A Study of Problems and Needs in English Speaking of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology Students
Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology
ABSTRACT
The purposes of this research were 1) to study problems and needs in English speaking of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology students in two aspects: problems and needs 2) to compare students’ problems and needs according to students’ gender, academic year and faculty, and 3) to gather supplemental suggestions. Research samples were 306 TNI students in the second semester of 2015 academic year, derived through simple random sampling technique. The instruments used for gathering the data were the rating-scale and open-ended questionnaire. The statistics used for analyzing the data were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, F-test, and content analysis. The research findings were as follows: 1. Problems in English speaking of Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology students as a whole was at moderate level (x ̅ = 3.26). When considered in each aspect, it was found that their problems were at moderate level on anxiety and conversation (x ̅ = 3.14, x ̅ = 3.38 respectively). Furthermore, needs in English speaking were at high level(x ̅ = 3.79). When considered in each aspect, it was found that their needs were at high level on contents, learning activities, teaching materials and communication skills respectively.2. The students with different genders showed statistically significant differences in overall at .05. When considered in each aspect, it was found that there were statistically significant differences at .05 level on problems.3. The students with different faculty showed statistically significant differences in overall at .05. When considered in each aspect, it was found that there were statistically significant differences at .05 level on needs.4. The students with different academic year showed no significant differences in overall and each aspect.5. TNI students had supplemental suggestions as following: Teachers should teach more grammatical rules in the classroom to enhance an ability in structure using in English; Speaking activity should be provided both in classroom and outside classroom; TNI should arrange foreigners to communicate with students frequently.
KEYWORDS
Problems in English Speaking, Needs in English Speaking