Investigating Vietnamese ESP Learners' Difficulties in EFL Speaking: DMGA Scaffolding Model as a Proposed Solution

Proceedings International Conference on Teaching and Education (ICoTE) Volume 3 English Language Teaching Research and Practices (2022) Investigating Vietnamese ESP Learners' Difficulties in EFL Speaking: DMGA Scaffolding Model as a Proposed Solution 1 Nguyen Tran Uyen Nhi1,2; Asmaa AlSaqqaf 3* PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Psychology and Education, University Malaysia Sabah (UMS), MALAYSIA 2 Lecturer at the University of Foreign Language Studies, The University of Danang (UFLS-UD),VIETNAM 3 Faculty of Psychology and Education, University Malaysia Sabah (UMS), MALAYSIA * DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26418/icote.v3i1.55857 This article was presented orally at: 1st International Conference on English Language Teaching Research and Practices; organized by TEFLIN of West Kalimantan Chapter; 1-2 June 2022 Abstract Teaching speaking for English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) students in an English-for-SpecificPurposes (ESP) classroom is a demanding process. Despite the efforts of the Vietnamese government and educators, many Vietnamese EFL students perceive speaking as one of the most challenging language skills, and their speaking abilities in real-life situations are insufficient to fulfill society's increasing demands. As a result, it is the role of language teachers to identify students’ difficulties in speaking English and help them enhance their language speaking skills. This paper aims to explore the English speaking problems faced by ESP Vietnamese learners at the University of Foreign Language Studies, University of Danang (UFLS-UD), Vietnam . A questionnaire was employed to collect data from first-year undergraduate students in the ESP Department at UFLSUD. Besides, the study also proposed a scaffolding model named "Diagnosing, Modeling and Sharing, Guiding, Applying" (DMGA) as a practical suggestion for EFL teachers for speaking training. It is hoped that the findings of the study will benefit both Vietnamese education policy makers, teachers as well as students in terms of teaching and learning speaking skills in ESP settings within an EFL context. Keywords: ESP learners, English speaking problems, DMGA scaffolding model, speaking performance. 1. INTRODUCTION Good English competency, particularly speaking skills, has been in great demand and therefore has become a fundamental factor for achieving diverse goals and success in a range of disciplines. In countries where English is not the official language, like Vietnam, teaching EFL speaking is becoming increasingly essential in the education sector, especially at the tertiary level. In particular, in an ESP classroom environment, developing speaking skills for ESP learners is a demanding process. Many Vietnamese students perceive speaking as one of the most challenging language skills. (Vo et al., 2018; Nguyen & Pham, 2016). As a result, it is the role of Nguyen Tran Uyen Nhi; Asmaa AlSaqqaf language teachers to help students enhance their language speaking skills. Hence, as an English teacher in the ESPD, UFLS-UD, the researcher was motivated to identify strategies to provide effective support and assistance, which is so-called scaffolding, in order to boost students' speaking performance in the ESP speaking classroom. The aim of this study is to identify the English speaking problems faced by ESP Vietnamese learners at UFLS-UD and propose a scaffolding model called "Diagnosing, Modeling and Sharing, Guiding, Applying" (DMGA) as a practical suggestion for EFL teachers in speaking training. It is expected that the application of the DMGA scaffolding model in the e-ISSN: 2685-1407 | 38 ESP classroom could have a significant impact on ESP Vietnamese learners’ speaking performance. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Speaking Skill In language learning, speaking, which is also called communication skills or productive skills, is one of the four most important language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. Among these skills, speaking, the primary mode of communication, is considered the heart of second language learning (Egan, 1990). Iqbal (2012) regarded speaking as the oral mode which involves more than just pronouncing words. It is also the skill that is used twice as frequently in our communication as reading and writing in our communication (Rivers, 1989). 2.2 ESP Learners ESP aims to prepare learners to use English effectively in academic, professional, and workplace settings (Basturkmen, 2016). Carter (1983) classifies ESP into three categories: (1) English as a restricted language; (2) English for Academic and Occupational Purposes; (3) English with specific topics. Most ESP learners at Vietnamese colleges are pursuing the second type, with the goal of acquiring both English proficiency and domain-specific knowledge that will enable them to more easily meet the needs of the new era and future job requirements. 2.3 Scaffolding Scaffolding originated from the concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) in Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory, which is claimed to play a significant role in assisting a child's progression into his ZPD. It was then adopted by Wood, Bruner & Ross (1976), who defined scaffolding as adult support that can assist learners in problem-solving activities, highlighting the difference between what students can do with and without scaffolding. Thus, scaffolding is seen as an important instructional method that contributes to the learning process since it allows students to solve their learning problem (Poorahmadi, 2009). Other researchers have found a link between scaffolding and Vygosky's concepts on social interaction, demonstrating that as individuals interact with scaffolds, they gradually internalize the cultural knowledge of the scaffolds (Belland, 2014). In a classroom environment, scaffolding plays a vital role since it appears as a "metaphor for teaching and learning" (Renshaw, 2013, p56). 2.4 Previous studies on scaffolding in EFL speaking Scaffolding has received much attention from many educators and language researchers due to its huge benefits for EFL teaching and learning, especially in improving EFL learners’ speaking skills. Safdari, Ghadiri & Kashkouli (2021) conducted an investigation into the types of scaffolding used by EFL teachers in Iran in the classroom to improve Nguyen Tran Uyen Nhi; Asmaa AlSaqqaf speaking skills. Orlando (2019) examined the use of practical metacognitive development as a scaffolding technique for enhancing communicative skills in authentic pre-service teacher training in Ecuador. Similarly, the experimental study of Jafarigohar's (2021) demonstrated that metacognitive scaffolds were effective in improving oral proficiency in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Meanwhile, in the study of Razaghi et al. (2019), the authors proposed cognitive scaffolds as helpful techniques for reducing the cognitive load associated with the learning task, hence improving students' speaking skills. Basco et al.'s (2019) action research conclu (...truncated)