USING SHADOWING TECHNIQUE EFFECTIVELY TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS FOR FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

The purpose of the study is to investigate the first-year English majors' perceptions of using the shadowing technique and their practices in learning English speaking skills at the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University. A questionnaire survey was employed to gather data for the study. The structured questionnaire was administered to 253 participants from class K29. The survey results revealed that almost all students were aware of the role of the shadowing technique. The findings also showed the problems faced by first-year students in learning speaking skills. These difficulties were mainly represented by fear of making mistakes, lack of confidence, insufficient vocabulary, lack of speaking practice, and others. In addition, the results indicated that using the shadowing technique would bring several benefits to improving speaking skills. As can be seen from the quantitative research, the students' attitudes toward the shadowing technique were positive. As a result, some strategies were provided to help the students improve their speaking skills effectively.