EDPM01: Investigating Factors Affecting ESL Oral Speaking in Hong Kong

This research proposal investigates the factors affecting English oral speaking skills among English as a Second Language (ESL) high school students in Hong Kong. It addresses challenges such as lack of motivation, anxiety, mother tongue interference, and poor grasp of English vocabulary. The proposal includes a literature review of relevant publications and outlines a methodology involving documentary analysis, direct observation, and interviews for data collection. Ethical considerations are emphasized to ensure confidentiality, privacy, and voluntary participation. The research aims to identify effective interventions and strategies to improve ESL students' oral communication skills, contributing to a more effective language learning environment. This project was submitted by a student and is available on Desklib, where students can find similar assignments and past papers.

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Proposal
Name
Lecturer
Course
Date

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Proposal
Factors affecting English Oral Speaking on High School ESL Students in Hong Kong
Introduction
The purpose of this research will be to study the interventions for the challenges that are
faced by the Hong Kong-based English as Second Language (ESL) high school learners when it
comes to English oral speaking. In Hong Kong, English is not regarded as a native, but a second
language that the learners acquire in the process of their education (Poh & Gotoking 2016). The
elevation of English as a lingua franca at an international level has made it to be popular. That is
why the language has been recognized and is gaining acceptance in many countries including
Hong Kong. Just like any other ESLs, the high school learners in Hong Kong find it quite
challenging to speak the English language (Poh & Gotoking 2016). The most appropriate
intervention for these learners is the hiring of well-trained professional teachers who have a
sound knowledge of ESL teaching strategies and approaches (Chen & Yang 2017). The teaching
approach can instill confidence, and enhance the development and mastery of English
vocabulary, and pronunciation. The research will seek to study all these issues to ensure that an
ultimate solution is sought.
Literature Review
Literature review is the analysis of publications. In the scholarly world, there are
researches which are conducted on a wide range of topics. The study of English as a second
language is an area that has been widely studied. So many scholars have conducted a research
and published books, book chapters, and journal articles on this topic. Hence, to conduct a good
research whose findings can be relied upon to address the challenges facing the ESL learners in

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Hong Kong, a rigorous review of published literature must be done. For this reason, therefore,
the following publications will be selected for review:
1. Hartshorn, K.J., Evans, N.W., Egbert, J. & Johnson, A., 2017. Discipline-specific reading
expectation and challenges for ESL learners in US universities. Reading in a Foreign
Language, 29(1), pp.36-60.
2. Mokhtar, A.A., Rawian, R.M., Yahaya, M.F., Abdullah, A. & Mohamed, A.R., 2017.
Vocabulary learning strategies of adult ESL learners. The English Teacher, p.12.
3. Lo, F., 2016. Transformation: Challenges Faced by an ESL Student. Mānoa Horizons,
1(1), p.11.
4. Ahmed, M.K., 2018. Pedagogy in speaking: Challenges addressed by teacher-student in
the ESL context. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature,
7(3), pp.97-107.
5. Sibanda, J. & Baxen, J., 2016. Determining ESL learners’ vocabulary needs from a
textbook corpus: challenges and prospects. Southern African Linguistics and Applied
Language Studies, 34(1), pp.57-70.
6. Ibrahim, E.H.E., Sarudin, I. & Muhamad, A.J., 2016. The Relationship between
Vocabulary Size and Reading Comprehension of ESL Learners. English Language
Teaching, 9(2), pp.116-123.
Each of these publications is important because they contain credible, current, research-
based, and relevant and accurate information on the research topic. For instance, “Discipline-
specific reading expectation and challenges for ESL learners in US universities” is an article that
will be reviewed. In this article, the author presents a comprehensive research on the challenges
facing the ESL learners. As clearly-outlined in this study, the ESL learners face a myriad of

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challenges including lack of confidence, fear, mother tongue interference, and the poor grasp of
fundamental English speaking skills like vocabulary. This article will, therefore, be used in the
study. It contains research-based and credible information that will be of great help in providing
background framework for this particular study. The other publication that will be used in this
study is “Vocabulary learning strategies of adult ESL learners”. In this article, the authors report
on the study they conducted on the teaching approaches for the ESL learners. The article reports
that ESL is a special category of learners that require a lot of keenness, commitments, and
dedication. So, as the guide, the instructors should ensure that there is an individualized learner-
centered teaching process designed to address the unique needs of each learner. These
publications, hence, appear to be resourceful, informative, and reliable, and valid.
Methodology
The study is intended to be a primary and secondary research. Meaning, it will involve
the collection of primary and secondary data on the research topic. Primary research is preferable
because it leads to the collection of first-hand data. Secondary data, on the other hand will come
from other sources (Creswell & Poth 2017). Hence, to adequately respond to the research
question, appropriate data-collection tools will be used.
First, the research will rely on documentary analysis. Documentary analysis is a
systematic review and analysis of published literature. As already hinted, ESL teaching has a
bulk of publications. Therefore, wheat the research will entail is that it will employ a criterion
that will enable a careful selection of published literature to be used as a reliable source of
secondary data. Secondly, the research will involve the use of direct observation. Here, the
researcher will be directly involved in the process. The researcher will have to create time to

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attend class lessons to make observations on what happens to the learners and teachers as well.
Lastly, the research will employ the use of interviews to collect data. Here, a proportionate
sample will be selected and engaged in a one-on-one or telephone interview (Peters & Halcomb
2015). Through this, the research will manage to collect valid and reliable primary data.
Any Specific Issues
The research will be conducted as planned. For everything to run smoothly as anticipated,
appropriate measures will be taken to plan for and implement every aspect of study. For instance,
to collect the desired data, the management must be consulted in time.
Ethical Considerations
The research is expected to be a credible, valid, and reliable one. So, the researcher has
no choice, but to comply with the applicable ethical standards. Data collection and analysis
process will therefore, be done in a strict compliance with the ethical principles of
confidentiality, privacy, safety, and voluntary participation. The participants will be given a
freedom to choose whether to participate, refuse or withdraw participation at will. There will be
no coercion whatsoever. The information from the participants will also be treated as
confidential (Wallace & Sheldon 2015). It will be preserved and not leaked to any other
unauthorized party. At the same time, the research will be safe because it will not subject the
participants to any harm whatsoever.
Conclusion
The research will focus on the study of the difficulties faced by the ESL high school
learners when speaking the English language. This is attributed to many factors such as lack of

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motivation; reluctance and fear of oral communication in English language; unprecedented
anxiety; mother tongue interference; failure to practice the language; and poor grasp of English
vocabulary, phonology, syntax, and morphology. These are the challenges that have been
hindering the learners from horning their speaking skills. However, these are issues that can be
addressed if appropriate measures are taken. Once the language is accepted as an instructional
medium, it should be properly taught to the learners. Hence, to overcome such drawbacks and
enhance the learning process, certain measures must be taken. The research will employ the use
of documentary analysis, direct observation, and interviews to collect data that can be relied
upon to address the research issues.

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References
Ahmed, M.K., 2018. Pedagogy in speaking: Challenges addressed by teacher-student in the ESL
context. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 7(3), pp.97-107.
Chen, D. & Yang, X., 2017. Improving active classroom participation of ESL students: Applying
culturally responsive teaching strategies. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 7(1), pp.79-
86.
Creswell, J.W. & Poth, C.N., 2017. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among
five approaches. Sage publications.
Hartshorn, K.J., Evans, N.W., Egbert, J. & Johnson, A., 2017. Discipline-specific reading
expectation and challenges for ESL learners in US universities. Reading in a Foreign Language,
29(1), pp.36-60.
Ibrahim, E.H.E., Sarudin, I. & Muhamad, A.J., 2016. The Relationship between Vocabulary Size
and Reading Comprehension of ESL Learners. English Language Teaching, 9(2), pp.116-123.
Lo, F., 2016. Transformation: Challenges Faced by an ESL Student. Mānoa Horizons, 1(1), p.11.
Mokhtar, A.A., Rawian, R.M., Yahaya, M.F., Abdullah, A. & Mohamed, A.R., 2017.
Vocabulary learning strategies of adult ESL learners. The English Teacher, p.12.
Peters, K. & Halcomb, E., 2015. Interviews in qualitative research. Nurse Researcher (2014+),
22(4), p.6.
Poh, L.G. & Gotoking, F.C., 2016. ESL Teachers’ Employment of Instructional Language
Strategies: Towards Effective Language Learning Strategies. AJELP: The Asian Journal of
English Language and Pedagogy, 4, pp.50-59.

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Sibanda, J. & Baxen, J., 2016. Determining ESL learners’ vocabulary needs from a textbook
corpus: challenges and prospects. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies,
34(1), pp.57-70.
Wallace, M. & Sheldon, N., 2015. Business research ethics: Participant observer perspectives.
Journal of Business Ethics, 128(2), pp.267-277.