an internship report on the supporting activities for academic coordinator at nam sao language school

With the goalof graduating on time and gaining access to an educational working environment incoordinating the activities of an English center, the author participated in aninternship at

UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE - MARKETINGFACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Supervising lecturer: Do Khoa, M.M.O.D.

Ho Chi Minh City, December 2023

The author wants to convey her sincere thanks to those who played an importantrole in helping her complete the internship report on “The supporting activities forAcademic Coordinator at Nam Sao Language School from October 2023 toDecember 2023”.

First and foremost, the reporter would like to express her sincere gratitude to hersupervising lecturer Mr Do Khoa for his guidance, dedicated support, willingnessto provide all necessary information as well as encouragement throughout theprocess of completing the internship report Additionally, she is also deeply gratefulto the Board of Directors and all staff working at Nam Sao Language School forcreating the best conditions for her during her internship She also likes to thank theAcademic Manager, Vice Academic Manager and the staff in the AcademicDepartment for their guidance and enthusiastic support and help in work All of thissupport has greatly contributed to the success of the internship and the completionof this report.

Sincerely,

Pham Thi Minh Hieu

In the era of world integration, English has become an indispensablecommunication tool in all fields Therefore, the role of English centers isincreasingly important in improving people's English skills In addition, academiccoordinators play a crucial role in the operation of an English center With the goalof graduating on time and gaining access to an educational working environment incoordinating the activities of an English center, the author participated in aninternship at Nam Sao Language School as an academic coordinator to earn morepractical experience for herself During the internship, the reporter learned aboutmany different jobs of the academic coordinator such as preparing supportingdocuments, checking and supplementing textbooks, checking teachers' folders,updating class lists, checking exam schedule, test preparation and contacting parentsthen applying to real work Additionally, she also performs the duties of a teachingassistant such as assisting in the classroom and making up for absent students togain more teaching experience Thanks to guidance from her superiors and helpfrom her colleagues, she gradually got used to the tasks and work environment andwas able to do some work on her own After 10 weeks of internship, the knowledge,skills necessary for an academic coordinator and her working style have improvedsignificantly day by day Although the internship period was not too long, it wasvaluable time at Nam Sao Language School to help her further develop herself onthe future career path.

TÓM TẮT

Trong thời kỳ hội nhập của thế giới, Tiếng Anh đã trở thành một công cụ giao tiếpkhông thể thiếu trong mọi lĩnh vực Vì vậy, vai trò của các trung tâm tiếng Anhngày càng quan trọng hơn trong việc cải thiện kỹ năng sử dụng tiếng Anh của mọingười Với mục tiêu tốt nghiệp đúng hạn và tiếp cận với môi trường làm việc giáodục liên quan đến việc điều phối các hoạt động của một trung tâm Anh ngữ, tác giảđã tham gia thực tập tại Nam Sao Language School như một academic coordinatorđể có thêm kinh nghiệm thực tế cho bản thân Trong suốt kỳ thực tập, báo cáo viênđã tìm hiểu nhiều công việc khác nhau của academic coordinator như chuẩn bị tàiliệu bổ trợ, kiểm tra và bổ sung giáo trình, kiểm tra folder của giáo viên, cập nhậtdanh sách lớp, kiểm tra lịch thi và soạn đề thi và liên hệ cho phụ huynh sau đó ápdụng vào công việc thực tế Ngoài ra, cô ấy cũng thực hiện các nhiệm vụ của mộttrợ giảng như hỗ trợ lớp học và dạy bù cho học sinh vắng để học hỏi thêm nhiềukinh nghiệm giảng dạy Nhờ có sự hướng dẫn từ cấp trên và sự giúp đỡ từ các đồngnghiệp, cô ấy dần quen với các nhiệm vụ và môi trường là việc cũng như có thể tựthực hiện một số công việc Sau 10 tuần thực tập, kiến thức, kỹ năng cần thiết chomột academic coordinator và tác phong làm việc của cô ấy được cải thiện đáng kểqua từng ngày Tuy thời gian thực tập không quá dài, nhưng đó là khoản thời gianquý giá tại Nam Sao Language School giúp cô ấy phát triển bản thân hơn nữa trêncon đường sự nghiệp trong tương lai.

CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAMĐộc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc

2 Ý thức chấp hành kỷ luật của sinh viên:.………:………

SUPERVISING LECTURER’S REMARKS

1 Progress score:

2 The report’s score and comments:

-INTERNSHIP ASSESSMENT

 Form Accuracy

 Images, graphics References, sources

REVIEWER’S REMARKS

The report’s score and comments:

-INTERNSHIP ASSESSMENT

 Form Accuracy

 Images, graphics References, sources

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TÓM TẮT iii

NHẬN XÉT CỦA ĐƠN VỊ THỰC TẬP iv

SUPERVISING LECTURER’S REMARKS v

Reasons for the internship 1

The internship’s objectives 1

CHAPTER 1 DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNSHIP ORGANIZATION 3

1 Introduction of Nam Sao Language School 3

2 Introduction of Academic Department 6

CHAPTER 2 BASIC CONCEPTS 8

1 Definition of Coordinator and Academic Coordiantor 8

2 Duties of Academic Coordinators 9

3 Academic Coordinator skills 10

CHAPTER 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNSHIP ACTIVITIES 12

Week 1 (from October 2, 2023 to October 7, 2023) 12

Week 2 (from October 9, 2023 to October 14, 2023) 13

Week 3 (from October 16, 2023 to October 21, 2023) 15

Week 4 (from October 23, 2023 to October 28, 2023) 16

Week 5 (from October 30, 2023 to November 4, 2023) 18

Week 6 (from November 6, 2023 to November 11, 2023) 19

Week 7 (from November 13, 2023 to November 18, 2023) 20

Week 8 (from November 21, 2023 to November 25, 2023) 22

Week 9 (from November 27, 2023 to December 2, 2023) 23

Week 10 (from December 4, 2023 to December 9, 2023) 25

CHAPTER 4 SELF-ASSESSMENT AND EXPERIENCE 27

2.1 Recommendations to the reporter 34

2.2 Recommendations to the Foreign Languages Faculty at the University of Finance - Marketing 35

REFERENCES x

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Nam Sao Language School’s logo 3Figure 2: Nam Sao Language School general organization chart 5

In today’s modern society, when people are standing on the threshold of theintegration period, English becomes an indispensable tool for communication andbusiness This is also the time for individuals who possess English – the globalcommunication language – will have the opportunity to achieve important goals intheir lives As a result, the demand of learning English is increasing in mostcountries, Vietnam is no exception Therefore, besides studying at school, mostVietnamese students enroll in different famous English centers like Nam SaoLanguage School to improve their English skills To become a prestigious and highquality English center, the supporting activities of academic coordinators plays animportant role in coordinating teaching and learning activities.

Reasons for the internship

The prime reason for this internship is to fulfill the University of Finance –Marketing’s academic requirement so that the reporter could graduate on time.Moreover, she desires to pursue her future career path in the educational field As aresult, the reporter hopes to understand how to coordinate the teaching and learningactivities at an English center to control the quality of education Applying theknowledge acquired in the Business English major and expertise of managementallows the author to gain practical experience Furthermore, the internship at NamSao Language School is a stepping stone to hone her personal skills and promoteher personal development in career path.Those are the reasons why she applied fora job as an academic coordinator and chose this topic.

The internship’s objectives

The reporter wants to apply her knowledge and skills which she has learnt from theuniversity in practice to compare the theory and its real-world application in theeducational field In addition, through this internship, she hopes to understand what

the businesses need and what she already has Therefore, she can supplement andupdate her shortcomings and limitations Furthermore, through this experience, thereporter aims to improve skills related to management and coordination in the fieldof education and understand the values this job brings to the development of anEnglish center Therefore, this is also a chance to find the companies and jobs thatare suitable for her expertise and hobbies.

The report’s outline

The report on “The supporting activities for Academic Coordinator at Nam SaoLanguage School” is outlined as follow:

CHAPTER 1: DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNSHIP ORGANIZATIONCHAPTER 2: BASIC CONCEPTS

CHAPTER 3: DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNSHIP ACTIVITIESCHAPTER 4: SELF-ASSESSMENT AND EXPERIENCE

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CHAPTER 1 DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNSHIPORGANIZATION

1 Introduction of Nam Sao Language School

Company name: Nam Sao Language School

Address: 15A Linh Dong Street, Quarter 7, Linh Dong Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho ChiMinh City, Vietnam.

Representative: Nguyen Xuan ThaoPhone number: 02822407575

Established in 2017 with the headquarters at 15A Linh Dong, Linh Dong Ward,Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, Nam Sao Language School is proud to be aprestigious, quality English education center that strives to grow and effort to bringsustainable values to students Through implementing the expansion anddevelopment strategy combined with the motto of putting quality first, the companycurrently has 5 branches in Thu Duc City and Binh Duong Province and has been

Figure 1: Nam Sao Language School’s logo

Source: Nam Sao Language School (2023)

contributing significantly to improve the English proficiency of students in theregion This is an English center specializing in providing training programsincluding: English for KIDS, Teens, English Communication and IELTS.Therefore, Nam Sao Language School has become one of the rapidly growingEnglish centers, with the number of branches increasing to meet the needs ofstudents as well as create career opportunities for young people to graduate withrelated majors.

In the development journey, Nam Sao Language School's goal is to constantlydevelop and implement new English teaching and learning programs in all classesand training levels Besides, they always improve teaching methods as well asimprove the qualifications of teachers to improve the quality of teaching andlearning at the center and enhance the ability to use English to serve learning andeducational needs.

Moreover, their long term goal is to become one of the leading units in the field ofEnglish training, becoming a reputable brand for students who want to improve andenhance their English Therefore, it creates a foundation for popularizing foreignlanguages and contributes to the construction, development and integration of thecountry.

The overall organizational chart of Nam Sao Language School has a clearhierarchical structure, with the Board of Directors at the top and backed by theDirector of Center Each center has an Academic Director in charge of managementand reporting directly to the center director Furthermore, the company also includesmany different important departments such as Human Resources Department,Academic Department, Department of IT and Facilities Management, AccountingDepartment and Consulting Department, each with its own manager.

The Human Resources Department is responsible for all human resources activitiesof the company The function of the Human Resources Department is to advise andsupport the recruitment process and human resource development to ensure thecompany's operational efficiency Besides, the human resources department alsocares about the spiritual life of employees through building and managing employeeremuneration regimes.

The Department of IT and Facilities Management is responsible for managing andmonitoring the use of facilities and equipment at branches In addition, they also

Figure 2: Nam Sao Language School general organization chart

Source: Human Resouces Department (2023)

ensure timely replenishment and repair of equipment to serve teaching and learningat the branches.

The Accounting Department is in charge of reporting revenues and expenditures tothe Board of Directors Employees of the Accounting Department are responsiblefor monitoring timekeeping and salary-related issues of employees working at thecenter.

The Consulting Department is organized according to the positions of ConsultingManager, Vice Consulting Manager, Counselor respectively The main task of thisdepartment is to enroll students, receive requests and questions from students aswell as parents and respond directly at the center or through online channels such asZalo, Microsoft Office account and phone number.

2 Introduction of Academic Department

The Academic Department is responsible for a unit whose function is to organize,manage and implement academic work at the center Their main job is to plan,implement learning materials programs, organize teaching in accordance with thetraining regulations of the Ministry of Education and the regulations issued by thecenter.

The goal of this department is to ensure the correct implementation of the plannedtraining roadmap They always hope that when students come to the center, they canimprove and enhance their ability to use English to serve their study or work needs.In addition, the Academic Department also focuses on developing and improvingteaching methods as well as updating innovation trends to improve the quality ofteaching and learning at the center.

The positions in this department are Academic Manager, Vice Academic Manager,Academic Coordinator, Teacher, Teaching Assistant respectively Sucharrangement of positions creates a seamless working process and absolutecoordination between tasks

Nam Sao Language School's Academic Department is a crucial part in ensuring thecenter's operations run smoothly as well as enhancing the reputation and quality ofthe center with excellent staff and professional working ability.

CHAPTER 2 BASIC CONCEPTS1 Definition of Coordinator and Academic Coordiantor

In some organizations that are related to the educational field, a coordinator hasmany different tasks that are expressed through the relationship between thecoordinator and those they direct or supervise Through seminars or meetings withteam leaders and sometimes with branch advisors, coordinators also receiveguidance and work monitoring from staff of the branch that they belong to Somespecific examples of a coordinator's work include consultation, receiving guidance,participation in the branch staff meetings, participation in seminars, andparticipation in the guidance groups guided by the counselor (Orly, 2009) When

the coordinators work in a school, they are responsible for administering the

curriculum and ensuring it is widely integrated into school activities Their work hasa major impact on the thinking and practice of colleagues and stakeholders in the

school community (Singh, 2010) Another working environment of coordinators is

universities Their work here may be slightly different from the organization above.The main task of a coordinator is to design and develop a teaching and learningprogram to create a basis in maintaining relationships between learners and learnersor between learners and lecturers Furthermore, the course coordinator is alsoinvolved in monitoring the activities of students and instructors in the classroom(Olabisi, 2009).

In general, coordinator is a concept that refers to people who have the job ofcoordination, management, advisory and training and awareness (Otario, 2023).Their task is to allocate work to everyone and coordinate with other departments sothat activities and projects are operated continuously and completed in the fastestand most effective way In addition, a coordinator is also responsible for monitoringand managing business issues to promote business development Therefore, acoordinator needs to have an overview of things, high expertise and always focus onthe job In an increasingly developing economy, many new professions and human

needs are increasingly expanding, so coordinators are divided into many differenttypes to suit each economic field such as Sales Coordinator, Marketing Coordinator,Project Coordinator, Event Coordinator and F&B Coordinator, etc.

The concept academic coordinator at an English center is similar to the definition ofcourse coordinator at universities and schools that she mentioned before Academiccoordinators are appointees who manage academic programs, providing servicesclosely related to teaching content, teaching personnel and curriculum (Singh,2010) Academic coordinator titles are also used for those who administer, provideservices related to certificate programs, or serve as liaisons between the Departmentand its Professional Development schools or districts (Haynes, 2001) In most tasks,they collaborate closely with administrators, boards of education, and otherinstitutional staff to ensure consistency of processes with professionalism andsuccess of curriculum as well as transparency In conclusion, the academiccoordinator at the English center is the person who plays a crucial role in mostactivities and coordinates the development of the center.

2 Duties of Academic Coordinators

The academic coordinator has a very important role as their jobs ensure that allaspects of the institution's academic programs run smoothly and effectively.

Their responsibilities are not only to directly support student learning but also tosupport teachers to ensure their work is completed in the best way and bring the bestquality of learning to students (Qureshi, 2016) For example, they monitor students'studying progress to make appropriate adjustments, provide advice and guidance tostudents to ensure academic success Besides, the work of an academic coordinatorincludes subject coordination The subject coordinator has the role of selecting andpreparing teaching materials for teachers to perform their duties better and improvethe quality of teaching (Singh, 2010) They can participate in creating materials andcurriculum in accordance with educational standards They review course syllabi toensure that they are appropriate for each level and class’s goal They also work with

the Academic Department to develop course schedules and check student classparticipation to make timely additional changes In addition, the academiccoordinator also coordinates teacher meetings, seminars and other events thatsupport the student learning process such as holidays, festivals, talent competitions,and performances of students (McKenna, 2012) In general, an academiccoordinator enforces the policies of the educational institution to introduceimprovement measures and create a safe, effective learning environment forstudents.

3 Academic Coordinator skills

The work of an academic coordinator plays a core role in an educational institution,so they need to equip themselves with the necessary skills to complete their jobs inthe best way To be successful as an academic coordinator, they not only need tohave specialized knowledge but also have a unique combination of skills (Odeh,2023).

First of all, they need to have good verbal and written communication skills Theyhave to communicate with teachers, students and other staff to arrange schedulesand coordinate work to ensure consistent activities This skill will help academiccoordinators capture information easily and become more approachable and open inconversations with new lecturers and colleagues (Kaur, 2023) Besides, an academiccoordinator often has excellent organizational skills This skill is also importantbecause it helps them manage their workload and complete them on time That isdemonstrated through the ability to prioritize work and divide work to othersappropriately (Maciej, 2023) As an academic coordinator, you have to beresponsible for handling and overseeing multiple tasks and deadlines each day.Having good time management skills not only helps you make the most of yourtime and complete work on time, but it also helps you avoid feeling overwhelmed orstressed Problem solving is also an essential skill for academic coordinators Theyneed to be able to look ahead to see what's coming, and identify and predict the

changes that need to be made Because plans do not always anticipate all variables(Joseph, 2017) During their work process, unexpected situations will arise, so theyneed good analytical skills to identify problems and find appropriate solutions tosolve them This skill is also important because it helps jobs run smoothly Last butnot least, team building is a skill that requires academic coordinators to regularlywork with many people from many different disciplines (Kerzner, 2002) This skillincludes the ability to communicate appropriately, maintain a harmonious workinggroup and motivate each other to develop (Katz, 1974) They must know how tocoordinate with other colleagues as well as other departments to achieve the bestwork efficiency (Kumar, 2006) Above are the basic skills that are necessary to besuccessful in the role as an academic coordinator.

CHAPTER 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERNSHIP ACTIVITIES

During the internship, the author took on the role of an academic coordinator internat Nam Sao Language School with the dedicated guidance of the manager in chargeand colleagues in the department In this period, she learned the working processesof an academic coordinator and applied them to the actual work environment tocultivate herself with the necessary knowledge and skills to serve the internship atthe center.

Week 1 (from October 2, 2023 to October 7, 2023)

In the first week, the reporter's goal was to learn about the center's workingenvironment, get acquainted with other employees and learn about the rules that thecenter has issued that need to be applied throughout the working process here.At the beginning stage, the reporter was guided on the procedures as well as theprocess of submitting the necessary documents to be confirmed to intern at thecenter She was guided by the person in charge to tour the center where she internedin that time, the classrooms, work areas and functions of the departments After that,the Vice Academic Department was the person who directly introduced theAcademic Department about its functions, goals as well as working positions in thedepartment Then, she was instructed on the basic tasks an academic coordinatorhad to do In addition, the work assignment schedule and timetable arranged forteachers were also posted on the Academic Department's newsletter in a verydetailed and clear manner Based on that, staff, teaching assistants and teacherscould closely monitor their work schedule for a week to increase work efficiency.During the conversation with the Vive Academic Manager, she also shared aboutthe center's training program in terms of levels and corresponding curriculum fromlow to high At each level, there needs to be an appropriate learning path as well asappropriate teaching methods so that students can achieve the highest results afterfinishing the course at the center The reporter's main job this week was to support

some office work such as arranging documents and picking up students with theguidance of the person in charge and other colleagues.

At the end of the first week of internship, the reporter had an overview of theworking environment and development goals of Nam Sao Language School inimproving the English ability of students in the area Furthermore, she also noticedthat in the educational environment, people work very professionally The closeconnection between staff in the academic department helps all activities of thecenter run smoothly.

Week 2 (from October 9, 2023 to October 14, 2023)

During the second week, the intern's goal was to not only continue to learn what anacademic coordinator did but also worked as a teaching assistant

In the first days of the week, her main task was to check sets of flashcards tosupplement them if there were any missing Flashcard is a tool and also a usefulmethod in learning English, especially vocabulary At Nam Sao Language School,flashcards were divided into different levels and different units corresponding tothat level Each level will have 2 to 3 sets of flashcards to serve many classes withcurriculum running at the same level In the classrooms, flashcards were very usefulin teaching and learning vocabulary for teachers and students Furthermore, teacherscould also use flashcards in activities and games to reinforce students' vocabularies.During the process of using flashcards, they could be lost or damaged, that was whythe reporter was responsible for checking the flashcard sets to replenish thempromptly After checking, the missing flashcard sets were printed out, her next taskwas to cut and laminate them and then divide them into units She was instructed bythe Vice Academic Manager on how to use the equipment and how to laminateflashcards very carefully and meticulously In addition, the reporter was alsoassigned to be a teaching assistant during her training session at the center Themain task of a teaching assistant was to make up for students who were absent fromprevious classes or provide tutoring for poor students who cannot keep up with the