We are living in the global world in which English language has rapidly become an international language. To meet this requirement, English has been taught almost everywhere in Vietnam, especially in schools, colleges, universities, English is a compulsory subject.
However, how to speak English well is a problem for many learners of English, especially for the students of colleges and universities. Despite the fact that most of the students have been learning English since they were at secondary or high school, they are deficient in English speaking.
As a teacher of Tourism & Foreign language Department, Sao Do College of Industry SCI, HaiDuong, from our observation and our own teaching experience, we see that during the speaking lesson classroom interaction is restricted. Only some students get involved in the activities conducted by the teacher while others keep silence or do other things. Thus, one of the challenges to the teacher is to find out the answer to the question “Why don’t many students of English get involved actively in speaking lesson?”
To find the answer to this question it is necessary to investigate what motivates and de-motivates students in English learning in general and in speaking in particular. Many teachers and researchers now believe that motivation is one of the most important factors that determine the rate and success of L2 attainment: it provides the primary impetus to initiate learning the L2 and later the driving force to sustain the long and often tedious learning process. Without sufficient motivation, even individuals with the most remarkable abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals, and there are no appropriate curricula and good teaching to ensure student achievement.