Speaking seems to be the most important skills of all the four skills (listening, speaking,
reading and writing) because people who know a language are usually referred to as speakers
of that language (Ur, 1996). The major goal of all English language teaching should be to
give learners the ability to use English effectively, accurately in communication (Davies &
Pearse, 1998). However, not all language learners after many years studying English can
communicate fluently and accurately because they lack necessary knowledge.
At Le Thanh Hien High School, the students are not good at English. They can pass exams
easily but they find it difficult to use English to communicate. To help the students improve
their speaking skills, it is necessary to find ways to help them overcome their problems.
Moreover, the teachers need to know the factors that affect their students’ speaking
performance so that they can deal with these factors to help the students improve their
speaking performance. However, until now, there is no research conducted at this school
about these areas.