (2010) stated the main cause of students’ confidence is their low ability in
speaking English. Many students think their English is awful and cannot speak it
well, they add.

There is a lack of motivation in this age group. It is mentioned in “Motivation is a

key to students’ learning success” (Songsiri, 2007). With regard to the issue of
motivation in learning, Nunan(1999) elaborates the causes of the students ‘lack of
motivation e.g. uninspired teaching, boredom, lack of perceived relevance of
materials. Harmer (1991) also said that if instructors directly correct their students’
problems without encouragement, the motivation will be spoiled. Baker & Westrup

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(2003) supported by saying that if learners are always corrected, they will be afraid
of talking.

c.     Youtube and its benefits in learning process:

“Youtube platform can provide many kinds of videos and other content, namely
video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos” (Jallaluddin, 2016).
While Kabooha & Elyas, (2015) stated that “YouTube is a resource with videos in
all fields of knowledge that are easily accessible”. Both of those studies showed that
YouTube offers a wide choice of free and accessible video material for everyone.
You can share personal experiences and recorded presenting videos for others to
view.

“Using YouTube to improve speaking skills has been frequently practiced by

students” (Su, Cao, Le, L. Nguyen & T. Nguyen, 2021).  YouTube has a great effect
on the motivation of students. As Berk (2009) stated, videos can significantly
impact their minds and senses. Berk's research also claimed that YouTube videos
could assist different learning styles, such as visual, verbal, emotional, and musical
intelligence, in addition to attracting students’ attention. This is the reason why
watching movies enables the brain to actively engage both hemispheres, which
helps to increase and improve students' comprehension.

Qomar (2016) examined the use of YouTube and it was discovered that it could
improve students’ speaking ability. The study indicated that students employ right
sentence intonation and stress, as well as accurate grammatical structures and
appropriate terminology. The pupils were also able to begin speaking without
hesitation, interruptions, or repetition. Similarly, Wagner (2007) suggested utilizing
videos to teach speaking skills in the class because videos could help students
remember information, improve their pronunciation, comprehend what is being said
via graphics and illustrations, and speak fluently and flexibly.

Nurkholida (2016) found that “YouTube allows students to try and access a native
language in a natural context”, saying since the main content of Youtube are
entertainment and educational videos; such as vlogs, celebrity gossip videos,
comedy videos, study tips, etc often intrigued this age group. Styati (2016) agreed

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with this by stating “The use of YouTube increases students’ motivation to study
English”.

REFERENCES:

1.     Anonymous (2009). The importance of speaking skills. Oxford

Dictionary of Current English.

2.     Asti, A. & Alvi, U. (2021). The Use of YouTube Video in Encouraging

Speaking Skills. Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia.

3.     Baker J., & Westrup H. (2003). Essential Speaking Skills: A

Handbook for English Language Teachers. London: Continuum.

4.     Berk, R. (2009). International Journal of Teaching and Learning.

University of Michigan.

5.     Chaney, A.L. & Burk, T.L. (1998). Teaching Oral Communication in

Grades K-8. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

6.     Chen, J.D. & He, D. , (2010). The Relationship Between Self-Esteem and
the Oral Production of a Second Language. University of Michigan.

7.     Harmer, J. (1991). The Practice of English Language Teaching (3rd ed.).

London and New York: Longman.

8.     Jalaluddin, M. (2016). Using YouTube to Enhance Speaking Skills in ESL

Classroom. Aligarh Muslim University.

9.     Kabooha, R. & Elyas, T. (2015). The Effects of YouTube in Multimedia

of Vocabuary Learning: Perceptions of EFL Students and Teachers. King
Abdul Aziz University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

10. Nunan, D. (1999). Syllabus Design. Oxford University Press.

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11. Nurkholida, E. (2016) , Gender Differences on Learning Styles 197.
Victoria University, Australia.
12. Qomar, A.H (2016). Enhancing students’speaking performance by using
youtube video. Sudan University of Science and Technology.

13. Sari, Y.N. (2019). Youtube as a learning media to improve the student’s
speaking ability in 21st century. Yogyakarta State University.

14. Smith, D.G. (2018). At What Age Does Our Ability to Learn a New
Language Like a Native Speaker Disappear?. Scientific American.

15. Songsiri, M. (2007). An action research study of promoting students’

confidence

16. Styati, A. (2016). Investigating The Writing Quality Of Students With

Different Proficiency Levels In Interaction-Based Pair Works. Victoria
University, Australia.

17. Su, A. A. T., Cao, T. X. T., Le, D. L. V., Nguyen, L. N. T., & Nguyen, T.
L. A. (2021).

18. Truong, V.N.K  &  Le, T.Q (2022). Utilizing YouTube to Enhance
English Speaking Skill: Teenagers’ Practices and Perceptions. Van Lang
University.

19. Wagner, E. (2007). Are they watching? Test- taker viewing behavior
during an L2 video listening test.