A survey on strategies for coping with face to face oral communication problems employed by the first and second year english majored students at hong duc university

HONG DUC UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS A SURVEY ON STRATEGIES FOR COPING WITH FACE-TOFACE ORAL COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS EMPLOYED BY THE FIRST AND SECOND YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HONG DUC UNIVERSITY Supervisor : Du Thi Mai, M.A Student : Cu Khanh Linh Class : K20B – FFL – HDU Course : 2017 – 2021 THANH HOA - MAY 2021 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My most sincere thanks to my thesis advisor, supporter Ms Du Thi Mai, for her devotion, patience, invaluable support, helpful guidance and effort to respond to my job promptly Her constant encouragement has made me well in research She spent a lot of time reading, sharing, and criticizing my work, to make constructive comments I am also thankful to acknowledge my gratitude to all the lecturers of Foreign Language Department, Hong Duc University for their collecting materials, instructions and enthusiasm to my research My sincere thanks also go to the first year and second year students at Hong Duc University who cooperate with me for their response to my survey questionnaires to complete my great study Last but not least, my sincere thanks to my family members and friends who always take care of me and support their financial during the time of conducting my research Thanh Hoa, May 2021 Student Cu Khanh Linh ABSTRACT Nowadays, there is no denying that the method of communication plays an important role in teaching and learning languages, especially in the context where English is a foreign language and the ultimate goal of language teaching and learning is to enhance communication's abilities for language learners Language learners can significantly improve their communication skills by developing their ability to use communication strategies or coping strategies for dealing with face-to-face communication problems Current research mainly aimed at investigating how college students majoring in English to face problems with face-to-face oral communication The participants were 100 first and second year students from Faculty of Foreign Languages at Hong Duc University The survey questionnaires were used to collect the data Based on the research result, the idea is to come up with strategies for direct communication in English TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study The aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study The method of the study The organization of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT 10 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 10 1.1 Definitions 10 1.1.1 Definition of communication 10 1.1.2 Types of communication 11 1.1.3 Definition of face-to-face communication 12 1.1.4 Characteristics of face-to-face oral communication 12 1.1.5 Common problems of face-to-face oral communication 14 1.2 Communication strategies 19 1.2.1 Definition 19 1.2.2 Strategies for coping with speaking problems 19 1.2.3 Ways of applying strategies in coping with face-to-face oral communication problems 23 1.3 Previous research 24 1.3.1 In the world 24 1.3.2 In Vietnam 26 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 30 2.1 General information about Hong Duc University and Faculty of Foreign Languages 30 2.2 Participants 31 2.3 Data collection instruments 32 Chapter 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33 3.1 Findings 33 3.1.1 Students’ awareness in learning English and English skills 33 3.1.2 Communication problems students faced in face-to-face communication 34 3.1.3 Communication strategies employed by students to overcome communication breakdown 38 3.2 Discussion 42 3.2.1 Recommendations 44 PART 3: CONCLUSION 45 3.1 Summary of the study 45 3.2 Limitations of the study 46 3.3 Suggestions for further study 46 REFERENCES 47 APPENDIX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL English Foreign Languages L1 First Language CSs Communication Strategies EOCS English Oral Communication Strategies Transnational Education Advanced Programs English Language Centre TNE APs FLC LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS 1,Tables: Table 3.1 Problems in English Oral Communication Table 3.2 Communication Strategies Chart 3.1 Favorite skills Chart 3.2 The ability of face - to - face communication 2, Charts: PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study In the age of globalization, English is increasingly playing an important role in communication between people speaking English with each other English is no longer a mere subject to study in the classroom but also a means of social and practical communication For the purpose of teaching and learning English to be best improved in communication, the communication approach has been applied in the language teaching nationwide Students majoring in English at universities are always required to learn face-to-face oral communication skills in English and pass the directly oral examinations with the examiners during their course At Hong Duc University, English majored students are required to take oral speaking examinations (6 exams during the course and exam for graduation) which the learners have to talk face-to-face with examiners The primary goal of the English speaking courses offered is to develop the ability to communicate directly in English for the learners Therefore, language learners can effectively express themselves in their language goals and communicate successfully in real life situations Although students majoring in English often have more exposure to English, they still meet problems or difficulties with their oral communication Some reasons are normally mentioned as communication problems in English, such as: a lack of confidence in expressing themselves by English or use grammar incorrectly Furthermore, students' listening and speaking skills are not as good as their reading and writing skills To help students improve their communication skills, it is essential for them to have communication strategies that are feasible to use in their oral communication These strategies can enhance a learner's confidence, flexibility, and effectiveness in oral communication Communication strategies can help learners get the English language to communicate better In addition, they can help learners maintain conversations and thus provide strategies for best communication We can see that through the use of communication strategies, learners are able to maximize their chances of practicing English speaking That is, when the language of the learner interacts with another person in English and a communication problem occurs due to a disability in their language To deal with communication problems, language learners tend to rely on some sort of strategies to help convey messages to people who talk or understand the message of success As a result, the conversation can go on For the reasons aforementioned, understanding strategies used by first and second year students English-majored students to cope with face-to-face oral communication problems is necessary to help them improve their oral communication skill That is also the reason why the study “A survey on strategies for coping with face-to-face oral communication problems employed by the first and second year English majored students at Hong Duc University” is carried out The aims of the study The study is conducted to achieve three main aims Firstly, face-to-face oral problems that students face will be investigated The other aim is to figure out strategies that students use to cope with the difficulties they have when communicating orally Finally, the study also will recommend the strategies that students can use in face-to-face oral communication to achieve good effectiveness in oral communication Research questions To achieve the aims of the study, the following questions need to be answered: Ø What are the problems of face-to-face oral communication in English that Hong Duc University foreign language students encounter? Ø What strategies students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Hong Duc University use to best communicate directly in English? Scope of the study This study focuses on problems and tactics when communicating directly in English of the first and second year students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hong Duc University This will be explored by the students to come up with specific strategies The method of the study The study uses quantitative method to analyze the data collected in the survey Although this quantitative research is mainly based on student survey as a primary source data, it still maintains various particularly reliable points of quantitative research such as quality, credibility, trust and set neutral All the surveys were about participants' experiences with oral communication problems; however, it may present experience with student problems in oral communication The survey is done in English, survey questionnaire, including 25 questions that are divided into parts: messages I make up 30% 26% 22% 14% my own new English words to replace the word that I not know exactly what is called in English 8% 24% 22% 20% 20% 14% I use a dictionary to translate unfamiliar words 34% 28% 24% 10% 4% 32% 28%% 22% 14% 8% I try to paraphrase or talk in a different way with equivalent to or the same meaning 28% 26% 24% 14% 8% 24% 22% 22% 20% 12% I try to use another word that means almost the same with what the opposite said, e.g animal for horse 26% 30% 28% 12% 4% 22% 28% 24% 18% 8% 10 I change 30% 28% 20% 14% the topic when I feel that I not have enough knowledge or understood the 8% 26% 26% 16% 20% 12% 39 oppostie The followings are the results of the survey of communication strategies among freshmen and sophomores For the first survey sentence “I ask opposite to spell out words that I cannot grasp” 58% of the freshmen and 48% of the sophomores agreed that this is the common way they used in oral communication when they not understand the speaker’s saying It is a strategy that students need to ask their opponents to repeat or make the words clear when they not understand the content However, there were students who disagreed with this strategy That shows that their communication ability is already good, so they don't need to use this strategy The data showed that 22% of the freshmen and 36% of the sophomores disagreed with this strategy The survey results of question show that students still have many problems in communication Because knowledge is limited and requires more practice, strategies such as asking for words that are easy to understand, trying to express or say in another equivalent way, or trying to use another word with a similar meaning or similar to what the other person says is what needs to be done for them Most of the students agreed with these strategies In the next survey statement “I ask the opposite to use understandable words”, 58% of the freshmen agreed, and 48% of the sophomores agree while 20% of the freshmen and 16% of the sophomores moderately agreed On the other hand, there are students who did not agree to use words that are easy to understand, because their level of language communication is better The percentage for this statement has been demonstrated as 22% of the freshmen and 38% of the sophomores disagreed with this viewpoint The results of the 3rd and 4th survey statements related to adjusting the voice volume and speed Volume and speed greatly influence students' listening and understanding According to the survey results, first-year students agree 40 with increasing voice volume and slowing down more than second-year students Because their listening ability is not as good as that of the secondyear students Later, with the strategy of adjusting the volume louder, 54% of the first year students agreed and 42% of the second year students agreed With the survey sentence "I ask the oppostie to speak more slowly", 60% of the freshmen agreed and 50% of the sophomores agreed Strategies such as creating alternative words by themselves, using indirect, roundabout words are more chosen by the first-year students because of their poor communication skills and vocabulary Specifically, the survey results of question from the students are that 60% of the first-year students agreed and 24% of them disagreed, while 40% the second-year students have chosen agree and 28% of them disagreed Survey results of the strategy "I make up my own new English words to replace the word that I not know exactly what is called in English" also showed that while 56% of the freshmen agreed with the statement, 22% of them disagreed The results for sophomores are a little different, 46% of them choose agree and up to 34% of the students chose disagree All of the above percentages represent student improvement The results of the strategic survey "I use a dictionary to translate unfamiliar words" show that students already know how to use a dictionary to look up words they don't know, which will increase students' vocabulary, with 62% of the freshmen and 60% of the sophomores agreeing with it Very few students disagree with using dictionary to look the unknown words up Certainly, they need to practice the habit of looking up the dictionary to enrich their vocabulary When answering survey question 8, 54% of the freshmen choosed to agree with this strategy and 46% of the sophomores chose to agree with this strategy In the 9th survey question , because the number of words in communication are few, the strategy of using another 41 word that has a similar meaning to what the other person says is essential, 56% of the first-year students chose agree while the percentage of the second year stood at 50% The students who disagreed with these strategies are quite few, because they have solid knowledge, and good communication skills, only about 20% for the first year and 30% for the second year Finally, the survey results of the sentence “I change the topic when I feel that I not have enough knowledge or understand the opposite” shows that it is a quick and smart way of communicating, changing the subject so that the conversation doesn't stop and making the other person feel more comfortable 58% of the freshmen chose to agree, 20% disagreed and for sophomores 52% of them chose to agree while 32% disagreed It shows that the knowledge of the second year students has changed dramatically 3.2 Discussion The first part of the questionnaire from questions to is designed to investigate some general information of students such as the number of freshmen and sophomores participating in the survey, how many year they have learned English , what skills in English they like, and how is their communication skills now Those issues form the basis of face-to-face communication issues and strategies The next section deals with general face-to-face communication issues In general, freshmen and sophomores have problems communicating face-toface However, the second year students have spent semesters of listening and speaking, which proves that they have changed, have learned and gained some experience and skills in communication Freshmen have just entered university, before that they studied in many different regions, mountains, cities, cities and places with special difficulties, so their approach to speaking skills is different The problems that all students often face in communication are about stress, pronunciation, poor listening ability, limited vocabulary, not 42 much confidence in communication as well as speed and speed volume to be adjusted From the above issues, we need to come up with strategies for students and strategies for teachers to teach them to overcome weaknesses in communication and improve communication skills for students majoring in pedagogy English at Hong Duc University First, strategies for face-to-face communication for freshmen and sophomores If the ability to listen is not good, not understand the content of the opposite person We need to ask them to question difficult words, ask to use words that are easy to understand or use a dictionary The volume and speed of speech in communication are also very important So their strategy should ask the other person to adjust accordingly: maybe speaking louder or quieter, slower or faster That depends on the speed and volume at that time On the speaker's side, they can use indirect, roundabout speech, create new words to replace words they not know exactly, express or say with similar meanings However, if they feel they can't afford to continue this content, they can move on to another topic with more engaging content The second are strategies for teachers to teach them As freshmen and sophomores, teachers need to pay attention to and understand their weaknesses in order to devise strategies to improve their communication skills Some strategies that teachers need to pay attention to are: teaching students pronunciation, stress, strategies to learn vocabulary best, how to adjust volume and speed when speaking, giving ways to answer questions reasonable words, if it is not possible to continue, what are the strategies to change the content Here are all the problems that freshmen and sophomores face Through the process of survey and research, I have come up with specific strategies for students and teachers to overcome the communication among freshmen and sophomores 43 situation of face-to-face 3.3 Recommendations From the results gained above, the author thinks it is necessary to introduce more strategies for teachers to teach students in communication Apart from strategies students used, students also need communication strategies guided by their teachers Those strategies are as follows: The teacher guides students to spell words that the other party does not understand, or vice versa, if they not understand, they will ask the communicator to spell them In addition, vocabulary is very important in communication, teachers should give more vocabulary so that students can communicate better Adjusting the volume of the voice, the speed of speaking quickly and slowly is also important in communication, it helps to communicate better if they know how to adjust it at a moderate level Moreover, teachers should teach students strategies such as using indirect speech, rounding up, or substituting words they don't know exactly This helps keep the conversation engaging, not frozen Teachers should guide students to regularly use the dictionary to look up vocabulary, this habit will help students gradually become better English speakers Next, teachers should teach students to be confident, pronounce correctly and be flexible in communication, change the topic if they feel unable to continue 44 PART 3: CONCLUSION 3.1 Summary of the study The present study attempts to explore strategies for coping with faceto-face oral communication problems employed by the first and second year English majored students at Hong Duc University Based on the results of data analysis, 10 strategies for dealing with oral communication problems were put forward for analysis Firstly , “ ask the opposite to spell out words that I cannot grasp” It is a strategy in communication, if communication ability is limited, vocabulary is limited, understanding what others say will be very difficult Therefore, you should ask the other person to spell the keywords Secondly, “ask the opposite to use understandable words” There is still a problem of limited vocabulary, so it is necessary to use words that are easy to understand in communication The next, The volume and speed of speech are also important in face-to-face communication Therefore, we need to know how to adjust the volume appropriately, at a moderate speed, not too fast and not too slow If you feel you can't remember the words to say, you can say it around, indirectly to make them understand, try to say it in another way or you can also look up the dictionary to understand the word Dictionary look up is very popular with English majors, it helps you to enrich your vocabulary If you feel there is nothing more to say about this issue, you can change the subject to a new, better, more attractive topic Students can apply these strategies in communication The meaning of these strategies would not be enough without the help of the teacher They play an important role in raising students' awareness of English communication and encouraging students to use strategies to deal with communication difficulties From there, students' communication ability will be improved 45 3.2 Limitations of the study Like many other research theses, this study has some limitations Firstly, the number of students involved in the survey is still limited, so the findings may, to some extent, not be generalized to all students Secondly, the procedures of data collection and data analysis have been carried out on a scientific and suitable research methodology Therefore, the conclusion and ideas in the study are all guaranteed in term of science 3.3 Suggestions for further study Because of limited time and knowledge, my research study cannot be complete and inclusive Many other issues have not been mentioned and need to be further studied In future research, it can be suggested that the oral communication problems should be carried out involving specific problems such as the impact of self-confidence, inhibition, pronunciation, or limited vocabulary on oral communication Different variables such as learners‟ individual differences such as attitudes, age, and gender can also be taken into consideration in future research in foreign language classes The present study was about the overall problems that Palestinian English major students encounter in oral communication and change their passive learning habits to help them overcome the difficulties as well as adapt to the new and active ways of learning 46 REFERENCES [1] Bennui, P (2008) A study of L1 interference in the writing of Thai EFL students Malaysian Journal of ELT Research 4(1), 72-102 Retrieved May 25, 2013 from 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