Difficulties In Learning English Essay

A REFLECTION ON THE RECENT ADVANCED TEACHING COURSE

In this globalized world, English has confirmed its position as an international language, known as a tool to support the communication of people. It has developed a great pace in Vietnam, and this is a main foreign language taught at universities in Vietnam to the present time. Today, learning English is no longer a "trend", it has become one of the concerns of all English learners in Vietnam.

In the four basic skills as listening, speaking, reading and writing, the students often have the difficulty in speaking, especially for students whose vocabulary and knowledge of Spoken English countries’ cultures are limited.

Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998, p. 13). However, because of the limitation of speaking competence and the influence by Confucianism, some Asian students are not inclined to express opinions in class; some appear conservative and uncomfortable, and seldom ask questions that they do not understand (Brice & Roseberry-Mackibbin, 1999; Lim, 2003). In other words, "influenced by Confucianism, students tend to value quietness, and be less opinioned" (Lim, 2003, p.1). Commonly, they rarely ask questions even though they do not understand the content that

The ability to communicate in a second language clearly and efficiently contributes to the success of the learner in school and success later in every period of life. Therefore, it is essential that English teachers should have to pay much attention to teaching speaking than teaching students to memorize words or grammar, providing a rich environment where real-life communication takes place is clearly desired (Gatenby, l950). Now many ESL teachers agree on that students learn to speak in the second language by "interacting" or in the other words, “practicing