A survey on difficutlies in presentation skills of english majored juniors at tay do university

TAY DO UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF LINGUISTIC AND LIERATURE RESEARCH PROPOSAL A SURVEY ON DIFFICUTLIES IN PRESENTATION SKILLS OF ENGLISH-MAJORED JUNIORS AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY Supervior: Ly Thi Tra My, M A Sudent’s name: Huynh Thi Huong Anh Student’ code: 1652220201070 Class: English 11A CAN THO, MAY 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Significance of the study 1.3 Organization of the study CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of presentation 2.2 The importance of presentation 2.3 Some difficulties in presentation skills 2.3.1 Linguistic factors 2.3.2 Communicative competence 2.4 Psychological factors 2.4.1 Anxiety .9 2.4.2 Self- confidence .10 2.5 Personal factors 11 2.6 Previous studies 12 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14 3.1 Research aim 14 3.2 Research question .14 3.3 Hypothesis 14 3.4 Research design 14 3.5 Research participants .15 3.6 Instruments .15 i 3.6.1 Questionnaire 15 3.6.2 Interview questions 16 3.6.3 Observation 17 3.7 Data analysis 17 3.8 Procedures 17 CHAPTER EXPECTED OUTCOMES .18 4.1 Vocabulary .18 4.2 Grammar structure 18 4.3 Anxiety .19 4.4 Self- confidence 19 REFERENCES iii APPENDIX A v APPENDIX B xii ii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In an era of rapid economic growth, an era when refinement and competition is becoming more and more fierce People have to become outstanding, bright in the eyes of employers So that they may be get more advantages, one of the skills that can help them defeat other opponents is English ability Abundant vocabulary and the ability to listen and speak fluently are solid equipment that helps us advance in our career In other words, today English plays a very important role in work and in everyday life According to Federico Fellini(2006) “A different language is a different vision of life” More importantly, English makes us more attractive to employers In addition, for those who have not yet worked, they will have a great advantage when going to job interviews in English This language gives them many new opportunities, new options to work in dynamic, creative environments such as aviation, travel, film In addition, knowing English will help people you to talk, make more friends with many people from around the word, colleagues, teachers and foreigners because English is spoken by almost every country in the world Edmund De Waal say that (2010) “With language, you are at home anywhere” In short, English is not just a foreign language ability that people have, this is one of their remarkable achievements Every student who comes to school must once hold a mic in front of friends and teachers to present a problem, third year students majoring in English are no exception They come to class not only to listen to teachers' lectures and take notes, but also to study and present a problem in front of the class Therefore, presentation and presentation skills are more and more important and indispensable in the learning process of students as well as in future work Since the second year of university, almost every student in this field has been acquainted with public speaking, but it seems that they not have their own presentation style and presentation skills are still poor This leads to the fact that we can hardly have a successful presentation Surveys of English language classes in the third year at Tay Do University showed that most students were shy and palpitating when standing in front of a crowd to present a problem With the a situation above, this study is going to make a survey about “ Difficulties in the presentation process of English majored junior at Tay Do University" The paper is hoped to acknowledge the situation as well as to help students understand better presentations skills to create creative and highly effective presentations 1.2 Significance of the study In teaching and learning English, the ability to use English to communicate well is one of the top goals In order to improve students' ability to self-study, communicate well and take initiative, some lecturers at Tay Do University have asked students to give lectures in class in some subjects such as listening, speaking, and listening English social literature, presentation skills, So I decided to study the presentation skills of third-year students at Tay Do University, in order to learn about the difficulties and there by give come up with some solutions to help students develop presentation skill - skill that are very important in the learning and working process later 1.3 Organization of the study This research includes four chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter presents the rationale, the significance of research and organization of research Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter states the definition of presentation, some essential skills in presentations, the role of making presentations in the learning process of students and some difficulties in presentation skill Chapter 3: Research methodology This chapter states the research aim, research question, hypothesis, research design, research participants, intruments, data analysis and procedures Chapter 4: Expected outcome This chapter states the outcome of research proposal CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter presents definitions and the importance of presentation skills Additionally, the chapter also synthesizes some difficulties in presentation skills and previous studies 2.1 Definition of presentation Presenting is an indispensable activity for students A presentation is not like a regular conversation, because they are made according to the subject and carefully prepared Different researchers will have different definitions of presentation, following are some definitions to be mentioned According to Pan (2010) defines that presentation is an activity with high demand It requires students to conduct extensive reading firstly, then choose the topic that they are interested in, and use the relevant knowledge of the language points to express in a specific period, also be accurate and fluent Gupta (2008) defines a presentation as a way to convey a message to an audience Besides, Mandal (2000) defines that presentations are speech that is usually given in a business, technical, professional, or scientific environment According to Oxford Dictionary (2018), a presentation is the process of presenting a topic to an audience It is typically a demonstration, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, or to build good will or to present a new idea or product In other words, Baker (2000) indicates oral presentation being like a formal conversation, speaking to group as a natural activity Oral presentation is planned and practiced speech that is not memorized or read from notes but is introduced by a presenter to an audience (Levin and Topping, 2006) Beebe (1999) shares the idea that presentation is a sustained speech made by a speaker to an audience From the above concept of presentation, it can be understood that presentation is the process of presenting the content of a specific topic in a concise manner to many people, many listeners with a combination of using visual tools to illustrate the content of speech more vividly to provide information and attract and persuade listeners 2.2 The importance of presentation At present days, presentation is a productive necessary skill to communicate effectively in any language, especially when speakers are not using their native language The importance of oral presentation skills is widely recognised Nowreyah, Muneera, and Hanan (2015) stresses that in a technology-driven society, the ability to communicate orally continues to be an essential skill for students at school and university Besides, researchers and educationalists have been preoccupied lately trying to emphasize the role of oral presentation in students’ academic careers, especially at undergraduate and postgraduate levels (Liow, 2008; Wolfe, 2008; Munby, 2011) Moreover, many instructors at various educational levels ask their students to give oral presentations in classroom On the other hand, Truong and Neomy (2007) believe that the process of making an oral presentation is a great importance to students because it helps them increase their understanding and acquire analytic skills King (2002) says that oral presentations, if properly guided and organized, provide a learning experience and teach life long skills that will be beneficial to learners in all school subjects as well as later in their careers Moreover, knowing how to make a good presentation will help you in job interviews, making new friends, selling a product and making successful business deals Another benefit of oral presentations is that they can help provide students with additional motivation to study English (Hovane, 2009) Girard, Pinar and Trapp (2011) find out those using oral presentations in their classroom lead to greater class interaction and participation, an increased interest in learning, and noticeable improvements in their students’ communication and presentation skills When students are asked to give an oral presentation it is one of the few times in the language classroom that the students themselves have direct control of both the content and the flow of the classroom (Apple & Kikuchi, 2007) This is because oral presentations more than just give students an opportunity to practice language skills, they also give students an opportunity to teach something to their peers Finally, King (2002) states that oral presentations present opportunities for developing real-world communication as well as leadership skills It is a precious chance for students to perform their communicative proficiency An effective communication is conducted “in a manner which is clear, fluent, and to the point, and which holds the audience’s attention, both in groups and one-to-one situations” (Idrus & Salleh, 2008, p 62) In addition, Girard and Trapp (2011) argues that students can gain knowledge not only from the research that they and other students perform, but also by observing the other presenters' strengths and weaknesses to develop better communication and presentation skills In conclusion, it can be said that presentation skills are a valuable life skills, it will help you in education, future careers and all areas of life 2.3 Some difficulties in presentation skills 2.3.1 Linguistic factors In learning a language, knowledge about grammar and vocabulary is really necessary because they are like bricks to make a stable wall of language According to Zappa-Hollman (2007), linguistic problems were seen as the most challenging during oral presentations Robertson et al (2000) concludes that language issues were the major area of unsolved problems facing international students Likewise, Dornyei and Kormos (2000) points out that the challenge facing students results from trying to convey their thoughts and at the same time understand what is said despite limited language ability This results in an emotional condition that is different when communicating in the native tongue Actually, a study conducted by Juhana (2012) shows that linguistic factors such as lack of vocabulary, lack of understanding of grammatical patterns and incorrect pronunciation are obstacles for students to present in the English class As a result, students feel embarrassed or stressed when they are required to present in front of the class In particular, their lack of vocabulary and limited command over grammar, students could not express themselves successfully According to Rajoo (2010), grammar plays an important role in students’ mistakes It is because students sometimes make a sentence without considering the grammar Furthermore, Thornbury and Slade (2007), "One of the students’ difficulties in presenting was transferring the first language into the second language which was done manually" It will make the presenter has difficulty in order to constructing good sentences with correct grammar because the presenter needs to think twice about the rule of grammar In addition, some studies investigated the reasons behind students’ anxiety, such as lack of vocabulary (Subasi, 2010; Mazdayasna, 2012) Schewertly (2012) states that choosing appropriate vocabulary is an important aspect of any presentation With these problems above, Hedge (2000) advises that learners should develop knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and necessary communication skills at the same time to improve their language proficiency, particularly in presentation 2.3.2 Communicative competence A major challenge of foreign language instruction is to develop learners’ oral communication skills Toumi (2011), the Bureau Chief at Gulf News, reportes the Kuwaiti Education Minister saying that Kuwait’s education system should focus on developing communication skills and boosting students in forign language Many students find that giving an oral presentation is a difficult task because they lack of communicative competence It is also stressful for students who are not fluent in English and are expected to speak in the target language, especially during their English lessons (Khairi & Nurul Lina, 2010) In other words, the students often feel frustrated and intimidated each time when they are assigned oral presentations This Groups Summary of the content of questions group a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, General information b 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Students’ difficulties in linguistic factors c 12, 13 Students’ difficulties in communicative competence d 14, 15, 16, 17 Students’ difficulties in psychological factors e 18, 19 Students’ difficulties in personal factors 3.6.2 Interview questions In order to make the study more reliable, the researcher also used interview questions for students as another instrument to achieve the aim of the study The interview papers were delivered to 15 students who were randomly selected in three English majored classes at Tay Do University This included five interview questions which focused on the students’ opinion about general presentation and their difficulties in making a presentation 16 3.6.3 Observation The observation was also used so as to make the research papers more specific.The researcher would attend about three presentations of participants While observing its' presentations, research topic notes on the difficulties while they present This was hoped to strengthen the result found in the questionnaire 3.7 Data analysis After data were collected, the data from the questionnaire would be analysed using the SPSS software (Descriptive test, One-sample T-test, Reliability test) The data from the interview and observation were mainly interpreted by qualitative analysis All collected data were aggregated and calculated 3.8 Procedures Duration (10 weeks) Activities Step - Correct the research topic and submit the From the 1st week to 3rd week Step From the 4th week to 7th week Step research proposal - Put forward purposes of and hypotheses for the research - Design questionnaire papers - Complete the research From the 8th week to 10th week 17 CHAPTER EXPECTED OUTCOMES Presentation skills are not only a basic skill in the process of learning English, but also a useful tool in showing bravery in front of many people Besides, public speaking is also an opportunity for us to show our ability to communicate in body language and confidence and sensitivity Therefore, it can be said that presentation skills are extremely important in the school but also in future work However, getting a good presentation is not easy As a result, students seem to have a lot of difficulties in presenting presentations such as vocabulary, grammar structure, as well as psychological and other personal factors Therefore, the researchers hope that this research can help students in general English - majored juniors at Tay Do University in particular to find their own weaknesses in the implementation process a presentation From there to make effective presentations as well as have an added advantage for the study in the present and experience in the work in the future 4.1 Vocabulary Lack of vocabulary makes students difficult when demonstrating a topic This is a reason why the students cannot express what they want to say In addition, the choice of word is very important Students not know how to choose appropriate word in contexts One word may have many meanings in situation mentioned Through this study, it is hoped that students will cultivate more vocabulary and know how to choose the right vocabulary for their situation 4.2 Grammar structure Besides vocabulary, grammar structure and pronunciation are another factor that influences student presentation skills Limited grammar and incorrect pronunciation result in students feeling nervous and nervous when presenting in public, having difficulty building sentences Therefore, students cannot successfully present the presentation Through this study, students could recognize the importance of 18 grammar in presentation skill They will try to improve their grammatical knowledge 4.3 Anxiety Apart from linguistic factors, psychological factors also affect students' ability to present a problem, such as feelings of anxiety, fear, fear of looking foolish and fear of being judged by others Their feelings prevent students from making successful presentations Therefore, to make presentations more convenient, students need to quit the shy, shaky habit of standing in front of a crowd 4.4 Self- confidence For a persuasive presentation, the speaker's confidence is indispensable A successful speaker is someone who knows how to use body language and how to interact with the listener In contrast, people with low confidence often focus only on themselves and forget the non-verbal feedback from the audience Therefore, it can be said that lack of confidence can be a further barrier for successful communication Through this research, students need to be more confident in communicating in class through presentations, because it provides the motivation to communicate ideas effectively From there, help improve communication skills 19 REFERENCES *** Reference from books: Alshare & Hindi, (2004) The importance of presentation skills in the classroom: Students and instructors perspectives Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 19(4), 6-15 Burns, A., & Joyce, H (1997) Focus on speaking Sydney: National Center for English Language Teaching and Research Chen, L (2009) A study of EFL graduate students' oral presentation anxiety Unpublished master thesis, national Chung Cheng University, College of Education, Graduate Institute of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature Daly, J A., &McCroskey, J C (Eds), (1984) Avoiding communication: Shyness, reticence, and communication apprehension Newbury Park: Sage Emden, Joan van & Becker, Lucinda (2004) Presentation Skill for Students China: Palgrave Macmillan Edmund de Waal (2010) The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance”, p.22, Random House Emden, J., V.; & Becker, L (2004) Presentation skills for students Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Federico Fellini, Bert Cardullo (2006) “Federico Fellini: Interviews, p.180, Univ Press of Mississippi Joe Landsberger J (2001) Organizing and Presenting Classroom Projects The study guides and strategy The University of St Thomas Juhana, J (2012) Linguistic factors that become students’ obstacles to speak in English class Ragam Jurnal Pengembangan Humaniora, 12(2), 63-77 iii King, J (2002) Preparing EFL learners for oral presentations preparing Journal of Finance Subject: An Empirical Examinatiom, Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 9(2) Osborn, Michael, Osborn, Suzzane and Osborn, Randal (2009) Public Speaking Boston: Pearson Education Inc Parvis, L F (2001) The importance of communication and public-speaking skills Journal of Environmental Health, 63, (pp 44, 35).7 Sammons, M (2001) Using Computer Slide Presentations in the College Classroom Vo Tran Thanh Loc (2018) conducted a thesis about Factors affecting presentation skills of English-majored Sophomores at Tay Do University iv APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS Dear friends, My name is Huynh Thi Huong Anh, a student of English language 11A at Tay Do university This survey questionnaire is designed for my graduation paper namely "A Survey on Difficulties in Presentation skills of English – majored Juniors at Tay Do University" To completing these questions, please choose the answer by circling the letter next to your choice ticking off the items in the checklist or expressing your ideas in the blanks All your personal information as well as your answers will be keep secret and not be used for the other purposes Persional information: Your gender: Male Female How old are you? ….…………………………………………… How long have you been learning English? ………………………………………………… I Your opinion on studying presentation skill Please circle the suitable answers In your opinion, English presentation skill is …………… A Very difficult B Difficult C No idea D Not difficult v E Not difficult at all What you think about the importance of English presentation skill? A Very important B Important C No idea D Not important E Not important at all How often you have problems in your presentation skill? A Always B Often C Sometime D Rarely E Never II This table is about the difficulties in presentation skill of English majored juniors at Tay Do university Please read the following statement and mark (X) in suitable column to express your opinion vi Statements Strongly Agree Neutral agree Due to of grammar knowledge, you cannot set tight sentence structure Limiting vocabulary makes it difficult to convey your thoughts to the listener The lack of understandin g Strongly disagree Linguistic factors lack Disagree of pronunciation vii lead to embarrassme nt and stress when asked to speak in class 10 Choosing the right vocabulary is an immensely important aspect of any presentation 11 lack The of understandin g of grammar lead to embarrassme nt and stress when asked to speak in class Communicative competence viii 12.The lack of communicati on makes it difficult for students to make presentations 13 Having the ability to communicate is an advantage to help make presentations more successful Psychological factor 14 Lack of confidence, fear of making mistakes are clear manifestation s of public ix speaking anxiety 15 Concerns about speech and embarrassme nt are one of the main reasons for students' failure to oral presentation 16 Confidence is one of the deciding factors for a successful presentation 17 Confident speakers are ordinary people who focus only on x their body language Persional factors 18.The understandin g of a message the speaker wants to convey to the listener depends on the speed of the presenter 19 Factors such as preparation, organization, also greatly influence the success of the presentation THANKS FOR YOUR HELP! xi APPENDIX B STUDENTS’ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Dear friends, My name is Huynh Thi Huong Anh – an English majored senior of English at Tay Do University I would like to give my thanks to you for spending your precious time helping me with this interview questions The interview is one of the instrusment for my research about “A Survey on Difficulties in Presentation skills of English – majored Juniors at Tay Do University” Please take your time to fulfill below questions carefully because its result is important to my research Thank you for your cooperation Persional background Full name (optional): Gender: Male  Female  Age:………… -Content Do you think that presentation skills are important? Why? Which factor affects your presentation the most? Why? xii What you think you should to improve your presentation skills? In your opinion, what should teachers to help students have better presentation skills? THE END THANKS FOR YOUR HELP! xiii