Giảm thiểu yếu tố tâm lý cản trở học viên quân sự thực hành nói Tiếng Anh

e topics, let students discuss in 
pairs before forming two oppositional groups for 
the debate); watch and speak (students watch parts 
of a cartoon/film/TV show, etc. without any sound, 
guess the meaning and talk about it; or student A 
tells what is on the screen for student B to answer 
questions given on a piece of paper, etc.); acting as 
an interpreter (one student acts as an interpreter 
and one as a foreigner and some as local people. They 
communicate through interpretation to do shopping, 
renting a bike, bargaining, etc.); etc.
2.2.2.2. Patterns of interaction 
To remove students’ nervousness and anxiety, 
teachers should remember to:
– Let students work in pairs first. After some time 
talking with their partners, students are prepared both 
mentally and linguistically to join in a larger group 
discussion or make a presentation. Different patterns 
of interaction give students a better chance to improve 
their language, in terms of both grammar and fluency.
– Avoid forcing presentations without students’ 
consent/content. This will scare away students with 
low speaking competence and make them even 
more unresponsive in class.
2.3. Lesson delivery
In addition to topics and activities, teachers have an 
important role in making the class lively and effective 
by their guide and the atmosphere they create both 
before, during and after speaking activities are done. 
2.3.1. Different techniques 
To make students speak, teachers have to draw their 
interest into the topic, provide them with useful 
language to communicate and make the language 
sink in their mind. In order to do so, teachers should 
conduct the scaffolding steps as follows:
– Personalize the story to draw attention. For 
example, to demonstrate a memorable night (English 
File Elementary, 3rd edition, Oxford, Unit 7C), teachers 
could tell the class about their special holiday night. 
Keep it short and slow. Use simple grammar and 
vocabulary so that students can understand. Other 
visual tools can be used to provide students with 
something to lean on for their speaking, such as 
flashcards, posters or graphic organizers.
– Double check by asking questions to make sure 
students understand and make them better memorize 
the details/vocabulary/expressions. Teachers could 
check by asking concept checking (yes/no) questions 
and questions for details. For example: Was it in July 
or August? Did I go on holiday alone or with my family? 
Where did I go? How long did I stay? Was the weather 
good or bad? etc. By asking questions for details, 
teachers help students to memorize the details of the 
story.
– Give written record of the useful words and phrases 
students will need to tell the story themselves. 
– Ask for a reproduction of the story by asking a few 
students (whose language competence is better) to 
retell a story. They could do this with the help of the 
language input written on the board.
– From the students’ demonstration, remind the class 
of the tense and vocabulary they need to use.
– Give preparation time for students to think about 
and note down the words and phrases they will need 
for the speaking task.
– Monitor the class as they are speaking, note 
down both good uses of language and mistakes, be 
available for support at any time students need.
36 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰSố 05 - 01/2017
v PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY
2.3.2. Feedback 
In order to make students feel safe and motivated 
to speak, teachers should make the classroom an 
encouraging place where students feel free to try 
things out without fears of criticisms.
Teachers should ask students to focus on fluency 
over accuracy in speaking class. Explain to them 
that focusing too much on grammar will impede 
their fluency and create unnecessary fears of making 
mistakes, which are detrimental to speaking in general.
To mitigate students’ fear of mistakes, teachers should 
accept more than one answers and/ or create activities 
that promote students to diversify their expressions, 
make them try best with the available language 
to get the tasks done (for example: taboo word 
description, listen and guess, twenty questions, etc.) 
In terms of giving feedback, teachers should do as follows:
Avoid correcting students as they are talking. Make 
the necessary corrections after they finish. 
During the speaking time, teachers should walk 
around the pairs/ groups, take notes of what the class 
has done, give students praise for the good language 
use and corrections for mistakes. 
For on-the-spot feedback, teachers should avoid 
negative comments like no, you’re wrong, incorrect, etc. 
For good answers, teachers should give compliments 
such as well-done, very good, excellent, great, etc. For 
answers that need further work on, teachers might 
say: thank you but , good try, yes but it is more correct 
to say
For delayed feedback, start with a positive comment 
of the overall completion of the task. Then write 
common mistakes (around ten) on the board without 
saying who made them to avoid embarrassment. 
Give students some minutes to correct the sentences 
themselves. As they read their correct versions, 
teachers correct the sentences on the board. By doing 
this, the students can recall their mistakes and better 
memorize the things they have learned.
3. CONCLUSION
Learning a foreign language is difficult and learning 
to speak is even more challenging, given various 
psychological factors such as shyness, anxiety, lack of 
confidence and motivation. Speaking requires a lot of 
confidence and preparation from students. To firm up 
their sense of security and self-confidence and make 
them motivated to speak, teachers must create a 
relaxed, encouraging English speaking environment 
in which English is used chiefly to communicate in 
authentic situations, students are free to express their 
ideas without fears of being wrong and criticized. 
In addition, teachers should organize different 
activities to let students practise speaking in class. 
These activities must be conducted in a scaffolding 
fashion to make sure students not only apprehend 
but can efficiently use the phrases and expressions to 
communicate. 
Last but not least, teachers should develop a good 
rapport with students and act positively by keeping 
their smiles and pleasant facial expressions to create 
a positive atmosphere for the class./. 
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REDUCING MILITARY STUDENTS’ PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS TO SPEAKING ENGLISH
BUI THI HONG NHUNG
Abstract: Speaking is a crucial skill of the four macro skills because it clearly shows learners’ language 
ability. However, the speaking skill of learners, particularly military cadets of technical specialties at the 
Military Technical Academy, remains limited. It takes a macro study to find the reasons for and solutions 
to this problem. Within the limited scope, this article summarizes the psychological factors that prevent 
learners from speaking English in class. Then it suggests possible solutions that teachers should 
take to motivate low-level military cadets to speak and improve their overall speaking competence.
Keywords: topics, tools, activities, language environment, psychological barriers.