English, which is being taught in many schools and universities in Vietnam now, has
become an international language in many areas: science and technology, business and
commerce, international relations and diplomacy. Inrecent years, with the national policy
of renovation and expansion of international relations, there has been an increasing need
for learning English in Vietnam.
To meet the demand of learners of English, teachers of English in Vietnam have been
trying to find out the most suitable and effective method of teaching English. They always
try to catch up with the world’s latest frameworks of English Language Teaching.
Therefore, as in other countries, teachers of English in Vietnam are now using
Communicative Language Teaching Approach to teach English to learners of all levels.
They hope that by using this teaching method, they can help their learners improve their
English and use it effectively and fluently in communication. That is also the idea
suggested by many linguists and methodologists suchas Nunan, 1991 and Das, B.K, 1985.
Most of the students at the People’s Police Academy (the PPA) who took part in the
survey conducted in this study agree that the ability to express themselves freely in
communication is of great importance for their future career as many of them – the future
administrative police, traffic police, etc – will surely have to work with foreigners.
However, there still exist many difficulties facingEnglish Language teachers in Vietnam
in general and English Language teachers at the PPA in particular. Many Vietnamese
learners can write and read English quite well but they cannot speak fluently and correctly
in communication.
Certainly there are many reasons for this. After teaching in two non-language universities
in Hanoi for about a year, I have recognized some big obstacles which prevent English
Language teachers and learners in Vietnam from reaching their aims. These obstacles are:
large and heterogeneous classes, students’ low level of English language proficiency,

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students’ low motivation, etc. Unfortunately, this is not only the situation in these two
universities but also the case for many other non-language universities in Vietnam.
This has given me the desire to conduct a research to clarify the teaching and learning
English speaking skill as well as to find techniques and activities to improve the quality of
the teaching of speaking skill at the People’s Police Academy where I work constantly.