Challenges of Speaking English among Asian ESL Students in Australian English Language Classrooms - Report Example

Challenges of speaking English among Asian ESL students in Australian English language classrooms Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 3.0 Report 1 3.1 Abstract 1 3.2 Introduction 1 3.3 Methods 2 3.4 Results 3 3.4.1 Results from the semi-structured interviews 3 Table 1: Frequency distribution of respondents 3 Figure 1: English language proficiency 4 Figure 2: Cultural barriers to English language learning 5 Figure 3: Activities to improve English speaking skills 6 3.4.2 Class room discussion 7 3.4.2 Discussion 8 3.5 Conclusion 10 References 12 Appendix I: Group discussions observation form 14 Appendix II: Semi-structured interview questions 14 List of figures Figure 1: English language proficiency 4 Figure 2: Cultural barriers to English language learning 5 Figure 3: Activities to improve English speaking skills 6 List of tables Table 1: Frequency distribution of respondents 3 PART THREE 3.0 Report What challenges do Asian ESL students experience in speaking English inside Australian classrooms? 3.1 Abstract This study explored the challenges faced by Asian ESL students in speaking English language in Australian classroom. Classroom group discussions were undertaken to obtain the perceptions and difficulties that the learners have in speaking English as their second language. This involved nine students from China and Japan on a two year exchange program to Melbourne University. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and group discussion skills made use of an observer who recorded the observations into a form while also audio taping the students’ statements and comments. The study found that Asian students were passive, lacked confidence and quiet while responding to their oral performance which is deemed as low in matching up with the conventional speaking of English in Australian classroom situation. The results showed that the students were digressing from the topic because they could not understand what the moderator was saying. Majority feared to make a relevant point because they could make pronunciation mistakes on words ending with (sh) and (g). The study also found that the difficulties that affected Asian ESL learners of English language in Australia was; lose their confidence, get afraid of losing face or reluctance in showing their ideas, listening to the Australia native speakers, pronouncing right English words, plagiarism in writing and speaking with accent. The study is significant in helping the Asian students had difficulties in speaking English while Australia. 3.2 Introduction This study explored the challenges of speaking English language among Asian ESL students in Australia classroom. Many second language learners make it a priority to master speaking skills in English language. Their success in learning depending on their perceptions of whether there has been improvements in the spoken language efficiency. While there has been a huge focus on methodological debate on the best approach to teaching oral skills, this area is often neglected (Richards, 1990). Variety of approaches has been used in textbooks and by teachers ranging from oral interaction to indirect approaches. McCarthy and Carter (1997) argue that a great deal on the nature of spoken discourse has been revealed through advancement in corpus, conversational and discourse analysis to show its divergence from written discourse. Speaking and listening create social interaction and explore ideas while writing commits events and creates a record on paper (Jones, 1996). Conversely, limited studies have cast considerable light on speaking English as a second language in terms of complexity (Luoma, 2004; Burns, 1998; Tsang and Wong, 2002). Jones (1996) and Burns (1998) made useful insights on speaking in human interaction as not only involving exchange of information but also establishes and maintains social relations. Different teaching approaches are needed to expanding functions of speaking in human interaction (Jones, 1996; Burns, 1998). In this regard, most Asian students get unique classroom experiences in Australian universities which are quite different from their own in Asia. Coupled with little interaction between teachers and students, most Asian students are passive speakers in classroom situations due to preference of teacher centered learning. Attitudes to knowledge are embodied in different cultural traditions (Ballard & Clanchy, 1997). Majority of Asian students view their teachers as superiors with no space to argue or question their actions. Communication styles in Western classrooms and the culture of origin, distant interaction between students and teachers, affects the learning styles of students (Willems, Defrancq, Colleman & Noël, 2004). Therefore, there is need to explore and understand the challenges that these students face in speaking English language inside class rooms of Australian universities. In this report, two research questions were posed; a) How do students respond to oral performance in an ordinary English language lesson? b) Are there difficulties in speaking English language among ESL learners in Australian higher education institutions? What are their concerns? The study hypotheses were; H1: Asian international students respond well to oral performance in an ordinary English language class. H2: Speaking English language among Asian ESL learners is not difficult and challenging. 3.3 Methods The study involved 9 participants from two Asian countries; Japan and China. The participants were chosen at random from the list of Asian students on exchange program to Australia. The selected students were; Chinese students (3 females, and 2 males) and Japanese students (2 males, 2 females). The respondents were found to be aged between 19 and 25 years. The students were asked to answer a semi-structured interview in 20 minutes. The interview was to get their opinions and thoughts regarding English speaking experience while in Asia and now in Australia. Later, they sat round at the front of the classroom and engage in a classroom group discussion for 40 minutes. One native speaker moderated the discussion while the teacher who is also a native English speaker served as an observer. This was meant to give the teacher a realistic perspective to observe and fill the observation form. The specific data filled into an observation form were; total contribution made by the participants, responses if supportive or aggressive, adherence to the topic of discussion and whether new relevant points were introduced or not. Following this, the data was recorded into audio to be later transcribed into text by a professional transcription operator in the university. The audio was replayed a number of times for about 4 hours while transcribing into text. The 40-minute discussion involved an informal conversation of the respondents about their experiences while touring some parts of Australia. The students were required to observe tenses, generic words, role relationships, conversational conventions and turn-taking and interrupting while narrating their tour experiences. The observation form was used to answer the first research question which was to explore how the students responded to oral performance in an English language classroom situation. After transcribing the audio, it was possible to answer the second research questions which identified the areas of difficulties that students faced while attempting to create a conversation. In case of disagreements in the discussion, the transcription was examined by two professional examiners, one from Asia and another from Australia. 3.4 Results 3.4.1 Results from the semi-structured interviews The 9 respondents provided their responses on the printed semi-structured interviews and their contributions were presented in tables and tables and graphs. The frequency distribution of respondents is as shown in the table below. Table 1: Frequency distribution of respondents Demographics Descriptor Frequency Percentage frequency Country of origin Japan 4 44.4% China 5 55.6% Total 9 100.0% Gender Female 4 55.6% Male 5 44.4% Total 9 100.0% From the table 1 above, the 55 percent of the participants came from China while the rest came from Japan. Moreover, 44 percent of the participants were male while the majority was female. Participants were asked about the proficiency in English. The results showed that majority (40%) and (30%) were doing well in writing and reading respectively. On the contrary, few respondents were competent in speaking (10%) and listening (20%) as shown in figure 1 below. Figure 1: English language proficiency In another instance, the participants were asked about the cultural influences that affect their English language performance in Australian classroom. Figure 2: Cultural barriers to English language learning From the figure 2 above, most of the participants (4) noted that passiveness was their leading cultural barrier while speaking English in Australian classroom. Equally, rote learning (2) and quietness (2) were other barriers that also contributed to the challenges in learning English in Australia. When asked about the specific activities that should be done to improve the speaking English, 34% of the participants indicated they needed teacher fronted discussions while 33% suggested the desire to stage short plays as shown in figure 3 below. Figure 3: Activities to improve English speaking skills With regard to the specific challenges that face Asian students while learning English in Australia, pronunciation, plagiarism in writing and speaking with accent were identified as critical in learning English. I find pronunciation of some words ending with [sh] or [g] very difficult. I usually skip words ending with these letters or syllables [Female, 23 years, China]. On plagiarism in writing, one of the students commented that; I was shocked to learn that Australia takes plagiarism seriously. Most of us in Asia do ‘cut and paste’ texts or dissertations without referring to the authors. I think this has affected our originality and creativity [Male, 21 years, Japan] In another case, some students felt that speaking with an accent was catastrophic in a way and hindered them from speaking confidently. I found Australian native speakers rather strange. At first I could not understand what they were say. I even feared speaking my English with Japanese accent [Female, 22 years, Japan] When probed about the initial difficulties they found themselves in with regard to English language learning, the participants listed teaching styles, different learning, loneliness, cultural barriers, and English language proficiency. One of the respondents said; In addition to different teaching styles, I was lonely and felt out of place. I thought that I was in the wrong country [Male, 23 years, China] Similarly, when making a speech, Asian students were categorical in noting that using appropriate humour and maintaining eye contact were areas that challenged them while addressing other students at the front of the classroom. Moreover, they also had their fears that included the fear for loss of face, speaking loudly, speaking excitedly, and using larger gestures. The participants were also told to offer suggestions on how they could gain more confidence in speaking English here in Australia. They suggested that speaking during presentations and listening to audios were very important. Also, the participants were told on what they preferred; attending lectures or searching for information. One of the responses was; Teachers have been spoon-feeding us by giving notes. Here, they have to search for information and learn more by doing their own work. They agree that even though information search takes time, it is a lot better than attending lectures [Female, 19 years, China]. Finally, the participants were asked if they would approach their teacher and ask questions in an interactive session. They were confident that here in Australia, the teachers and students are equal and can interact freely unlike in Asia where teachers are feared. They said that they were ready to mingle and interact freely with their teachers. 3.4.2 Class room discussion This was a 40-minute discussion of respondents regarding their experiences on a tour of Australia. The observer noted a number of issues that are captured in the teaching discussion skills as recommended by Green, Christopher, and Lam (2002). The authors suggested that one of the participants can be assigned to serve as an observer while an English class activity is in progress. The participants were hesitant at first to contribute as they could not understand the Australian accent of the moderator. However, the teacher intervened and encouraged them to contribute to the interesting topic of ‘touring Australia’. Most of the female participants looked more upbeat and aggressive compared to the male participants. In a classroom group discussion participants can take up to ten minutes to acclimatize and get to know each other (Hatch & Lazaraton, 1991). In this case, the first ten minutes was full of tension and uneasiness as participants were not acquainted with each other previously. The recordings on the observation form for part of the 40-minute discussion is as shown in the table below (see Appendix I). After transcribing the audio, the discussion was recorded on paper and some of the difficulties in speaking were made. Areas of interest were clarity of speech, use of stress, providing examples, repetition and discourse markers. Part of the recordings was put down in paper ad verbatim following the discussions of Moderator (M) and Participants (P); M: I am happy to be part of you [cheerful] P1: I happy too [Female, 20 years, Japan] M: Great. I love Australia! Hope you have found it interesting to visit some scenic places. P2: Yes. True I saw a accident scene along a major highway [Male, 22 years, China] P3: Me too accidents happen in Australia too [Female, 19 years, China]. The participants got the moderator wrongly as they thought he was describing an accident scene. The second participant did not realize the mistake and continued to contribute in that direction. Instead of an accident, the participant said a accident. P4: I love Australian beaches. (Speaking loudly) People are free to interac (…seems confused over the mistake made) [Female, 22 years, China]. M: I think a holiday is worth spending in Sydney and Melbourne P5: Yea. You mean holy day? [Male, 24 years, Japan] P6: I think something like a vacation [Male, 23 years, Japan] The female participant, 22 years from China could not complete the word interact which makes the moderator to continue anyway. Besides, males participant, 24 years from Japan found it difficult to understand the Australian accent of Holiday which is pronounced IaI instead of the known IaeI known to him. M: I don’t think you have visited the outback? It’s really wonderful! P7: What is that? (..with an inferior feeling) [Males, 21 years Japan] M: I mean the Australian countryside P7: Yea..I wish I could travel to the famous caves [Male, 24 years China] P8: I also want to eat wine when I get to the vineyards [Female, 19 years, Japan] M: Ooh Yes! to take wine. I like wine too. P9: How about working the mountains? [Female, 21 years, China] M: You mean to climb the mountains? P9: Yes. P5: That will be a finis time before we enjoy our holiday though (error in word finis...instead of finish) P2: Our teachers in China are tough on us [digressing from the topic] P7: They also keep distance from us unlike here [supporting the suggestion of P2] M: I believe you have seen different kind of animals while here in Australia P4: I long to saw the Kangaroo and dingo [error in present participle tense] P6: I watching these animals on television [again error in tense] P3: You like dingo? they eat people. Me don’t like P9: No. you are wrong. Dingoes eat game meat. P5: Are you sure? P2: Yes. see…Ahmmmm. (keeps quiet) 3.4.2 Discussion The results from this study showed that students had an upper hand on writing and reading and low skill level in listening and speaking. Students find writing and reading as friendly because they had a background of strict grammatical practice in the two areas while in their basic and secondary education. However, they get shocked on listening to Australians speak and speaking to the natives in a conversation. The specific challenges are pronunciation, plagiarism in writing and speaking with accent. This is consistent with the findings of Nguyen (2011) that many Asia students have unique linguistic varieties and difficulties speaking English due to intonation, different rules of pronunciation and tongue movement. The study also found that most Asian students were highly passive and quiet while in the Australian classroom. This is consistent with Park (2002) that most Asian students show humility and reticence with non-verbal and passive behaviors exhibited in the class. This means that the students lose their confidence, get afraid of losing face or even show reluctance in showing their ideas. The students also suggested that they would prefer search for information instead of attending lectures while in Australia. This idea agrees with Wong (2004) who noted that Asian students preferred searching for information to build confidence and inculcate initiative in searching for knowledge. Fortunately, all is not lost as most of the participants suggested role-play, teacher-fronted discussions, staging short plays and speech giving. They also noted that it was important that they speaking during presentations, and listening to audios. These ideas are also in agreement with Gill (2013) who showed that oral English learners without formal experience in use of drama can use role-plays, rehearsals, skits and listening comprehension to improve on their spoken English. From the table (see Appendix I), it can be deduced that the participants made great attempts to contribute to the group discussion based on the number of contributions made. It can be learned that the participants were generally not aggressive in their responses but were very supportive. However, they often digressed from the topic because at times they could not communicate well with the moderator. Owing to this difficulty, they found it difficult to introduce any relevant point on the two discussion topics. Nonetheless, the participants showed willingness and desire to express themselves in English. From the audio transcript above, participant (P1) had minimal contribution in the conversation, perhaps as a result of low self confidence to respond in English. Participant (P2) has a problem sustaining a topic and also expressing ideas and suggestions in English. The participant also makes mistakes in grammar by say a accident instead of an accident. This was also the case with participant P4 and P6 who made mistakes in tenses by not using the right tense, present continuous tense. Moreover, there is an aspect of inferiority complex as seen in P2 and P7 who feel intimidated by native speakers and more so the Australian accent. P3 makes repetitions using the word (too) which also means that the participant has difficulties in picking the right words for use in a sentence. P4 also fails to control the tone of voice as she seems to speak loudly to make a point. There is also an omission made by P4 and P5 in the word (interact) instead the participant said (interac) and finis instead of finish. This is consistent with the observations of Nguyen (2011) that cohort of Asian students had problems pronouncing English words with word ending and consonant classes like j, g, x, d,sh, t or s. It can also be observed that in times of disagreements like between P3, P9 and P2, there seems to be difficulties in assessing what exactly made P2 to halt the conversation. This is also consistent with Luoma (2004) who observed that speaking can be difficult to assess although it is not an impossible task. P8 also makes a mistake in choice of words such as ‘I want to eat wine’ instead of ‘I want to take wine’. This indicates that the learners despite an early exposure to grammar can get mixed up in a conversation and become confused. Based on the above excerpts, the Asian participants had difficulties in getting right the Australian accent and starting a conversation. This is consistent with the findings of Sawir (2005) that most Asian students lacked oral competence since most of their English language lessons were taught by non-native speakers. Also, speaking skills is not taught efficiently in Asia since only one hour per week is devoted to practicing speaking in high school (Nguyen, 2011). Information search and oral presentations during tutorials build confidence and gives the students with an opportunity to talk and speak well (Wong, 2004). The study has answered the first research question by obtaining that Asian students respond passively and often digresses from the topic. In the second research question, the study found that Asian students had difficulties in listening to the Australian accent, staying within the topic of discussion, feeling awkward over grammatical errors and pronouncing some words well. 3.5 Conclusion This study found that Asian students were passive, lacked confidence and quiet while responding to their oral performance which is deemed as low in matching up with the conventional speaking of English in Australian classroom situation. The Asian ESL learners although upbeat in making contributions were not confident and aggressive in making their conversation understood. Coupled with Australian accents, that seem to diverge slightly from British and American accents, the Asian students could not comprehend the talk well. Overall, the Asian students were passive, went off topic and had difficulty in introducing new points to the discussion. The study found that the difficulties that affected Asian ESL learners of English language in Australia was; lose their confidence, get afraid of losing face or reluctance in showing their ideas, listening to the Australia native speakers, pronouncing right English words, plagiarism in writing and speaking with accent. Moreover, some of the difficulties in speaking in an English language classroom included; speaking English for a longer time or starting a conversation, staying within the topic of discussion, feeling awkward over grammatical errors and not pronouncing some words well. The study concluded that these are the major challenges that Asian ESL learners face in speaking English in Australian classroom, and which also affected their social interaction. The study was limited by a small sample which could not favor generalization of findings. In addition, the participants were not acquainted to each other which made it difficult to ‘break the ice’. Finally, the observer could not understand some ineligible words which became difficult during transcription. Nevertheless, one of the Asian students was told to assist in the transcription. More participants in future studies may be required to increase the reliability of the research findings. Participants should also be given a bit of time to interact and socialize before the classroom group discussion or interviews begin. Besides a native observer, a non-native ESL learner can also be involved in the observation. References Ballard, B. & Clanchy, J. (1997). Teaching international students: A brief guide for lecturers and supervisors. Australia: IDP Education Australia. Brown, G. & Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the spoken language. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. Burns, A. (1998). Teaching speaking. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 18, pp 102-112. Gill, C. (2013). Enhancing the English-Language oral skills of international students through drama. English language teaching, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp 29-38. Green, G.F. Christopher, E.R. & Lam, J. (2002). Developing skills in the ESL classroom. In Richards, J.C. & Renandya, W.A. Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge University Press. Hale, S. (2007). Community Interpreting. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Hatch, E. & Lazaraton, A. (1991). The Research Manual: Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Hayes, R. L., & Lin, H . (1994). Coming to America: Developing social support systems for international students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, Vol. 22, pp. 7-16. Jones, M.A. (1996). Foundations of French Syntax. Cambridge University Press. Litosseliti, L. (Ed.) (2010). Research Methods in Linguistics. NY: Continuum. Luoma, S. (2004). Assessing speaking. Cambridge University Press. McCarthy, M. J. & Carter, R. A. (1997). Exploring spoken English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Park, C. C. (2000). Learning Style Preferences of Southeast Asian Students. Urban Education, Vol. 35, pp 245-268. Rasinger, S. (2013). Quantitative Research in Linguistics. An introduction. (Second Edition). London/NY: Continuum. Richards, J. C. (1990). Developing classroom speaking activities; From theory to practice. Cambridge University Press. Tsang, W.K. & Wong, E. (2002). Evaluation on the implementation of the medium-of-instruction guidance for secondary schools final report. Hong Kong, China: The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Willems, D., B. Defrancq, T. Colleman & D. Noël (eds.) (2004) Contrastive Analysis in Language: Identifying Linguistic Units of Comparison. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. Wong, J.K. (2004). Are the learning styles of Asian international students culturally or contextually based? International Education Journal, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp 154-165. Wray, A. & Bloomer, A. (2012). Projects in Linguistics and Language Studies. A practical guide to researching language. (Third Edition). London: Hodder Arnold. (Available online via UWS Library – read online or download). Appendices Appendix I: Group discussions observation form Item Number of contributions Participant A B C D E F Total contributions made 6 5 7 8 6 7 Responds aggressively 0 0 2 2 1 2 Responds supportively 3 2 1 2 3 2 Digresses from the topic 2 2 3 4 2 2 Introduces new relevant point 1 1 1 0 0 1 Appendix II: Semi-structured interview questions 1. Which area are you doing well in your level of proficiency in English? [ ] Speaking, [ ] Writing, [ ] Reading and [ ] Listening 2. What cultural influences characterize English learning among Asian students in Australian classrooms? [ ] Lack of critical thinking [ ] Passiveness [ ] Rote learning [ ] Quietness 3. What activities would you suggest to be undertaken in class to improve your speaking skills? [ ] Role-play [ ] Teacher-fronted discussions [ ] Staging short plays [ ] Speech giving 4. What specific challenges you face while learning English in Australia? 5. What were your initial learning difficulties as Asian international students while in an Australian University? 6. What do you think are the major set-backs you face while making a speech in English? 7. What fears do you have while talking to a group in English in an Australian classroom? 8. What do you think will help you to gain more confidence in speaking English here in Australia? 9. Do you learn more by attending lectures or searching for information? Why. 10. Would you approach your teacher and ask questions in an interactive session? Read More