graduation practicum final report

As a student at HanoiUniversity of Science and Technology''''s School of Foreign Languages, I have witnessed the vitalrole that excellent English education has in moulding our students'''' fut

HANOI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

School of Foreign Languages

GRADUATION PRACTICUMFINAL REPORT

Student’s full name:Tạ Quang Đạt

Instructor:Ms Nguyen Thu Trang

Practicum UnitBeYOU English Home

Date of Completion6/10/2023

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: An overview of BeYOU English Home and my responsibilities 5

1.1 About BeYOU English Home 5

1.2 My responsibilities at BeYOU 6

Chapter 2: Accomplishments and Challenges during the internship period 8

2.1 Accomplishments 8

2.2 Problems and Solutions 10

Chapter 3: Post-internship insights and prospective plans for the future 13

3.1 Post-internship insights 13

3.2 Self-reflection and plans for the future 16

Appendixes 19

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The demand for high-quality English teachers and teaching materials has never been greater intoday's globalized world Proficiency in English has become a need for success in a variety offields, including education, business, and international communication As a student at HanoiUniversity of Science and Technology's School of Foreign Languages, I have witnessed the vitalrole that excellent English education has in moulding our students' futures and the growth of oursociety.

For the past six weeks, I've had the chance participate as an intern at BeYou English Home, aninstitution dedicated to imparting English language skills to a large number of young learners ofall age groups, especially those preparing for standardized tests like IELTS My primary focusthroughout my internship has been the creation of course materials designed to improve students'performance on the IELTS Reading Test This experience has provided me with vital insightsinto the complexities of curriculum design, pedagogical tactics, and the diverse demands ofEnglish language instruction.

I am really grateful to my school, especially to my committed instructor, Ms Nguyen Thu Trang,for supporting this extraordinary learning opportunity In this final report, I try to summarize theknowledge I received, the obstacles I faced, and the influence of my efforts throughout thisinternship Through this paper, I hope to contribute something to the discussion about improvingEnglish language education and beyond.

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Chapter 1: An overview of BeYOU English Home and my responsibilities1.1 About BeYOU English Home

BeYOU English Center is an educational institution with a profound mission of teaching andinspiring learners of the English language Founded in 2013 by Mrs Ho Phuong Lan, alongsideother dedicated university educators, BeYOU has continuously strived to be a catalyst for theholistic growth of students, empowering them to become global citizens Over the past decade,BeYOU has provided a nurturing environment where thousands of students have seen theiraspirations take flights.

Located across several facilities in Hanoi, BeYOU specializes in English education for kids andteens, university exam preparation, and particularly, a strong focus on IELTS preparation Thecenter aspires to establish itself as a renowned leader in English training and consultancy,working tirelessly to equip students with the fluency required for global integration andfulfillment of international demands.

Beside language proficiency, BeYOU is committed to integrate modern knowledge and essentialsocial skills into each lesson It seeks to provide students with opportunities for self-discovery,personal growth, dream cultivation, and the instillation of core life values To achieve thesegoals, BeYOU employs student-centered teaching approaches, emphasizing experiential learning,active student participation, interactive instruction, and project-based learning.

BeYOU's concept is built on encouraging happiness among team members, learners, and parentswithin a human-centered work and learning environment The college promotes purposefullearning, utilizing the power of information to make educated life decisions It enables students tolive more fulfilling lives by establishing a harmonious balance of education, work, and physicaland mental healthiness BeYOU promotes continual self-improvement and personal capability5

development, preparing students to adapt to new challenges and grab emerging opportunities in afast changing environment

In recent months, BeYOU is trying to improve the quality of their IELTS-oriented courses,specifically the online IELTS Training and IELTS Coaching courses, which involve live lecturesand digitalized exercises as well as the printed versions of the corresponding lessons In the nextpart, I will give a more detailed description of my tasks, which mainly focuses on the researchand development of those materials.

1.2 My responsibilities at BeYOU

During my internship at BeYOU English Home, I was assigned to a team of 6 members with amission that played a critical role in enhancing the quality of the online IELTS Training coursesoffered by BeYOU The Reading Orientation and Reading Practice subcourses are the two mainbranches of the IELTS Training collection, and our team was tasked with creating vocabularylists for a collection of over 100 IELTS reading passages that span a variety of topics, subjects,and themes The main goal was to provide a useful tool for students enrolled in these courses.My contribution to this project was straightforward but yet complex and called for a carefulapproach Together with my teammates, I looked through each and every passage to find andhighlight words or phrases that would pose a problem to students' ability to understand thespecific meaning Such new or potentially confusing terms were a crucial area of focus since theyoffered students the chance to increase their English vocabulary and feel comfortable doing theexercises as well as studying through the learning materials.

The sheer number of passages and the level of attention required were substantial challenges inand of themselves Each paragraph had an average of 50 to 80 new words, adding up to thousandsof words that required careful understanding and documentation To create the thorough6

vocabulary lists, we had to succeed in a range of tasks We were expected to give the keyinformation that students would find indispensable for each new word, including the phonemictranscriptions, part of speech as well as a definition in both English and Vietnamese

The significance of this undertaking cannot be overstated, as it directly contributed to theeffectiveness of BeYOU's IELTS training courses By offering students a well-preparedvocabulary resource tailored to the reading passages they would encounter, BeYou aimed to helplearners tackle the IELTS exam, specifically the Reading section, with proficiency andconfidence.

The project also demonstrated BeYOU's dedication to continuous improvement at all times Iwoud be confident to look at the project as a strategic decision that recognized the criticalsignificance of vocabulary learning in completing the IELTS reading component This programwas perfectly linked with BeYOU's primary goal of providing its students with a comprehensiveand exceptional learning experience After all, this commitment to providing students with thetools they needed to succeed on the IELTS exam underscored BeYOU's dedication to deliveringhigh-quality education and fostering student success.

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Chapter 2: Accomplishments and Challenges during the internship period2.1 Accomplishments

Six weeks may not seem like an extensive period, but it is by no means negligible I am gratefulfor the internship opportunity as it has helped me achieve certain things during my practicaltraining.

One significant accomplishment is my ability to effectively apply my knowledge, particularly theexpertise I have cultivated and studied through the past semesters It is obvious that vocabularyplays a critical role in various aspects of the IELTS test, particularly the Reading section, and myeducation at the School of Foreign Languages has equipped me to handle specialized technicalterms that may appear in the Reading test Throughout my academic course, I have been exposedto a diverse range of fields such as "Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science", "Economicsand Business", "Electrical Engineering and Electronics", "Environmental Science", and"Information and Communication Technology." The exposure has enabled me to acquire abroader, more comprehensive understanding of these industries and their associated vocabularyrange As a result of this learning process, I can now leverage the vocabulary I've acquired fromtextbooks, literature, and instructors to seamlessly translate academic English terms intoVietnamese, such as “thermodynamic equilibrium – cân bằng nhiệt động học” Additionally, asthe IELTS test always contain an intensive amount of academic information, understanding thebasic principles as well as English - Vietnamese terms of those fields never fails to make it easierfor me to translate between the two languages Not only that, but the fact that I have studiedLexicology and Morphology has also helped me understand the meaning and be able to definewords created in the form of compound or derived words that are not officially used in thedictionary For example, while the official Oxford and Cambridge English Dictionary has only

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recognised “psychologist” and “parapsychology”, just that is enough information for me to defineas well as give the pronunciation transcription of the word “parapsychologist”

Another notable success I've achieved is the effective application of my team leadership andteamwork skills Our team, the IELTS Reading Material R&D team, consists of six members,organized into three subgroup pairs, each assigned specific tasks that together are then compiledinto a large collection of vocabulary lists for more than 100 different IELTS reading passages.This clear and well-defined division of responsibilities has facilitated smoother and moreefficient task completion, minimizing time wastage Furthermore, this division has enhancedeveryone's understanding of their respective duties During the internship, I took on the role ofguiding the group through several training sessions and meetings, ensuring that our efforts wereeffective and coordinated Although the first two weeks saw some delays and slow-downsbecause of our being new to the workplace and the web-based platform, we had barely missedany deadlines since then as everyone was getting familiar with the work.

Last but not least, the ultimate achievement I attained was gaining firsthand experience in aprofessional, full-time work environment, providing me with valuable insights into the intricaciesof operating within an academic setting During my internship at an English center, I acquired aprofound understanding of the workflow and functions of an academic team This exposure hasafforded me a more comprehensive, multi-dimensional perspective on English testing,particularly the IELTS examination I now possess the viewpoint of a test-preparation student aswell as that of an academic instructor, granting me a holistic understanding of all levels of theIELTS test This transformative experience has reshaped my perspective, and it stands as themost substantial value I have derived from these internships Overall, this six weeks’ time havebrought about a shift in my perspective, and this transformation represents the most significantvalue I have derived from this experience.

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However, beside the good news, I also encountered some challenges during the internship period.First and foremost, the most significant advantage I have, unfortunately, is also the cause of themost problematic challenge during the internship My academic knowledge has given me athorough comprehension of specialist English vocabulary, but knowing how to effectively applythis broad range of information has been proven to be difficult Conducting research in mysubject of study necessitates not just a thorough understanding but also the proper memory offoundational knowledge Given the variety of things I must study, I occasionally struggle with thetask of remembering a large amount of theories and a large lexicon.

To maintain accuracy and avoid any negative impact on my tasks, I must revisit and reaffirm mycomprehension of terminology and knowledge areas that remain confusing or ambiguous to me.Perhaps the most difficult component of this challenge is effectively transmitting this knowledgeto students It is critical that I communicate complex academic concepts in the most accessibleand understandable way possible Creating explanations that aid learners' grasp of complexlanguage has always been a significant difficulty for me Balancing depth of knowledge withclarity and accessibility is something I'm still working on in my professional development.To solve this issue, I put in a lot of effort and used my coursework's rapid reading comprehensionand note-taking skills to improve my recall abilities Furthermore, in addition to notes andtextbook study, I made use of modern information technology resources I used AI-drivenlearning methodologies, which allowed me to seek clarification on any unclear topics byinteracting with AI-powered platforms Google and Google Scholar are among my mostfrequently utilized search engines when seeking academic information Additionally, I hadChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot, working alongside me as a valuable tool for refining thechoice of words when giving definitions, although it may lack the precision required at times10

when I need to furnish highly accurate information Furthermore, I improved my ability toidentify worthwhile and reputable sources among the large sea of online material, whichstrengthened my work progress This approach enabled me to efficiently fulfill my allocatedwork while also allowing me to assist myteammates.

During my internship, I faced problems of not only professional but also mental andpsychological aspects The IELTS test, which is noted for its academic rigor, demanded a highlevel of concentration and seriousness from me The requirement to devote four straight hours towork each day occasionally caused feelings of strain, since I was not used to such formal jobintensity Furthermore, the ever-changing weather and environment had an unintended affect onmy health, resulting in a little decrease in my physical status

I was juggling various academic commitments at the start of my internship, making it challengingto create a balance between studying and working Despite countless emotional and physicalhurdles, I maintained my dedication to the internship To get through this period of disarray, Imethodically reorganized my schedule and made an attempt to accomplish online assignmentsfrom home on days when I couldn't make it to the office, ensuring that I didn't hamper the team'sdevelopment or the work of others I also made a point of discussing these issues with mysupervisor and teammates, knowing that open communication allowed for more effectiveproblem-solving and assistance.

One of the final challenges I encountered during my internship revolved around disagreementsamong team members Despite our experiences working in groups together in a number of priorcourses, it was unavoidable that we would occasionally disagree on certain views We each hadour own schedule after office hours, which makes it more difficult to converse and exchangeideas out of workhours Some of us didn't frequently check their phones on a regular basis,causing them to occasionally miss key messages in our group chat Others were dealing with11